Problems with 2003 Ford Focus ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

The consumer heard a grinding noise coming from the rear brake drums. the dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak the rear drum brake pads were defective, parts and compound were missing, trim under the steering column was missing, the transmission was slipping in first, second and third gear, and the ignition was damaged. *sc *jb

Ignition switch becomes locked and will not turn.*ak

The temperature had become colder and the accelerator would not depress without force. the problem would occur whenever the vehicle sat overnight or for several hours. the consumer would depress the accelerator until it would move downwards. the vehicle would lunge forward. it would take 4-5 depressions until the accelerator would move downward. other problems were the brakes squealing and the vehicle suffered from not starting at times, either the panel lights would engage or the starter would grind. *ak *sc

Dt: tachometer in vehicle stopped working which resulted in a short. this caused the brake lights to go out. the brake lights had to be replaced 8 times since september. the solenoid in the ignition was defective and resulted in the vehicle shutting down. the vehicle was taken to a local dealer, who has replaced the solenoid. but due to the design of the vehicle he could not guarantee that this would not happen again. consumer reported this to ford 3 times. the alarm on the car was also not working. the alarm was not original equipment, but was something that consumer paid extra for the ford dealership to add on vehicle. ford will not repair or replace alarm because it was not manufactured by ford. *ak

2003 ford focus ignition ceased to function. ehicle needed to be towed and serviced by ford. esearch on internet indicates this is an extremely widespread problem among ford focus owners, with many owners needing to repair or replace the ignition several times over the course of a few years.*ak

while driving vehicle shut down. consumer had the battery and the altenator changed, and the problem recurred. took the vehicle back to the dealer, and the vehicle was currently being serviced. *ak

When attempting to start ignition switch locks intermittently.*ak

Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the starter failed. there were no warning signals for the failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealership who determined the flywheel and the starter had to be replaced. after the first incident, the contact took the vehicle to the dealer thirty times for the following failures: brakes rotors were replaced four times; battery and alternator had to be replaced; the transmission had to be replaced after the second attempt to repair it. the electrical wiring under the dashboard had to be rewired. the air conditioning was repaired three times with the replacement of defective valves; the rear door latches were repaired according to recall # 05v300000. the dealership had not corrected the noises from the steering column. the manufacturer was contacted and refused to cooperated in finding a suitable resolution. the last problem found by the dealership was the required replacement of the engine heads. the engine heads were attached to the vehicle frame.

We bought a new ford focus in december of 2002. in march 2004, with about 20,000 miles on it, the ignition switch started to act up. when inserted into the ignition the key got stuck and would not turn on several occasions. after spending about 20 to 40 minutes of wiggling the key and knocking on the steering column it would finally turn. we brought it to the dealership in april after being stuck at night for almost 2 hours on a deserted parking lot. the ignition cylinder was replaced under warranty because the mechanic himself was not able to turn the key. yesterday, on 25 feb 2005, the same problem started up again. the dealership checked it out but we are off warranty, so we will have to pay for it ourselves. it is a very frustrating thought that after spending all that money, it may happen again in several month. after reading all the complaints of other focus owners regarding the same issue, we are very disappointed that ford does not make any allowances to get the problem fixed permanently. we have owned our cars usually up to 10 years or so and never had to replace an ignition cylinder before on any of them. *jb

While driving at any speed, the vehicle stalled twice, but always started back up after a few minutes. on one occasion, the dealer replaced the starter and on the another occasion, the transmission was replaced. *ak the starter was found faulty, the transmission was inoperative and there was a vibration while going 40 mph due to shifting, the clock display was inoperative, and the engne light stayed on. *sc *jb

Car stalls out in cold weather only. car was purchased on oct. '03 first occurrence was in jan. of '04. went through the dispute board and they would not grant new vehicle. dealership and ford engineer cannot find problem. car was brought in on 6/6/05 with the ford field engineer present who wanted to duplicate problem. told him it was not possible since it was not cold outside. problem still unresolved!

Bought a 2003 used ford focus in july 04 and on tuesday, jan. 4 went to start vehicle and key would not go into ignition. nothing worked wheels were locked. had to be towed and tech had trouble due to wheels locked. found many more complaints on internet about this trouble in focuses. *ak

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. on several occasions, the key could not be inserted into the ignition switch and the vehicle could not be started immediately. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the local dealer (parks ford & lincoln of gainesville located at 3333 n main st, gainesville, fl 32609) and the manufacturer were both notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 10,000.

Check battery light comes on when driving slowly or stopped. when driven for more than 45 minutes speedometer jumps wildly and dash lights go on and off. electrical buzzing noise from dashboard. dealer reports that they can not find the problem. *la

The ignition has been sticking for a couple months, making it difficult to start the car, more recently it has been a daily occurrence that the ignition would not turn without great difficulty. what this ultimately lead to was getting stranded due to the car being unable to start ( ignition wouldn't even turn). i am now going to have to get the car towed and either re-keyed, or a new ignition put in which will cost a good amount of money. *tr

I got into my car last night and could not start it, i have a 2003 ford focus station wagon se, the key won't turn in the ignition, i am stranded and cant get to the drug store to get my sons medication. i cant get to the grocery store and am afraid i wont be able to get to work on monday. *tr

Key would not turn in the ignition on my 2003 ford focus wagon. was stranded at a drive in movie theater at 2am with 2 small children and the windows down as it started to rain. *tr

The vehicle stalled while driving. the problem was due to a faulty power module, which was changed by the dealer. *jb

I had a crack in the coolant reservoir that i took to get repaired. i drove my car there, turned the car off while waiting for the customer in front of me to pull up. i turned the car back on and pulled it up to where the serviceman was waiting. i turned the car off. i gave them my information. the serviceman then took my car, started it, and drove it into the service bay. they did the work on the car and then without warning the ignition would not turn over. they tried and tried. it wouldn't turn. i had absolutely no warning or anything that there was a problem. i went to the ford dealer and asked them how this happens, if it happened over time, or what. the guy told me that it could happen at any time and then it would cost $400 to get repaired. just out of the blue without warning he said that the ignition could go out! i took the car to another mechanic and he only had to repair the ignition switch at virtually half the price using ford dealer parts! it doesn't make any sense that something as vital as the ignition can just stop at any time! *tr

I had to replace ignition kit about a month after i bought car new. *tr

For the past few months my car ignition has been getting stuck, making it very difficult to start my car. this past weekend my key would not turn at all stranding my family away from home while trying to visit my grandmother in the hospital. luckily we were not her means to get to the hospital as it seems that i have purchased an unreliable car. as i have done my research on this problem, i have discovered that it seems almost all ford focus owners are encountering this problem. i have even read that this is not a safety concern hence the lack of recall! i like billions of americans rely on my car in good times and bad. i hope to god that i do not have a ford focus if anything desperate should become of me and i need safety because apparently they don't like to even start! *tr