2003 Ford Focus 2.3

Summary:

A super first car for a college student, and still fun for Dad :)

Faults:

Automatic transmission was leaking when purchased.

Needed all new brakes when purchased. Shouldn't happen at only 23,000 miles.

Blaupunkt radio froze up, flashing off and on, which apparently is a known problem with these Blaupunkt's with CD/MP3 player. Apparently a problem with the RDS function that causes the radio to lock up. It's an easy problem to solve.

General Comments:

I bought this car for my daughter, a student in college. It was pre-owned, but with low mileage, 23000 miles. So I expected it to be pretty much problem free, not expecting the above noted issues. The dealer has been terrific working with us to correct all these issues, and it is now problem free.

The car is a joy to ride. It has terrific pickup, the ride is comfortable, and the handling is super.

I'm a fairly big guy, and it is quite comfortable for me, when my daughter lets me drive it.

The 2.3L 4 cylinder wants to go. It is an extremely fun car to drive.

I just hope we're done with these issues. But it was a pre-owned vehicle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th June, 2005

19th Aug 2006, 22:10

Ford Focus Blaupunkt radio problem power cycle on and off.

This happened to me as well, and I found the following fix... months of no radio just because of bad timing.

http://focus.noegruts.com/blaupunkt/blaupunkt1.jpg

http://focus.noegruts.com/blaupunkt/blaupunkt2.jpg

I haven't yet got around to writing up a web page on this issue, but I do have the scans of the issue from Blaupunkt. It turns out it's a bug in the radio firmware that occurs when you are setting a radio preset with RDS on when the station is sending blank text for the station name. This often happens when the station scrolls between station name, artist name and track name in the RDS information.

7th Sep 2006, 19:34

My wife and I experienced this problem with the RDS function today. This site saved us from purchasing a new radio from Ford. We took our 2003 Ford Focus SE Comfort to a local Wichita, KS dealer to have them look at it. After a few minutes, the mechanic came back with a replacement solution as the only solution. After taking just as long to Google the problem, I came across this very helpful site.

13th Sep 2006, 21:37

Hi.

I just found this web-page. Same operation, same failure. Yesterday a Ford dealer removed my radio and sent it to the radio manufacturer. It already costs me $150 for the diagnosis. Today I was told they can repair it for $260 total (diagnosis cost included). I think I will let them repair it because if the posted recovery does not work (I am not sure the quick turn on-off mode let me the time to do the repair procedure) then I will have spent my money for nothing.

Olivier.

3rd Oct 2006, 17:03

Using: http://focus.noegruts.com/blaupunkt/blaupunkt1.jpg I just got my radio to work again. It no longer flashes on or off. Thank you for whoever found this information. You saved me at least $200.

Very grateful.

2003 Ford Focus SE.

27th Oct 2006, 14:37

These links to the solution don't work. Can somebody copy and paste the solution?

28th Oct 2006, 20:30

Okay... the link above doesn't want to work, but I found it on another site...

Put a CD into your stereo... then pull the fuse... put the fuse back in and the stereo should then start reading the cd and playing... using your menu button go to system default reset... and you're done.

Man... I went all that way without my radio for such an easy fix--and my local Ford Dealership wanted $400 to replace it... wow.

Good luck!

2003 Ford Focus ZX3 2.0 16v DOHC Zetec (3)

Summary:

Superb Car for the Price

Faults:

Well, other than the damage I have caused from wrecks...

Horn fell off the mount about 2 days after I bought the car, but I just swiped a bolt from work and stuck it in there, left me alone since (the connector didn't break despite the horn hanging there at freeway speeds).

CD/MP3 player ignores song/displays wrong track/has severe skipping intermittently. It usually goes away by going back one song then back to the other song.

Power Steering leak developed at 24,000 miles. Ford fixed it no questions asked and it didn't cost me a dime.

General Comments:

The car accelerates pretty good for a 4-cylinder, and can beat most Civics.

MTX-75 manual shifts smoothly and the clutch engagement is very smooth.

Wish Blaupunkdt spent another year bug testing the CD/MP3 player, radio doesn't pick up frequencies as well as all other radios I've had in cars. CD/MP3 player glitches intermittently. Other than that the sound is incredible for a stock system, puts a lot of aftermarket systems to shame.

Cruise Control is smooth and doesn't jerk or hesitate.

Braking and steering are efficient and quick at low speeds, however the brakes are very sensitive at high speeds (very easy to lock up without ABS) and the steering becomes unstable at 85 m.p.h. and above... needs another degree of caster.

Tires grip well and last long.

Seats are very comfortable and the ride is very smooth.

Unfortunately, I fell asleep at the wheel at 3,000 miles (didn't even do my first oil change and I nearly killed it). I destroyed the driver side suspension, but Ford fixed it and it hasn't developed any other side problems.

Price is very reasonable ($15,500) and had more options than my friend's Cavalier ($16,400) of the same year. Fog Lights, 16" aluminum wheels, CD/MP3 audio, cruise control, coded key ignition system.

Overall, this car has taken a lot of abuse (destroyed driver side suspension and torn off front bumper cover) and still runs strong and like new. This is the first new car I've gotten, and I'm happy with the way Ford handled the power steering leak. I highly recommend this car to anyone.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 16th February, 2005

11th Dec 2005, 13:33

ARGH! It may not be as great of a car as I originally thought. At 40,000 miles (4,000 miles after the warranty expired, mind you), a piece of trim flew off on the freeway, it developed an EGR valve leak that causes the idle to lope and almost stall intermittently (and caused my MPG's to drop 5 points), and my ignition lock cylinder seized up on me (all in the span of 1,000 miles). The trim I can do myself, no big deal, the EGR SHOULD be covered by Federal Law, but Ford is thinking otherwise, and the ignition lock cylinder (since it's equipped with PATS and microchip keys), is going to cost $600. I heard I'm not the only Focus Owner with this problem either. Ford should recall and replace the lock cylinders for free.