2000 Ford Focus SE review from North America

My 2000 Focus is an automatic and from the first time I drove it, it's been gutless. I realize it's a 4 cylinder, but it struggles shifting gears automatically and will sometimes not shift into the proper gear at proper speeds.

There has been 4 recalls on this vehicle, the last 2 for issues that I brought to the dealers attention for repair before the recall and they had no idea what to do with it so they offered no repairs. I have still not been sent recall notices for the 4th recall from the dealer, only hearing about the recall on the national news.

The rotors have been completely replaced once after only 12,000 miles. The dealer was shocked that they would have to replaced this soon.

The AC has died twice and both times the entire AC unit had to be replaced. It's working fine now, for now.

I brought to the attention of the service department that the automatic windows were not working properly and that I could hear the motors struggling when in operation. The rear passenger side window will sometimes raise and lower the window and other times it will not. The dealer would not repair them, stating nothing came up wrong on the "tests" they ran. Last week, while rolling down the passenger front window, the motor died during normal operation and caused the window to completely shatter inside the door. The dealer is refusing to cover the repairs, stating they don't cover glass/windows, unless I can prove the motor was the cause of the damage. I am obtaining additional opinions on the motors now.

The vehicle is equipped with a manual pull out cover for the back section of the car. The hook on 1 side has broken completely off under normal use, making this feature useless.

The interior rear view mirror (drivers) recently broke off completely while we were simply adjusting its position, during normal use.

While idling, the car's back end will shake terribly, rattling everything in the back, including the license plate and is extremely distracting and annoying.

Upon accelerating from a stopped position, the vehicle will often nearly die out.

While idling, the vehicle is very loud and the car rattles.

And last, the rear end of the vehicle shimmies terribly over bumps in the road. Most noticeably when the left rear tire hits a manhole cover, the back end shimmies to the left when traveling as slow as 25 MPH. This has caused near accidents while traveling at higher speeds as it has caused me to nearly lose control of the car.

I'm stuck with a lemon, but am leasing, but can get rid of it this November.

I wouldn't recommend this car to anyone.

Car has too many problems.

Very little leg room in back seat.

Car is gutless; spend more and get a 6 cyl vehicle.