general problems of the 2004 Ford Focus

In January, I was involved in a traffic crash. I applied the breaks to my vehicle (giving plenty of time to come to a stop and only traveling 20 mph ) but the vehicle did not come to a complete stop. As a result, I hit a vehicle in front of me. I do not know what the vehicle would not stop. It was as if the breaks were not working correctly.

My battery light seems to flash when the car is off. Car has stalled several times while driving try to accelerate over 50 miles an hour car will shut off. Back hatch on wagon seems to release itself while driving well unlock automatically. Have replaced three thermostat and thermostat housing due to overheating car will not tell me is overheating it will boil in the overflow return tank pressurize and shoot the cap off?. . .

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Focus. While driving approximately 55 mph, the engine warning indicator illuminated. In addition, when the brake pedal was depressed, the contact heard an abnormal noise. The failures occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.

It happened sporadically and once in a while. When backing out of my parking spot, the brakes barely worked. The pedal was very hard to press and it took a lot of force to bring the vehicle to a stop. Today, it happened again when I was on the “drive” mode. There is no way to predict when it would happen. The only pattern here is it happened shortly after starting the car. It could be in the reverse or drive mode. The frequency seemed increased recently when it was very cold.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Focus. While backing out of the driveway, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle did not move. There were no warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was towed to the authorized dealer for inspection. The failure was related to the brake shoe material separating from the shoe, which resulted in the wheel locking. The vehicle was repaired. Updated 1/26/09 updated 01/26/09.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Focus. While driving approximately 70 mph, the tires wobbled and flames erupted from the rear tires. The failure occurred without warning. The fire department was not called to the scene. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and they stated that the failure was related to the tire bearing. The rear brake system was replaced. Recently, the contact experienced an identical failure. The passenger side rear tire detached from the vehicle and smoke erupted. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who replaced the passenger side rear brake system. The current mileage was unknown and the failure mileage was 131,000.

Attempted to stop at a red light, brake pedal went to the floor and the vehicle did not fully stop. My car entered intersection and was struck by another vehicle causing extensive damage to my car.

At 15,000 mile I replaced my rear brake shoes and then two days after that they started to squeal very badly like they where worn out again. I returned to the Ford dealer in which I purchased the car and who had replaced the brakes they reapplied lube to the shoes and drum. That worked for three days and now once again they squeal again. I have replaced the brakes again at 25,000 miles and they still squeal and no one knows what to do. Both times the brakes where replaced they were done at a Ford dealership. I have been told to maybe purchased new drums even though there is nothing wrong with the current ones but I don't see the need to do such a thing on a car that is barely 2 years old. Please help.

While applying the brakes pedal went to the floor the vehicle started shaking uncontrollably with out warning. The driver was able to maintain control of the vehicle and drove to the dealer. The mechanic informed the driver that the problem can not be duplicated. The driver informed the mechanic that this problem has occurred more than once and has not been resolved. Please provide additional information.