2005 Ford Focus S from North America - Comments

Nothing yet. (Thank goodness, it is brand new.) We will see what needs work at the first service call. (In about 3,500 miles according to the service guide.)

The cabin is nice. The back seat is roomier and much more comfortable than it looks. The interior materials are O.K. Not great, not crappy. The engine is a little buzzy, and I think slightly underpowered. I don't know what an automatic would be like. The one I test drove was slow and unresponsive. It is very easy to spin the tires, but handles very well in tight turns and such. Very stable. A little noisy at highway speeds, this might be due to the Goodyear tires. We will see if that improves when new tires are put onto it. The brakes are alright. It feels a little mushy, but linear, and no squeaks. All in all, I am (So far) pleased with my purchase. I never bought a ford before, so we will see how it goes...

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Pros:

Everything is still working as it should. Gas mileage is good. Oil consumption is low. Tire wear is nonexistent at this point. The road noise has a lot to do with what surface you drive on. The highways here are very textured, made from crushed gravel and asphalt. Very confident in turns. Just point and go. Paint is still nice. (It had better be)

Cons:

Brakes are still mushy to me. I wish I had gotten the anti-lock, but the only models that were at the dealership with ABS were the top of the line ones with automatics. This car does not like the cold. Several times I have tried to start it and it would just turn over, and then it would start on the second crank. Also I have noticed at times a slight hesitation at highway speeds. It is almost like the engine cuts out for just a split second, and then resumes as if nothing happened. No stall, no lights, nothing, but loss of engine power. My first service is coming up, so hopefully these things will get resolved.

I had similar hesitation on my 99 Windstar. Only at cruising speeds, only once every 30 miles or so. This continued for several weeks, then one day it ran horrible. Turned out the mass air flow sensor died. It's been 6 months since replacing it and all is well. Maybe this is your problem?

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The car is in the shop for the first time. I was just getting the first service done, (Oil change, fluids, etc.) and I was told that the car had come up with some diagnostic codes. Something was wrong with the fuel pump, or the idle motor. (?) I can understand the fuel pump, it would be concurrent with the type of hesitation I was experiencing. The service people have been very nice so far, and I did recieve a free loaner car, but I am a little upset about the amount of time it took to tell me that there was something wrong in the first place. (All day Friday) Other than that, I am sad about having problems so early in this cars life, but I am happy with the service dept's. handling of the problem.

I have a Focus ZX3 and hope you don't have the same problems with the dealerships I have experienced.

The first time I took my car in because my fuel gage was cutting out the second and third day I had the car. They fixed the problem promptly and got the car back the next day. I did NOT, however, get a loaner car, I had to be picked up by my dad and we live 26 miles away from the Ford dealer.

Well, the next time I took my car in for any idling issues or what not, there is never anything wrong. It seems they keep blaming the idling problems on "over-winding" the engine. That won't make the engine idle like a piston is misfiring. The engine has done this nearly ever since I've had the car and I told them that. They won't listen.

I sure hope you have much better service than I do.

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Wow, I have not had service that bad from anybody, even private mechanics. My dealership has been nothing, but nice to me. (Luckily). The car does still have some cold start problems. (Once in a while it will have to be cranked twice to start.) Ford has a TSB on the problem and they are reccomending a ECM re-flash with new software. This helps, but only a little. I have heard that replacing the IAC valve is a fix for this, but I have not tried it as of yet. Good luck with yours.

Yes I have had the same problem with my '04 focus SE, it seems it doesn't want to start, but our cold has been 3 degrees and lower.

Service departments vary greatly. We own 2 GM vehicles and one Ford, and the service at the GM dealership is nothing short of incredible, whereas the Ford dealership is so bad I pray that I don't have to take my newest Ford in for anything (and I haven't yet). We have dealt with other Ford service departments in other areas where we lived and they were very good. There main reason two of our vehicles are now GM is because Ford service is so bad here, and Chrysler refuses to honor their warranty. GM is the only dealership here that seems to care about their customers. For that reason we will eventually (most likely) replace our Ford with a third GM vehicle.

The Focus is the best small car made for the money (or even TWICE the money, actually) but service from Ford CAN be a problem. Lots of luck. Our Focus never saw the inside of a service department, so we were lucky. We've owned a lot of Fords and they just virtually never have any problems, so service is not that big a concern to us.