2000 Ford Focus from North America - Comments

(1) Water leaks into this brand new car from the dash. The water filled the area where the front passenger would put his or her feet. The dealership would do nothing, offered to look at it in 8 days at the earliest, has heard of this problem before.

(2) Also the brakes shreek and I have been to have them fixed 4 times, each time they screech as I am driving out of the parking lot.

(3) Also today I decided to drive the vehicle and put the AC on the floor only function to dry out the right front passenger area. Not only does the AC not work at all, but the fan will not blow air if set on 1 2 or 3, it blows hot air only on 4! And I live in the south, I don't need any hot air!

I want the company to purchase this heap back from me. I advise anyone considering owning a Focus to think again, they will have a great number of problems, and the Ford customer service is some of the rudest around. They don't care about you, or anything for that matter.

We own a Focus Wagon SE 2000. We have been happy with it until the last 2 months.

Yes the brakes squeak and they say that it is normal. They said they were working on a better type of brakes for these cars but...

My main complaint was after 7850 miles our Focus starting not starting. They have had it in the shop since November 20th, all but 3 nights of being home and having it towed in the next morning for not starting again. We requested a new car or our money back. We checked into it and it fell under the Lemon Law. Total of 30 business days in the shop OR 4 trips to dealer for same problem within 18 months or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first. Ours has been there 5 trips and a total of 46 or so working days and they still have it.

The Ford representative for this area says that it ALMOST falls under the Lemon. NOT that it did fall under it. They have offered to take the car back for a car equal or more value, with us losing what we have put into this one, downpayment and payments this far. We feel we are losing out on this car. They said if we get our money back that we have to pay them mileage on this car.

We feel that they have not treated us fairly. We have not and are not going to settle for this. We are not sure as to what will be done, but we don't feel like we should lose out because Ford made the mistake in building this car. The problem lies with them, not us. I hope if anyone has had this problem with their Focus they would write in. Maybe they can figure out what the problem is in the car not wanting to start. We like the car. It handles good. We just want justice in this situation.

Thank you,

An unhappy customer

My Focus is also a lemon. We should all get together and fight this. My dealer has not even mentioned a substitute car yet. I wouldn't want one anyway.

I would be very interested in fighting with ford. Check out the national department of safety website and see all the problems with the 2000 focus.

I also have a 2000 Ford Focus wagon. We have had nothing but problems with this car. It's very comfortable and drives well when it will start!!

It was not even a year old when we had to have the starter replaced. A few months later it was replaced again!

The brakes squeak, expecially when it rains.

When we first bought the car the trunk would not shut well. The guy at the dealership said that the car had too much cabin pressure and that we had to open a door or roll down the windows to shut the trunk. I complained and complained until they finally fixed it.

My car was just towed to the shop this morning because it won't start. It has only been 3 weeks since I had to call them because it wouldn't start. It was the battery then. I bought a new battery!!

I HATE THIS CAR!! IF YOU BUY A FORD FOCUS MAKE SURE THAT YOU BUY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. YOU WILL NEED IT!!!

Judy Luther.

My 19 year old daughter bought a 2000 Focus and has had nothing but trouble, from the brakes, to the radio going on and off.

The key would not go into the switch at all one night.

The car shakes all over the road.

The trunk won't open from the inside.

The dome light stays on some of the time, and it has been recalled 3 times in the last 6 to 8 weeks.

They replaced all 4 tires because they said that the old ones had flat spots on them and the car still shakes, I guess the new ones have flat spots too.

We hate this car and would never buy another one, we would really like the dealer to take it back and refund her money. I mean she is 19 and paying $303.00 a month for her car to be in the shop more then it is driven. I think Ford should take these cars and melt them down to scrap because they are crap. But this is the truth and I'm going to get an attorney and fight because I got a LEMON...

SO FOR ANYONE THINKING ABOUT BUYING A FOCUS, TALK TO SOMEONE WHO HAS ONE FIRST. PLEASE!!

I have a 2000 Ford focus zx3. It now has 68,000 miles on it. The brakes have had to be replaced about every 20,000 miles, (it eats them), the dome light hasn't worked in months, the cd player has been giving me a lot of trouble (err12 messages), and the A/C will sometimes not come on at first, you have to turn it on and off a couple of times to get it to start blowing. It also gets out of balance very easily and starts shaking badly, I have to have it balanced every oil change. I will not buy another ford vehicle.

Well folks, I'd hate to agree with you, but... I do. This is the worst car I've ever, ever had. It's damn near incredible how Ford can sell something with has many problems as the Focus has! The brakes have been replaced 3 times now,3 sets of front tires, 1 set of rear tires, the A.C. does not work, the in dash lighter does not work, and the transmission (I think) is speeding up the veh without gas being applied to it! And let's not mention the noise it makes driving down the road-- it feels like the veh will just break apart. All this from a veh with only 33,000 miles on it. I do drive it often, but does that merit complete and utter break-down? I don't know what to do-- the dealer just gives me excuses after excuses, not to mention 14days wait just to look at it. What's left to say?

My name is Gail Warner... I purchased a 2000 Ford Focus after having a Ford Taurus that was a LEMON! I only purchased this Focus to get a good deal as a result of the LEMON Taurus that quit on me! I have had three sets of brakes on the Focus before 30,000 miles!- Which I understand is NORMAL- yeah; right! I have had two ignitions within the 36,000 mile mark, had new tires put on already, and I have suffered through the 5 or 6 recalls that I had to have done. FORD is not willing to pay for my towing charges, they are not satisfying my consumer expectations. Customer service folks are nice; but NICE doesn't pay the bills. I was a single mother when I bought the car and have since re-married. My new husband has an OLD pick up truck with over 190 thousand miles on it that we drive as a result of my Focus being unreliable, now THAT'S a JOKE!!! Please; Ford Company, if you're going to advertise the FORD FOCUS on great television shows such as American IDOL, etc. etc. as the #1 car... please fix them up so that consumers can get on board with your claims, I HATE false advertising and I strongly DISLIKE my Ford Focus and all the times it has left me stranded and then to be sucked dry from towing and dealership establishments!!! A lot of!!! points? You bet I'm mad! Ford better wake up! Thanks for your ear, hope you're hearing what I am saying. Inconvenience in today's world is highly un-tolerated...

Hmmmm, it's rather funny to read everyone's complaints about the Focus. I have a 2000 ZX3 that has never been recalled. The only things I have had fixed were the front brake pads and a power-steering leak (which was covered by the warranty). I'm closing in on 40,000 and have no complaints. I love my little car!

Liz - Detroit.

Hi

My 2000 Zetec ESP has been in the shop now 3 times for a water leak on the passenger side. Overnight it will fill up to a depth of a couple of inches.

Anybody else withy a similar problem?

I am from the UK.

I have a 2000 ford focus zx3 kona edition and it has started leaking water into the passengerside floor board, I have friend that work at a ford dealership in torrance ca. they seem to think the passengerside door seal is leaking. they have ordered a new door seal and new carpet due to mildew build up. I hope this is the fix. ayone else have any ideas or simular problems??? mrjcstyle@yahoo.com.

I have a 2000 Ford Focus and have had nothing but problems from the start. The week I bought my car the airbag light came on, which took 3 trips over several months to fix. I have also had many problems with the brakes squealing. Of course, Ford told me that was normal and even had the nerve to give me a letter from Ford Motor Co. saying there was nothing they could do about it. The brakes have been replaced and I also had the rear wheel bearings leak fluid all over the pads - which thankfully did not lead to a dangerous wreck! A multitude of other smaller things went out in the first year of ownership: brake lights went out, the front passenger door had to be realigned, the lever to recline the seat broke off, and much more!

The most recent problem is my back passenger window (which gets hardly any use!) fell off the tracks and would not roll up. A shop said the motor broke because it was made of a flimsy piece of plastic and they see Ford Focuses all the time! My neighbor down the street has the same car and the same window broke on her car. Ford did not cover this under warranty! Is this a common problem?

I do not see how Ford can get away with this! They give American cars a bad name and I will never buy another Ford again! I looked into the Lemon Law, but it is very time consuming and costly. I think the LL provides false reassurance to consumers purchasing cars rather than resolving real problems!

I bought my 2000 Ford Focus used. Of course, the brakes squeal badly, but the biggest problem is that the passenger floor board gets soaking wet periodically. I have not yet been able to determine the source, but I would appreciate it if someone could tell me what this is. It seems to happen when driving in the rain, but not when just parked in the rain, although I'm not sure about that.

I have a 2000 Focus ZX3 with a water leak also in the passenger floor board. I have had it at a dealer 4 times to get it fixed. Have contacted Ford Customer Service (which is hardly any help). We all need to file a suit against ford for this.

My name is linda williams and I am from alabama. I bought my focus from in mobile. it has been in the shop at least 8 times for the water leak into the front passenger floor board and after I took it in last week (5-20-03) the general manager said even though it gets about 2" of rain in it that as far as they are concern there is no leak. my carpet is dry rotted and they ripped it last time I had it in (they say they did not and aren't repairing it) they could not duplicate problem and suggested maybe I spilled water in it or forgot to roll up the window--wonder if they would have suggested that to a man--anyway after talking to the manager friday I decided I would spend the week-end looking for the problem and I finally found it after--oh let's see 15 minutes--maybe my finding will help someone else that is having this problem--even if you are not you might want to check just to be sure yours won't leak. if you are interested you can e-mail me direct at fancy85@aol.com.