how good is the focus really

My sister is looking at focuses (2000-2002 ish)and before i let her go buy one i wanted to see just how reliable they are. Have you guys had many problems with them ? anything known to break or go out prematurely ? any input or advice as to wheather its a good car to buy would be great, thanks alot

It depends...in all honesty, I'm getting rid of my Focus this week for a used Civic. The Focus is a nice car for sure, and is very fun to drive, but the early years, the ones you mentioned, were not that great for reliability. My car is stalling and idling rough, and still does not stop no matter what I throw at it. I'm worried that if the car is having problems like this after 5 years, then the problems that it's going to have when it's 9 years old when I graduate college scare me. The Civic I'm getting, on the other hand has had no problems. If you get one, stay away from the first few years. 02 and up is pretty safe, but you may be taking a chance with some of them. HTH

thanks alot

stay away fromt he 2000 models. nigthmare after nightmare of problems. i'm talking holes in vacuum hoses (rear of engine), broken coil spring, entire sets of tie rods BOTH sides!!!! the interior plastic is VERY cheap. only thing about this car, it handles well. fun to drive.

My wife had a 2000 Sony edition.

Let's see, right rear wheel bearing siezed up, timing belt shredded at 80,000 (really should have changed it before then anyway), replaced 3 window regulators (very cheap plastic), replaced key cylinder in steering column(key got stuck in it), a few recall items, and some nitnoy stuff.

She did drive the living hell out of it though and I thought it stood up pretty well considering. It was a lot of fun to drive. :smile:

Maybe I should mention she is now my ex-wife... :uhoh: :biggrin:

The Focus is one of the worst vehicles Ford ever produced. The biggest problem is that Ford is only responding to consistent problems when forced. Consider the resale value when making a decision. My 2000 Focus is very clean with low mileage but the best I will get for it on private sale is around $3,500. The dealer doesn't want it on trade.

My sister is looking at focuses (2000-2002 ish)and before i let her go buy one i wanted to see just how reliable they are. Have you guys had many problems with them ? anything known to break or go out prematurely ? any input or advice as to wheather its a good car to buy would be great, thanks alot


Dont buy one.

My '01 ZX3 5 sp has 70,000 mi on it and has had very few problems. I've put a new alternator in it at 47,000, but that was because the person who had it before me had a large audio system in it. That's pretty much it. I need to sell it just because work slowed down and I can't afford it right now.

I have a 2000 zx3 and have had no problems with it! it has 107,000 miles on it and we owned it since new. all cars have problems but when you purchase a used car just look at the maintanence and how it was treated.

my girlfriend has a focus and it stalled because of a fuel delivery problem which was a recall, the trunk latch broke which was a recall, sometimes it feels like the tranny is slipping, it accepts dents very easily that will not pop out unless you pay for high priced body work and repainting. I was just pumping gas in it today and nudged the gas cap cover when it was open and the damn thing snapped right off. The whole car is plastic and a complete piece of crap if you ask me. On long road trips it is the most uncomfortable car in the world, your back will ache for a while. In the end, I am so glad its not my car and I will NEVER BUY A FORD...

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

you can say the same about chevy, Mazda, dodge, mitshu, Benz(again dodge) and many more


No company is immune to problems.

every car company has problems ive seen hondas with endless problems, mazdas and fords (and especally dodge) every car company has issues and if you look at the reliability listings it goes GM toyota and ford as the best 3 in the market (that was last years ratngs so things may have changed) your best off buying a new car (assuming you can afford it) because any used car could have the piss driven out ot it and been poorly maintained and the next one may be completely perfect, you never know what you get, i just don't thing it's fair to singlew out a complete manufacturer when it produces some of the most reliable cars in the country aka the crown vic and mustang and the same can be said for almost any manufacturer

if you can find one.... SVT, so much a step in quality over a standard focus its mind blowing that they are essentialy the same car..... KBB these days are around 9,500 though i kinda doubt you can find one down that low with how popular these things are. great car, my family owns 2 SVTs and an 05 ZX3 with the 2.0 duratec, no 2.3 :-( still, these cars rock, and havent had any problems except for a steering box bolt coming lose and the box deciding to beat the hell out of the crossmember. that was the reason our black SVT was an RAV, they thought it was somewhere else in the car and replaced the wrong thing 3 times so ford bought it back. i have nothing but good things to say about ford and their vehicles. and as far as my experience shows, they are much more durable compared to anything else for being able to stand the flat out abust and neglect ive seen people throw at them....

if you can find one.... SVT, so much a step in quality over a standard focus its mind blowing that they are essentialy the same car..... KBB these days are around 9,500 though i kinda doubt you can find one down that low with how popular these things are. great car, my family owns 2 SVTs and an 05 ZX3 with the 2.0 duratec, no 2.3 :-( still, these cars rock, and havent had any problems except for a steering box bolt coming lose and the box deciding to beat the hell out of the crossmember. that was the reason our black SVT was an RAV, they thought it was somewhere else in the car and replaced the wrong thing 3 times so ford bought it back. i have nothing but good things to say about ford and their vehicles. and as far as my experience shows, they are much more durable compared to anything else for being able to stand the flat out abust and neglect ive seen people throw at them....

SVT doesnt mean much....my escort has less issues then the SVT, its just that there is a smaller dev team on SVT....with ford the smaller the dev team the better the car....I have nothing bit bad to say about ford, but i wont get into that.

what about the car caught her eye? from experience you need need to look at more then one make and model. personally im a fan of the zx2. which the focus kinda replaced the zx2. also look at like the neon, or the cavilier/cobalt. (not to bust on anyone>) but most people know to be weary of new vehicles because the bugs arent worked out of them. just like the aztecs when they first came out, and others. if she is dead set on a focus, go as new as you can. 1> warrentee, 2> less wear and tear, sure it will be more expensive, but that would suck if something goes bad and the used warentee went out a little after you bought the car. my zx2 still has another 3 years and about 42 grand more miles(and i intend to blow that crappy auto tranny to hell before then). so obviously im going to say go for a stick too.<better outright tranny