Front Suspension Coil Spring problems of the 2003 Ford Focus

Break in front driver-side suspension coil while backing up.

Right front coil spring broke. While checking consumer reviews on an auto parts website for a replacement, others have had the same spring failure.

I started the car in the drive, put it in reverse, began to back up and heard a loud clunk. After some investigation, my husband (a former auto mechanic) found that the front coil spring on the driver's side was broken, and the tire was at risk of damage/potentially damaged. I am very, very glad this did not happen while I was driving on the road.

I was driving my 2003 Ford Focus on the road when this incident happened. Suddenly I heard a crash sound in the right front side of my vehicle. I felt there was a force on the right front side tire. Then I noticed black smokes behind my car and then I stopped. I called aaa to have roadside assistant. The aaa guy came and checked my car and told me the coil spring was broken and the broken part damaged my tire too. I found there was a recall for the coil spring on 2000-2003 Focus then I called a local Ford dealer to get it fixed. However, the local Ford dealer told me my Focus was not eligible for the recall. Clearly this is the fault of Ford. The aaa guy told me if this happened on the freeway, I would probably be killed. I urged the NHTSA to contact Ford about this issue before this actually killed lots of people. I also urged Ford to place a recall to check all the coil spring on all cars they make to make sure this part has no problems.

I was turning and I heard a very loud snap! my car then began to pop extremely loud everytime I turned. It turned out to be a snapped front coil spring. This is very dangerous because the spring could very easily have ripped into the tire causing a "blow out" which leads to accidents in many occasions!! the more I talk about it, the more people who say they have had the same thing happened on their Focus!.

Failure of front right-side oem coil spring due to excessive corrosion under rubber sleeve on coil spring. Coil spring was replaced.

Driving under normal conditions at 45 mph I heard a pop followed by a grinding noise from the front passenger side wheel. I immediately pulled over to find my car leaning noticeably to the front passenger side. Car was towed to Ford dealership and I was told that both front coil springs as well as the front right tire needed replaced due to coil spring corrosion and resulting failure of the front right coil spring.

I had a front right suspension spring break while the car sat in my driveway overnight. This could have killed me if it happened on the road as a jagged point was engaged with the tread of the tire. Dealer admits this to be a common problem with the Focus and the taurus, but would not cover the part or labor.

Rear wheel bearing failure on Ford Focus 2003. This part which is usually good for 75,000 to 100,000 miles failed due to corrosion on both rear wheels. The axle was almost cut off without warning. A known problem on previous model years 2000, 2001 & 2002. After this incident I was informed by my niece and brother-in-law that there Ford Focus models of the same year had also failed in exactly the same way. Ford claims that they have no knowledge of this. This is a very serious situation. While the service department inspected the vehicle they also found a broken front spring; from corrosion; which Ford acknowledges and is paying for the replacement of the springs; due to a previous recall. This is a very expensive repair at $323. 00 for the axle and additional costs for alignment etc. After the parts are replaced.