2004 Ford Focus C-MAX Zetec from UK and Ireland - Comments

Sudden and unexplained power loss.

Flywheel had to be replaced at 18K miles.

Brakes wear out quickly.

This car is an unreliable piece of machinery. It is also dangerous. I have had the car in the Ford garage on 5 occasions because of power loss. They finally told me it was a crack in the inter cooler causing the fault. A week later I lost power overtaking a lorry. As I said a death trap. Ford dealers are awful. Customer service is not in their vocabulary. I am getting rid of this heap of junk ASAP.

Serious Deathtrap.

After reading a couple of the reviews about this car I thought I had better add my own...

Make/Model - Ford Focus C-Max 1.6 TDCi Zetec

Year of Manufacture - January 2004

Reliability - worst car that I could possibly have invested 15K in.

Period of ownership - 23 months.

Problems

1) Wheel alignment pulled to the left from date of purchase

2) Interior trim fell to pieces

3) Oil leaks

4) Engine problems (second engine at 12 months old)

5) Loss of power when over taking

6) Loss of power whilst passing vehicles on the M1!!! aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

7) Car fuel consumption was an acclaimed 57.6 MPG ONLY got 26.4 MPG even on replacement engine, but apparently vehicle was performing OK when connected to the computer.

8) Temperature control Sensor was recording -20 degrees in the East Midlands in summer.

9) Air con Problems

10) Ford customer service a complete joke

11) Local Dealer a complete joke just laugh at every problem (disgusting)

THIS IS WHAT TOOK THE BISCUIT!!!

12) Local dealer accused me of using dodgy diesel whilst on a free fuel card in connection with British Petroleum of which came with the vehicle.

13) Biggest problem was who the car was made and designed by, I am sure if it was owned by a different manufacture it would probably be a reliable car.

I would never have another one if anyone gave me one, lost £8000 in 23 months against a much better car Renault Laguna Sport Tourer.

2004 1.6tdci manual.

Totally agree, Deathtrap.

I too have a loss of power, but no engine lights come on so nothing shows on diagnostics.

Car has done 30,000 its had new complete clutch, brake pads all round, new tyres, dodgy car stereo loses minutes and goes blank, dodgy remote key - works when it wants, tailgate release works when it wants.

If I could get money back I would, but owned it nearly 2 years and for 2 years I've been back and forth to Ford frequently. I'm going back again this week so I appreciate if people with the loss of power fault could email me (aceclaire@blueyonder.co.uk) the details so I can tell ford I'm not the only 1 that's having this dangerous fault.

The 1.8 Zetec I had was so bad, I wanted to drop a lit match in the petrol tank. How the hell that thing never killed me and my family I will never know. It used to want to throw you through the windscreen without provocation the moment you touched the brakes. It would snatch like crazy to the left and head for the ditch like some home-sick newt. It never warmed up properly. The inside used to mist up in an instant leaving the driver totally blind. It would only do 27 MPG even on a run, and worst of all, it would stall when pulling away which when emerging out of a side road, was particularly dangerous. Potential buyers keep away, that's my advice.

Just taken my C-Max 1.6TDI for its first MOT yesterday (purchased Feb. 2004). The garage advised me that it would fail straight away on emissions because they were nearly twice the legal level. I have also noticed that it takes ages for the engine to warm up (compared with a petrol engine) and also the demist and window clearing is one of the worst I have experienced. As for the tyre wear - on all other new fords (mainly Mondeos) I have had nearly 30,000 miles on front tyres and up to 35,000 on rear tyres as for the C-Max the tyres are ready for changing now at only 17,000 miles. Three weeks ago I was going to exchange my Mondeo for a S-Max and glad that I didn't if the experiences with the C-Max are anything to go by (after reading other comments on this site).

N.b. Purchased a new KIA Sportage XS instead of S-Max (only one problem - after three weeks the electrics have completely failed on this new KIA - been in garage two days and no comment as to why the cables burned out).