Faults:

Apart from squealing front brakes - nothing!

General Comments:

We bought the Focus 1.8 litre Ghia as a saloon model - not the best looking car, but equipped with a massive boot that swallowed loads of luggage.

We covered 75,000 miles in 3 years all over the UK and the car did not let us down once - no repairs were necessary and all that needed doing was done at the service intervals. The car had two sets of front tyres and one set of rear tyres during its time with us and that was all!

However, the front seats are very uncomfortable and during a long journey you would either get a sore back, a sore hip or a dead leg depending on how you sat.

If Ford did something about the seats (they may have already) it would have been a first rate car.

It would average around 35mpg during London stop/start traffic and could also do nearly 45mpg on motorway runs - not bad from a 1.8 litre car.

Faults:

At 15,000 miles the transmission had to be replaced.

At 40,000 the fuel pump had to be replaced despite the required maintenance.

Brake pads have to be replaced every 5,000 miles.

There are constant recalls.

General Comments:

The car is nice to drive when it works.

I constantly have it in the shop where I get the run around from the Ford reps.

I have been very unhappy with the response from Ford Motor Company when filing a complaint.

No one seems to care that the 2000 Focus was a junker from the assembly line on.

I will never buy another Ford product.

Faults:

Nothing wrong with the engine, just interior fixing needed.

Manual right side view mirror lever broke, had to have that fixed.

When key was put into the ignition, the key wouldn't turn, had that fixed in June 2003.

General Comments:

I love this car so much. I love driving it around, and I feel so cool in it. I definitely turn heads when people see my car!

I have aftermarket stereo equipment, including an Alpine CDA-9805 head unit, XM Satellite Radio, and a 10" Bazooka sub-woofer and MTX Audio amplifier.

Faults:

Almost everything has gone wrong with this car. The only thing that hasn't had problems is the interior! First of all, I had to get a new set of tires right away because the first set had constant flats.

At 30,000 miles, the brakes had to be replaced. The rotors were completely worn out.

At about 50,000 miles, I took a trip to Vegas and the car started having problems. When I arrived, I took it to a Friendly Ford and found out that the fuel pump, clutch and transmission, front struts and more all needed to be replaced. The bill was over $2800!

At 55,000 miles, the rotors were out again and had to be replaced.

Now at 60,000 miles, I put the key into the ignition and it wouldn't move. I had to have it towed to the dealer and they replaced the ignition and lock assembly, another $250 down the drain.

General Comments:

My first new car turned out to be no good. My husband on the other hand, has had his Acura Integra since 1987 and only had to replace the battery once, he's absolutely no other problems with it.

Do not EVER take a car to Friendly Ford in Las Vegas. Not only did they charge me more than they should have, they BROKE my oil pan while fixing the clutch and instead of replacing it, they GLUED the piece back on. The parts were not installed correctly and I had to have them redone when I got back home a week later. Ridiculous!

To top it off, the Ford Focus has absolutely NO resale value. I can't get more than $4,000 for it. I paid over $14,000 not very long ago, and it's still looking perfect.

We're trading it in for a Volkswagen this weekend, hopefully we'll at least get some better service there.