Problems with 2000 Ford Focus POWER TRAIN

Vehicle has a major electrical problem. while driving vehicle gauges will go "beserk". door chime activates, all lights flicker on and off, transmission changes gears,and the vehicle stalls.*ak

I have been hearing funny clunking noises from the motor at highway speeds and more recently the engine cuts out when driving, almost like it slipped out of gear. people have looked at it but they says its fine, its done it 4 times already and its kind of getting old.

My brakes have squeaked and chirped ever since i have owned the car. i had pads and rotors replaced for the first time at 28,000 miles, and am facing having the same work done again at 48,000 miles. my automatic transmission failed at 35,000 miles, and the recalls have kept me at the service department more hours than i can count. *nlm

Consumer concerned about the amount of recalls on vehicle. *mr the consumer had to replace the cable shifter when the vehicle was only 2 years old. the alternator had to be replaced, the door lock actuators, tires, sun roof control. *jb

While driving the transmission failed and caused the vehicle to shut down. *nlm

Stalling problem-check engine light-cracked cylinder head at 32655 miles also leaking transmission line, brake dust, broken trunk lock and malfunctioning keyless entry on driver door. *jb

I purchased a 2000 focus se on june 5, 2001 with 23,000 miles. i was told that i would be covered under the original factory warranty 3yr./36,000.i also purchased an extended warranty from the api company at the cost of $1,069 to cover 6yr./60,000.i thought i'd be protected. wrong ! the vehicle always had horrendous brake dust but the worst was yet to come. in december 2002, my husband and i were in the process of moving and began to notice a rough idle. well, it's cold in buffalo, ny so we thought it just needed more time to warm up. by early march we experienced stalling problems and the check engine light was on. after stalling at 45mph we had enough. the car was taken to basil ford. with only 32,000 miles on it we were informed that the cylinder head was cracked and the original warranty ran out on 1/29/03. ford wanted about $1,700.00 to replace it. well, we thought if ford wouldn't cover the repair that the api extended warranty would. another error in judgment ! api said there was carbon in the cylinder and they wouldn't cover. finally, after threats to leave the car at the dealer or seek legal advice to remedy, basil replaced the cylinder head for $400.00. who ever heard of a cracked head at 32,000 miles ? we had only put about 10,000 miles on it ! also the keyless entry on the driver door would only work on occasion and the key never did work on the trunk (told the lock needed replacement) which we would have to pay for if we wanted fixed. since the inspection was coming up in june 2003 and the brakes and rotors would probably need replacement just like all focus's do, we traded in the car to avoid the money trap. that car was the worst hunk of junk i've ever heard of! i paid $10,500.00 for the car in june 2001 with 23,000 miles on it and had a hard time getting $5,000.00 as a trade with 33,000 miles in may 2003 ! it was the biggest rip off of my life also i lost out when i cashed in the worthless api warranty.

The consumer was driving on the highway at approximately 55 mph and heard a loud "pop" from the front wheel area. without warning, the consumer loss control of the vehicle and crashed, which caused severe injuries for some passengers. inspection revealed the right front axle had separated. related investigation pe 02-044. *jb

I now have a problem with the transmission. the mechanic thinks it is a filter or switch that keeps the oil level in the transmission when turning right. my car shuts off when i make right turns. i have spent way too much money and still owe on this car..frankly i would like to turn it in! has lot of repair needs too much money. i had all of the recall work done also

The brakes have been looked at three time because of noise and it's been serviced several times. it's in service right now and has been there for two weeks. i don't know if they are working on it or if they are repairing other things or what. i haven't had heat throughout the coldest part of the winter. the seat belts don't work and the paint is peeling. the car has locked up not letting me start the engine twice, then just out of the blue it decided to start. i tried to turn in and the car dealer at ford said he wouldn't touch it, didn't want it. we bought it aug. 9 2000-ford credit, simple interest 6.5 --first payment september $456.99 a month they say we owe too much to trade in ???this made no since. now i know what's been going on. my husband has been out to sea usnavy for almost a year and i'm scared to drive it i'm a nervous wreck about this car and i don't know what to do. there has been is so many recalls on this car i don't know if they have fixed them or not

The automatic transmission failed. *jb

I have been in the shop about 7 times during the last 3 years due to problems with my new focus. the clutch failed at 6700 miles, along with the brakes, and things got worse from there. the front windshield leaked water into the roof, the fuse on the fan/air conditioning system melted, and the brake pads were replaced numerous times. also, the fabric on the seats caused me to get shocked every time i got out of the car. ford's lack of customer service was painfully obvious as well during these repairs. i ultimately traded in my car for a competitor's car and i'm feeling much better now.

The vehicle rolled backwards while on a hill, the consumer's foot was not on the accelerator. dealer was able to duplicate problem.*jb

We purchased this 2000 ford focus on 11/13/00. we began having problems with the manual transmission for the first time in january 2001 and took it to the dealership on 1/25/01 for diagnosis and repair. the vehicle has been in for repairs 4 additional times for manual transmission problems on 8/01/01, 1/11/02,7/09/02, and 2/13/03. the problems have been difficulty shifting into 1st and 2nd gear, grinding when shifting into 3rd gear. one of the times it was taken in we had completely lost the ability to shift into 2nd or 4th gear. each time they have fixed the problem only to have more problems occur. the vehicle was taken to the dealership on 1/30/03 for road noise and wobbling in the wheel. the tire almost fell off on the way to the dealership. at that time we were advised that there was a recall on the wheel bearings. we had never received notification of this and in fact the service manager said that he was unaware of the recall until he looked up our vehicle in the computer. they subsequently performed the following repairs: found related damage because of recall as follows, left drum, spindle and bearings refaced right drum r & r right spindle. rear shoes replaced parts for related damage. this is the information stated on the invoice. at this time the check engine light had also been on so we asked them to also find out what that problem was. they found gross leak found at evap manifold line. replaced line. this vehicle has also been to the dealership for several recalls including the replacement of a battery cable on 1/30/03 and another unspecified recall on 10/02/01. this vehicle has been in the shop 6 times for a total of 67 days in the 27 months that we have owned it. it now has 35,800 miles and the warranty is about to expire. we have made several calls to the dealership and to ford customer service. they have offered to extend the warranty on the drive train and charge us a $50 deductible each time that the vehicle requires service on this system.

I started to replace tires as early as 5,000 miles just about 7 times by now. replaced ignition 5/03 for $667.00 the key would go in and wouldn't turn. spring coil driver's side broke while in traffic replaced 4/03 for $158.50. now the transmission is completly gone the car would not back up. please help me, i just don't know what else to do. the customer service at paul clark is so poor that i would not go there anymore.

When driving the car it goes into neutral then back into gear when backing up the car it grinds the non-drivers side floods everytime it rains windshield wipers were no good both back doors make loud noises when opening and closing there are dents on the non-drivers side below the doors engine light goes on once in a while when driving car sometimes jumps into gear.. (scary) and others i asked the car dealer before buying the car if this car had been in any accidents.. he said.. michele, we do not sell cars that have been in accident. after some of these problem had occured i checked the vin# and it said that this car had atleast 12 problems before i bought it

Bad brakes, leaking transmission x 2 repairs, numerous electrical probs, one "accident", damage repaired at ford expense, bad tire, noise from front rt side, "surge" prob, car seemed to "stick" in a gear. i don't have my file with me but i know there is more.

My complaint is all the problems we have had with the focus. we have had numerous recalls and work done from the drivers seat collapsing, wiring harness replaced, bearings in front, and rear, brake assembly, sway bar, and have had to replace 3 sets of tires, and line up 3 times because they will not make good and the car eats tires. now we have 52,000 miles on the car, and a pin has come loose and gone through the transmission, and case. altough the dealer has been very good, we bought a new car so we would not have this hassle, and that is all we have had.

Consumer stated that while driving and without warning the clutch failed causing a distraction to the consumer. dealer notified ph

When the car had 15000 miles on it and still under warranty the third gear was making a grinding sound. i took it in to the dealer and they repaired it. 30,000 miles later( mostly highway miles) third gear started making the same sound again.the dealer said it would cost me 900 dollars to fix it since it was not under warranty anymore. i can not believe that the transmission, and only third gear in a manual five speed is only good for 30,000 miles, most of which is on the highway when third gear is not used much.i believe that is a defect with the car itself.

1)we had trouble with right rear door lock stuttering nothing found to be wrong has only occured once since 2)transmission makes a whirring noise intermitenly when car is in reverse dealer found nothing wrong on both occasions 3)rear brakes on two occasions have made squeaking noises first time at 34950 km new shoe pads. second time at 41346 km shoes and drums sanded 4mm left on shoes has squeaked on only one occasion since 4)front brakes done at 24450 km new pads and repaired two rotors. second time at 41346 km pads shown to be at 6mm left

While driving the vehicles c v joint cracked in half. consumer states' vehicle fish tailed landing on a guard rail. cause is unknown. please provide any further information. ts

While driving at 55 mph, driver heard a loud noise coming from the front of the vehicle. vehicle will not shift gears. had vehicle towed. mechanic indicated that the automatic transmission had gone out. please provide more details. ts

The car intermittently will not allow you to change gears once you leave a gear and go into neutral (manual transmissions). twice i had the car stopped traffic, causing many disruptions and a dangerous situation. even if you turn the car off, you can not change gears. no matter how many times i tried, i could not engage any gear (1-5 or reverse). if i wait about a half hour, then it will engage again. i had the problem checked out by ford twice. they replaced the clutch master cylinder, but that has not fixed it. they say they can't reproduce the problem. i did a search on various ford focus websites and discovered that many other focus owners are having problems with their cars as well. dt

Both front rotors were cupped and tapered, the dealer suggested that the brake pads were too hard for the rotors which caused unusual wear. in less than 3 years, 27,736 miles the transmission has slipped 6-8 times, the vehicle was taken to the dealer but they were unable to duplicate the problem on two different occasions. nlm

Car is only 2yrs,8mo. have currently expended over $4000.00 on repairs. problem with seals allowing fumes in car from other vehicles running beside mine. the noise and wind shear level is very unsatisfactory. squeal noise and thumping feeling from pressing on brake pedal. hesitation on accelerating into traffic flow. poor quality on parts and workmanship from manufacturer

Car stalled along side a road seemed like "vapor lock" would not start, had the car towed to dealer, he checked it out and reported found nothing wrong, car started, computed checked out ok. it took dealer two days to check out car did not get a write up from the dealer concerning this check out of the vehicle. the car has been through 4 sets of rear tires plus one set of snow tire in less than 55,000 miles all rear tires show the same pattern cupped and bald within 5-8 thousand miles dealer has provided 3 sets of tires we have provided 2 rear end allignment has been done twice. this car was also part of rear axel recall tires slide sideways. dt

While traveling on highway there is a clunking noise coming from the front and rear underneath the vehicle, transmission slips and doesn't shift properly. dealership is aware of problem.*ak

While traveling on the highway and without prior warning the transmission start slipping and downshifting. the dealership is aware of the problem. *mr

My car started by losing power and the the engine would race up in any gear. the lights on the dash would dim along with the radio and the headlights. then on oct 31 2002, the gages went crazy. i parked the car and called ford and asked if they would run a test to see what was wrong. they said i would have to pay for the test and i told them i could not afford it. since then i only drive the car to the store about 5 miles from my house and back. now the engine is stalling again in any gear. the engine light is on. i again asked the dealership and ford if they could run the test to see what is wrong with car again they refused. i just now wrote a e-mail to ford. i just want my car that only has about 49000 miles to run. ford is offering a longer warranty on the newer focus why not offer it to us that owner the piece of junk older focus.

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

While driving 45mph front axle cracked.*ak

Purchased ford focus se in may of 2002 with 13,260 miles. we did not buy the extended warranty because we could not afford. soon after bringing the car home, we noticed the tire was very wobbly, and the brakes were squeaking--took it to the ford dealer and they told us these cars are notorious for brake noise, as for the tire nothing is wrong-the service dept. test drove and didn't notice a thing. have taken it in several other times after that for wobbly tire-still same answer nothing is wrong. have taken the car in for several recalls. key was stuck in ignition and had to be towed to dealership-but the next time my teenaged daughter drove the car the steering wheel was stuck when she was turning at an intersection-had it towed again, there was a piece of material (from them fixing the ignition problem) that was stuck in the steering column. our latest episode with this car is our trip from wa-virginia. the car was fine on the way there, except for the wobble in the tire in which we had the tires rotated yet again. but on our way back we started experiencing sputtering and surging of the car, we would pull off the side of the road every 20 miles (thinking it was from the hot weather), we would get another 20 miles in and same thing until finally we drove through chicago, il and it was worse, so we pulled off the highway and on to an on ramp--walked across the highway to use a business's telephone to call for a tow truck. they found us a tow truck but unfortunately it wasn't a king cab, so our insurance co., called us a cab. the tow truck took us to the nearest ford dealer--the car however seemed to running fine, so we decided to drive some more. we got about 15 miles down the road and sputtering again, so we called for another tow--and in the meantime we called firestone, we drove it there, the serviceman drove the car and felt what it was doing and said he didn't need to hook it up to engine diagnostic that it was the transmission.

The transmission failed.*jb

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

I have contacted the dealer and brought my car into them at least 3 times because when im driving sometimes i have to put my foot all the way to the floor and the speedometer will not be moving and the car just don't have no power at all. the dealer keeps telling me they can not find anything wrong with the car.

I had to take my 2000 ford focus to a mechanic because of a sudden loud scraping noise and an inability to properly steer. i was told that 3 of the 4 bolts that hold the axle support brace were missing and the axle was in danger of collapse. mechanic added 3 bolts - problem was fixed.

C v joint and shaft fell apart when the car was put in reverse leaving driveway. pieces throw everywhere.wheel bearings melting to rear drums . back drums replaced and all 4 wheel bearings. door lock system replced after stop working. *ak

Consumer having same problem with power train control module as listed in recall 00 f 001 000. *ak

Sub frame bolts loose from factory, transmision slips, brake rotors warped and replaced 3 times, dlr advised that because this veh is built in germany its a high performance veh and the brakes will not last more than 12,000 miles without having to do a complete brake job, ford has been contacted on several occassions and have repeatdly denied that they have any brake issues with this vehicle. *ak

Problems with transmission / sway control arms have been replaced. electronic fuel pump replaced. mr

When the fuel tank is less than half full and i am turning right, the engine will stall, if it does not stall, it will jerk into different gears like it is going to stall. one time it stalled while i was on a sharp curve and i lost my power steering in the middle of the curve and almost hit someone.*ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

I was driving down a 35 mph road. when i stepped on the brake to stop front passenger side wheel completely buckled under the car. i skidded approximately 40 feet into a parked car. upon further inspection the axile was broken in half which happened before it hit the parked car. the complete wheel assembly is now sitting in next to the car in the auto body shop. at the present time, ford motor co. does not want to acknowledge any responsibility for what happened to the car. *ak

Vehicle died. piston rings stick in valve and the shuts down. consumer has five recalls on her car. also, she had to replace head gasket. *ak consumer states that the transmission and air conditioner leaked, an o-ring was replaced in the air conditioner, however it still does not work. *slc

Takes off real hard like it wants to die but won't, then stops. when car is ran for a while it starts doing. we are not the only focus with this problem. there are others along with their reverse going out or first gear. every one who takes it in doesn't get it fixed

My car has stalled on me three times. 30-40% of the time when driving, it won't shift out of first gear unless i take my foot off the gas then start to go again. also, there is a tapping noise coming the engine when in idle.*ak,

Had taken vehicle to dealer due to a transmission leakage, dealer had to replace the transmission. *ak ford bought this vehicle and replaced it with another one which had a seal that needed replaced within the transmission. *yd

Vehicle jumped from drive to neutral without the brake pedal being used, dealer has yet to be contacted, please provide further details.*ak

As a final gesture of goodwill, our local dealership's customer service representative offered us a 24 hour period to consider a $2,000 trade-in credit toward the purchase of a new ford vehicle at 0% financing. this would have more than doubled my daughter's monthly car and insurance payments. because her job was not yet a permanent position, she was not in a position to take a $4,000 loss and double her monthly payments. once that offer had expired we were met with stony indifference by our local dealership's customer service representative. after several conversations with him we came away convinced that ford customer service policies are intentionally designed with several goals in mind: 1) to offer one's local dealership as the only path of recourse other than a nation-wide 1 (800) customer service line; 2) to staunchly refuse to provide the names and mailing addresses of ford customer service representatives at the local level and/or regional level; and 3) to discourage mailings to the national customer service representative (michael jordan) or ceo (william clay ford) with comments such as "don't waste your time, they don't even open their mail." the end result is that the car owner feels totally powerless once the goodwill of their dealership's in-house customer service representative has run out. when combined with holding open a 24-hour trade-in offer toward a more expensive ford vehicle, the end result was a psychologically oppressive hard-sell tactic.no safety defect listed. *ak