general problems of the 2000 Ford Focus - part 2

My 2000 Ford Focus wagon that I purchased in Nov of 2003 burned in my work parking lot with only 30,000 miles on it with no warning, no suspicious noises or problems. I drove to work, parked in the lot, walked in, and as soon as I logged on to my computer security was calling to inform me that my car was on fire. The car burned the engine compartment and the front passenger area completely within 15 minutes. The fire department told me that it started in the engine compartment. Security said from their video that it also showed to have started in the engine. The flames shot up over 10 feet within minutes of the fire being noticed. When the car was purchased I refused to buy it without a warranty so the dealership gave us a 12 month or 12,000 mile warranty (and we purchased the extended) but now they are saying they have no record of anything but the easycare extended warranty that we purchased. We find this strange since we have had 2 "warranty" repairs at no charge since the purchase and there was never any question before. The insurance compnay has asked that we go talk to the dealership this evening one more time to try to straighten this out before they pay it and we loose money as well as having our premiums go up. One of my other big concerns is that our other vehicle is also a Ford and it has depreciated by some 10,000 dollars since we purchased it in June of 03 new so we cannot trade it in anywhere or sell it without being so upside down as to hurt ourselves. I personally have absolutely no confidence in Ford and will never purchase from them again. If anyone can help me with this or give advice please do so by e-mailing me at julie. Ledbetter@hillwood. Com. Thank you.

The consumer is unable to open the vehicle doors with the remote. The consumer would have to manually use the key to enter the vehicle. The dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.

I purchased a 2000 Ford Focus from carmax in miami FL during the last weefk of January. Immediately after the purchase I experienced many problems. I have been in and out of the dealership and have been given the run-around. I lost 12 hours of work, been late and been left stranded by the Ford twice. I have had about a dozen loaners and am currently still in one (4months later). I am paying for a car that I do not have and as a result I do not want it anymore. I want something else. I no longer wish to do business with carmax and want them to purchase the car back from me. However I am not upside down and do not feel that is fair since I have only had the car about 14 days since I bought it. I need help!.

Water leak in my 2000 Ford Focus. Upon reading this website I realize the other problems I've had are similar to this car. Car stalling, fuel gauge sticking, radio going out, carpet being replaced,wiper problems etc. When it rains the water can fill the passenger floorboard 2-3 inches. I've had the leak checked at several different places and so far no one can find the leak. According to this website the dealer can't find the problem either. My car is not under warranty any more, and I was informed if the leaking continues it will damage the "brain" computer or electrical system. If that happens and I have to spend a couple thousand to fix, but if the leaking is not found it will just happen again. I feel this car is unsafe and should have a recall. Also, I have not received notice of all the recalls that pertains to this car. I have received only one pertaining to the back real wheel bearing, which was replaced at dealer. But I see that there have been others. Why was I not notified?.

At any speed, the vehicle intermittently stalled on the highway. Vehicle had been to the service dealer seven times for the same problem. On one occasion, the dealer replaced the fuel pump, but it did not fix the problem. When the incident happened, after about six minutes, the vehicle could be restarted. Manufacturer and the dealer have been notified. When the vehicle stalled the odometer went blank. When the odometer was functional again, the vehicle could be started. The power relay was found open and was replaced and the fuel pressure dropped while the vehicle was in motion.

Rear passenger door on the left side locked and will not open, either from the inside or the outside. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer and was told that the locks were not covered under the warranty, and it will cost in excess of 500. 00 for repairs. The consumer's wife was working with the left rear door. The switch had come loose and the left door was currently working. The right door was still failing. No electrical power switches were working on the doors. Six fuses were replaced. The electrical problems were still not repaired. The door problem occurred two days after purchase.

The owner was unable to unlock the rear doors from the inside and outside. The consumer took the vehicle to the dealer four times. The entire automatic system stopped working. The rear door behind the drivers seat was unable to be unlocked or opened from either the inside or outside of the vehicle. The passenger side door became jammed. The lock(s) were all replaced and failed twice at the dealership. The automatic window's worked intermittently.

The turn signals on the dash appeared to work fine (left and right) but the rear turn signals did not work at all. The consumer stated he received a ticket.

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.

The consumer stated the vehicle had electrical problems. The lights were turning on and off. The cause is undetermined.

While driving the traction control module failed. Which failed every few days. The vehicle would shut down with dash light warnings.

Car stalls. Sometimes dies while driving even at highway speeds of 55 mph. Have towed car several times to dealer but once there, the car starts and they can't find anything wrong so I have to pay the towing. Last trip to dealer (about a week ago, they did find something wrong and of course what they found was not under warranty) now it happened again. . . . This time we got stranded out of town. This is a very serious problem with the Ford Focus. I bought this car so my son would have reliable transportation but has become more of a problem than not having a car at all. Need help to resolve.

The vehicle stalled intermittently, the dealer diagnosed the problem as a defective module, which caused electrical problems. The odometer/speedometer had shutdown, the trunk opened, the keyless entry is inoperative and sometime the passenger(s) get stuck in the vehicle due to the faulty locks. Scc.

I have a 2000 Ford Focus zts automobile with approximately 10000 miles. I just had a problem with the electric lock system. The electric lock door actuator in the right rear door failed. The entire locking system stopped working and the right forward and left rear doors both locked closed. The doors were not able to be opened manually from the inside or outside. This bothers me because I feel a possible entrapment situation could result if this occurs as a result of a traffic accident or water submerged. My failure occurred as I was loading the car for my trip home from work. I may have had the right rear and left front doors open at the time of the failure, which may explain why they were not affected. Normally, the doors will open from the inside even if locked. This failure overrides that safety feature.

Consumer received poor service from Ford motor company, as well as from following local Ford dealers morande Ford of berlin, CT and ray seraphin Ford of vernon CT, and different opinions from Ford employees concerning multiple recalls on a-frame/stereo/windshield wiper motor/rear wheel bearings, electrical system, and sudden acceleration/lurching.

After about 10 days of buying my 2000 Ford Focus the problem. Started and one year later the problems are still coming like clock work. First my breaks were squealing I called the dealer, he said not to worry about it until I had time to come in. 1 to 2 months later, after several calls asking if it was still okay to drive, I took my car in and the routers and breaks were bad, they sd I should have brought my car in sooner. Well per there request I took my time. I had to pay the get this taken care of. It didn't stop there, my tires kept getting flats so I has to once again replace at my own expenses. Now the real problems start, my cruise control was just out of control, my car would accelerate every time I would put in on cruise. The windshield wipers would not work and my radio kept turning off by itself. I had once again at my own expenses replace my windshield wipers calling the maintenance. Dept. At meridian Ford. They fixed the problem. With the cruise control and it was working fine for about 2 months it is now happening again! now I have problems with the key getting stuck and will not turn, the trunk will not shut, and my car will shut off when the car is in idle. It turns off if in park or drive after about one min. Idle. This is very frustrating. And has caused so many financial and stress problems. I don't feel safe in this car and I feel cheated! I was sold a lemon! a list of what was wrong with my new car. . Bad breaks, bad routers, bad windshield wipers, bad cruise control, bad trunk, bad tires, the key gets stuck and will not turn, and now it turns off while in idle. All these things are still wrong with it and its costing me money, stress,time and it is costing me to be late on my car payments and other bills because I have to pay for all this crap to be fixed! why is this happening! do I need to get a lawyer or do you need to replace or fix my car at your expensive. I have lost so much and feel helpless. I hope this does not fall on deaf ears.

The electrical system for the doors failed, which caused the driver side door not to open.

Continued problems with Ford 200 Focus zts. Bearings, electircal system, brake and paint issues among others.

The vehicle began stalling at every stop light or intersection when braking. The owner managed to turn around and drive back to her house. The vehicle has been towed to the nearest dealership for diagnosis. Please describe details. Ts.

Consumer rented a car from budget rental. Vehicle locked up, and driver was not able to turn off or start vehicle. When this happened, electrical doors would not open. Consumer had to climb out of window, and car just died. This has happened on 4 different Ford, Focuses that consumer had rented. Consumer feels this is very dangerous because it could lock up on the highway.

Engine check light illuminated, and vehicle hesitated when trying to accelerate. Dealer determined that there was an electronic malfunction within the vehicle which was sending incorrect codes to the electronic control module.

Fuel pump problems: when making right hand turns, or driving around extended right hand curves (like freeway on- and off-ramps [aka cloverleafs]), the car nearly stalls when attempting to accelerate after the turn. When consumer steps on the gas pedal, the engine seems to stop running. When consumer lets off the pedal, the engine runs again and once the car has rolled in a straight line for a short distance, (50-100 ft. ), consumer is able to accelerate. This problem begins to show up when the fuel gauge indicates the fuel tank is less than full. At that point, the stalling problem only occurs after making a hard turn. The stalling problem is easier to replicate as the amount of fuel indicated by the fuel gauge drops below 3/8 of a tank. This problem has not occurred when making any left hand turns. Rear electrical problems up until about 38,000 miles, these problems were intermittent, and werenot evident most of the time. Consumer had the vehicle checked at a dealer and they were not able to locate (or even reproduce) the problem. Recently, the problems began to reoccur more frequently, until now, they are present virtually all the time. The problems occur together. If one part of the system is functioning properly, the other parts are functioning as well. The problems are, the right turn signals flash quickly. The right turn signals flash quickly when the brakes are applied. If the turn signal is on without the brakes (as in approaching a turn or signaling a lane change), the turn signal flashes normally. The left turn signal is never affected. The rear window defroster does not work. The light on the switch illuminates when pressed on but the window does not clear so there seems to be no power going to the wires of the defroster. Taillights and back-up lights illuminate. When the switch of the rear window defroster is on (and the defroster is not working) the taillights and back-up lights illuminate.

Consumer has experienced many problems with this vehicle. There is occasional grinding noises when braking suddenly, the brake pedals squeak, the transmission jumps out of gear, there are problems when accelerating, the vehicle stalls when driving above 55 mph, the cruise control is inoperative, and various electrical problems.

The consumer has experienced the following: the replacement of the left dash board cluster (temperature gauge inop from the time of purchase), reattachment of rubber seal around driver door window, reattachment of fuel pump, reattachment of headliner in rear of vehicle, uncrimping of fuel line, lubrication driver door handle(sticking), lubrication of catch on rear passenger side door(had come open while vehicle was in motion), replacement the turn signal switch in steering column-had to be turned off manually, persistent noises/vibrations in the front end of vehicle starting at 36k miles and was told that the tires had tread that was too narrow/were high performance which wasn't needed/was also told that the vibration was caused by improper tire care and tire cupping, the left rear shock needed replacement, and the radio goes out-sometimes goes out when the heat is turned up high. Scc.

Consumer called complaining about having problems with the electrical system on the vehicle. Also stated that the power windows does not work also the power locks on the vehicle do not work. Dealer was contacted and vehicle was taken to the shop on three different times and it was finely fixed but consumer still thinks that the vehicle still has different issues. Ts the brakes squealed, and the vehicle would shut off when the brakes were applied hard, and the vehicle would have to be placed in park in order to restart. A fuse was replaced and had blown again, there was a short ground in the wire on the rear passenger door shorting to the ground, recall 00s50/deck lid wire harness, and two door lock actuators were replaced. Scc.

The lights on the console flickered on and off, and also the vehicle stalled without warning.

Consumer noticed a fire near the shift lever while the vehicle was turned off.

The consumer noticed that all electrical tail-lights and lights inside the vehicle were lost. Upon inspection by the mechanic on the vehicle, an electrical wire was found to have a short. Please describe details.