1998 Ford Focus Zetec from UK and Ireland - Comments

First of all, the boot hinge was very rattly on picking the car up. Then the heater made a clicking noise a week later. After that the rear seat back vibrated. Fixed it myself with a large block of Blu-Tack in the seat back clip.

Shortly afterwards the alternator began screeching! Would you believe it? Took 10 days to fix! Tried replacing the belt, spraying WD40 on it but to no avail. Eventually the (useless) dealers traced it to a duff idler sprocket.

The gearbox feels like a bag of bolts when changing gear! It is so clunky you can hear the gears bashing when changing gear!

Now there are clunky noises in the suspension and steering. The car is out of warranty now! They charge £69.00 per hour plus VAT just to examine it! Then it's the additional cost of parts and labour! Ford charges are totally scandalous! And the dealers don't give a monkeys when it comes to customer care.

The latest defects? The exhaust is now vibrating, the aircon is now smelly and the dashboard vibrates.

I HATE Fords. I just bought a Toyota Celica which I'm picking up on Saturday.

Best of luck to the bloke who is buying this heap once I pick my Celica up!

You must be the only Focus owner in the world that has this opinion.

The Ford Focus is superb.

And when the Cosworth comes out you can watch as it eats your lovely Celica for afternoon tea as you pull off from the lights.

My Focus has had a load of problems as well, but it's just the luck of the draw. We obviously got the Friday night/Monday morning cars - know what I mean?

Rattles and clunky noises from the suspension? Anyway it comes from down under. I tried to get it fixed, but also in Holland the Ford dealer is not eager to contact their organisation to find out WHAT IS THE CAUSE. If anybody knows, please email to me:

jobfemroos@chello.nl.

I still like the car.

I've had similar problems with my car. I suppose that I'm lucky that I live in the U.S.

I'm not sure how lucky it is to have this bad a car. Its very inexpensive but troublesome at the same time. A constant problem with Ford Motor Company. The dealer has been helpful though, it's never taken any less than a week to fix a simple problem :)

You've made a good choice, buying that celica.

Remember FORD - Fixed Or Repaired Daily.

I did the reverse, had a Celica, now drive a Focus. I find the Focus more comfortable and easier to get in and out of. Toyota builds a good car, but they're not perfect nor trouble free as people build them up to be.

If you buy any car from the first year's production, you have to expect teething troubles. My mate bought a 190 VVTLi Celica (coincidentally) in 2001 when they first came out, and ended up handing the car back to the finance company after a year because it was a total disaster. Ongoing electrical problems, ECU software problems and sensor failures, plus ongoing problems with suspension geometry blighted the first year, topped off when a gearbox bearing ingested itself after just 11,000 miles and the 'box failed completely. The worrying thing was all bar one of the faults was fixed with "upgraded" components which Toyota had modified during the first year's run. Clearly, the first year's buyers get to be the guinea pigs and find what these problems are. I suspect the same is true of the Focus (and 90% of other cars out there).

Anyway, I am now on my second Focus (an 02 plate) which has racked up 90,000 miles with only one minor fault (a tailgate rattle). The 2000 X model before that did 130,000 miles with two minor faults (rear wheel bearing noise and a front suspension recall.) Blinding cars, as the sales figures show, and outright winner of the ADAC reliability survey in Germany a short time ago, as well as thrashing the Golf and most of the competition in every satisfaction survey before or since. You were unlucky.

I agree with what has been said already - the Focus was just out when you bought yours and there was bound to be teething troubles.

I do sympathise with your grievancies with the dealers - Ford in the UK just don't get it really, and the Japanese makes always score well for customer satisfaction.

The ford focus id the biggest piece of garbage ever, anyone who has owned one knows how terrible they are, never ever another ford.

If you sprayed WD-40 on the drivebelts is is any wonder the dealer wasn't sympathetic?

Oh and the feelings you are getting through the gearlever are actually the syncromesh cones engaging and disengaging, not the gears themselves getting bashed together.

I HAVE OWNED 4 FOCUSES A 51 PLATE A 04,05,06 all have served me very well indeed,but my latest one seems to rattle in the empty glove box, at 40 50 60 mph. its been to a garage who supposed to repair it,they said"it was a loose heat shield " think they didn't want to take the dash off to investigate it so fobbed me off. Anyone know what it is??? otherwise great car.

I love my Focus. I will not buy another car until this-one breaks down, and it won't be soon.

I put 100,000 miles on a 52 plater in three years, thrashed the living daylights out of it, and in all that mileage it had just one fault - a squeaking aux belt tensioner.

100,000 miles = 8 services (including pads/discs as appropriate), five sets of front tyres, one set of rear tyres and the aforementioned tensioner. Still drove like new at the end as well - not a mark on the seats, not a squeak from the dash.

If I'd had any need for it, I would have bought it off the company at the end.

Not a Ford fan as such, but credit where it's due - this is a far more reliable and better made car than a Golf if our fleet experience is anything to go by. The Golfs look more expensive and better finished, but it's only skin deep. The Focus's engineering is better underneath.