2004 Ford Focus C-MAX Reviews

Noisy AC compressor - replaced.

Alternator failure at 86,000.

Found C Max to be an extremely comfortable and reliable car, with more than adequate performance (bearing in mind the type of vehicle).

I'm surprised at some of the comments made by other owners, although fully aware of serious problems with the 1.6 automatics.

This week my brakes failed completely without warning (no warning on the LCD, no warning light, no sound). The brake pedal was hard and could not be pushed in. I was just about to drive onto the road. Fortunately the EPB could still be activated. After deactivation of the EPB, the brakes functioned again. This happened twice. Each time in the morning when I wanted to get to work.

BE WARNED! APPARENTLY YOUR BRAKES MAY FAIL COMPLETELY WITHOUT ANY WARNING!

I have read many cases on this site where a faulty alternator or low battery may cause power steering and brake issues. I just spent 1600 Euro (tires, breaks, air con,...) a few months ago. It's always a lot of money, but I value my safety (and that of my family)! But this issue is very severe, and may cause deaths if Ford doesn't deal with this!

I really loved this car for its all-round use up till now! I have to figure out what I am going to do with it, because I want a safe car, and I don't want to sell an accident waiting to happen to someone else.

Everything was going OK with this car until about 6 weeks ago.

Suddenly one day the outside temp indicator went blank, the same night the alarm went off several times. After about the tenth time, it stopped.

A couple of days later off it went again, then stopped. It was like this for about a week, then one night it went totally ballistic; the alarm went off constantly & I could not turn it off with the key. I even drove around our estate whilst the alarm was still going. In the end my husband slammed the bonnet down so hard that he broke the catch. This cost £100, plus £80 for a diagnostic test, which found nothing.

Now after another couple of weeks, the outside temp indicator has gone off again, bonnet open catch alarm showing inside, & now the inside fans don't work.

Be warned, do not buy this car, they are very expensive for parts & diagnostics. Never again.

Apart from all of the above, it is a nice car to drive & comfortable.

Don't like the electric handbrake, or the fact that the bonnet opens with a key behind the Ford badge on the front grill. There is no way to get into the bonnet if the catch breaks without drilling through; whatever happened to a good old fashioned bonnet release catch in the foot well???

Clock on the dashboard has had to be reset numerous times.

Rear tailgate sometimes opens using the button, or you have to resort to using the key to open electronically.

Has some problem within the engine as it drives, as it is being held back/hits a flat spot, then when clears it throws out plumes of black smoke.

Oil deposits in the turbo charger.

Bought the car from local Honda dealer in 2008 as it met family needs. Had a full service history from the previous owner.

Drove OK up until its service at 40000 miles. Highlighted the problem with the engine in relation to its stuttering/driving as if it had some blockage general poor performance. They could not find anything wrong apart from some water in the fuel tank - how that got there they don't know.

Continued driving it, still presenting with the same problem with the engine. Took it back to the dealer, still couldn't find a problem. They passed it onto Ford; found some oil in the turbo, cleaned it out, increased the idle speed, still no improvement.

Another service by local garage; renewal of oil, air and fuel filters, oil found in the filter, performance now even worse.

Tried to part exchange the car; practically worthless since its purchase.

Has anyone had this sort of problem with performance? Still have little niggles with tailgate being temperamental and also the clock and radio.

Would not buy another C-Max. Poor second in comparison to the Picasso in relation to performance.