Started experiencing problems with the vehicle after purchase. Suddenly in august, all power systems/computer type items began to fail -- power locks, trunk release. Then, car began (and still does) to sputter and shake when stopped/idle until it would shutdown. Also, the radio/cd player would shut off. Checked for tsbs for the vehicle model & year and found at least 15. When I took the car to the dealer (world ford sandy springs) we were told that they are technical service bulletins and that we would have to pay to have the car repaired. Only official ford recall notices, not even ntsa recall notices, would be honored. On top of this, we would be expected to pay $90 per complaint batch (the tsb list was batched in to 3 main areas)for diagnostic purposes and if any of the complaints were related to a recall, the $90 would be refunded as applicable. I expressed that if ford issued a tsb and the ntsa issued a recall notice, then I should not have to pay to have the car worked on.
2000 Ford Focus transmission complaints
Page 3 of 9: complaints 41 to 70 of 225, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Let's see, where shall I begin. Within month or two of purchase of 2000 focus sedan it was back in the shop for the front a panel trim. It took 3 times to finally get that right. Also less than 5 months after purchase, windshield had to be replaced due to a stress fracture (was a 1-1.5 hairline crack which appeared in windshield). The windshield has since been replaced again. While adjusting the rear-view mirror the windshield cracked around the base, apparently from slight pressure of mirror. And just recently, august 2003, I've noticed water drops flying up from above the dashboard. Not sure if windshield is leaking around the bottom base or maybe a.c. Haven't had it checked yet, but it will be in the shop this week for other problems I haven't mentioned yet. It was in shop in late 2001 or early 2002 for throttle problems. While the car was sitting still the engine would race between 2.5 and 3000 rpms. Fortunately I never used the cruise control during that time. Late 2002 the trunk lock mechanism apparently broke preventing the trunk from shutting properly. It wouldn't latch at all. I have yet to have the wiper motor cover recall fixed. And on different occasions the fuel gauge has read empty, no matter how much fuel you have in the tank. And just when you think nothing else can go wrong, it happens. Me and my wife were shopping this morning on labor day saturday. We got in the car and I went to start it. My key somehow would not go into the ignition completely, no matter how hard I tried. We eventually call our triple aaa insurance and arrange for a locksmith to come and take a look. He looks at it a second and declares what we fear the worst. Our focus is the 7th focus this month he has seen with the same problem. He said that the ignition would have to be replaced by ford. I believe that this should be a recall. I will never buy another ford.
I now have a problem with the transmission. The mechanic thinks it is a filter or switch that keeps the oil level in the transmission when turning right. My car shuts off when I make right turns. I have spent way too much money and still owe on this car..frankly I would like to turn it in! Has lot of repair needs too much money. I had all of the recall work done also
Nov 2002 took to dealer the car was purchased from, told them it was sluggish and gas guage didn't always register. I thought at that time it was maybe the transmission. I was told nothing wrong, could not duplicate problem. Took to neighborhood dealer for the same problem replaced fuel filter. Had all this work before warranty expired in feb 2003. Never notified about possible fuel pump. June 27th started car and engine died. It then wouldn't start again for about 30 minutes. I took it immediately to my neighborhood ford dealership. Who told me it was the fuel pump and strongly suggest not to drive the car until repair. So the car was left there for repairs. After listen to the service people at the dealership, it came to my attention this was a common problem. I started to invesigate this myself and find 67 cases listed on the federal safety agency website. The common statement was that the while driving at any speed and without prior warning vehicle dies out. On car hitting a park vehicle and several near misses on the highway. 2000 ford focus engine sputters and then stalls at high speeds. My concern is that I have heard and read hundred if not thousands of these fuel pump failures and after many nice but ineffective answers from ford I feel that someone will be injured seriously or die to these faulty and possibly dangerous fuel systems. My dealership previously worked on this telling me fuel filter and I feel know well it was more and like the fuel pump. It seem that the gas guage not registering is a clear sign of problems with the fuel pump.
I purchased a 2000 focus se on june 5, 2001 with 23,000 miles. I was told that I would be covered under the original factory warranty 3yr./36,000.I also purchased an extended warranty from the api company at the cost of $1,069 to cover 6yr./60,000.I thought I'd be protected. Wrong ! The vehicle always had horrendous brake dust but the worst was yet to come. In december 2002, my husband and I were in the process of moving and began to notice a rough idle. Well, it's cold in buffalo, ny so we thought it just needed more time to warm up. By early march we experienced stalling problems and the check engine light was on. After stalling at 45mph we had enough. The car was taken to basil ford. With only 32,000 miles on it we were informed that the cylinder head was cracked and the original warranty ran out on 1/29/03. Ford wanted about $1,700.00 to replace it. Well, we thought if ford wouldn't cover the repair that the api extended warranty would. Another error in judgment ! Api said there was carbon in the cylinder and they wouldn't cover. Finally, after threats to leave the car at the dealer or seek legal advice to remedy, basil replaced the cylinder head for $400.00. Who ever heard of a cracked head at 32,000 miles ? We had only put about 10,000 miles on it ! Also the keyless entry on the driver door would only work on occasion and the key never did work on the trunk (told the lock needed replacement) which we would have to pay for if we wanted fixed. Since the inspection was coming up in june 2003 and the brakes and rotors would probably need replacement just like all focus's do, we traded in the car to avoid the money trap. That car was the worst hunk of junk I've ever heard of! I paid $10,500.00 for the car in june 2001 with 23,000 miles on it and had a hard time getting $5,000.00 as a trade with 33,000 miles in may 2003 ! It was the biggest rip off of my life also I lost out when I cashed in the worthless api warranty.
Car is only 2yrs,8mo. Have currently expended over $4000.00 on repairs. Problem with seals allowing fumes in car from other vehicles running beside mine. The noise and wind shear level is very unsatisfactory. Squeal noise and thumping feeling from pressing on brake pedal. Hesitation on accelerating into traffic flow. Poor quality on parts and workmanship from manufacturer
The brakes have been looked at three time because of noise and it's been serviced several times. It's in service right now and has been there for two weeks. I don't know if they are working on it or if they are repairing other things or what. I haven't had heat throughout the coldest part of the winter. The seat belts don't work and the paint is peeling. The car has locked up not letting me start the engine twice, then just out of the blue it decided to start. I tried to turn in and the car dealer at ford said he wouldn't touch it, didn't want it. We bought it aug. 9 2000-ford credit, simple interest 6.5 --first payment september $456.99 a month they say we owe too much to trade in ???this made no since. Now I know what's been going on. My husband has been out to sea usnavy for almost a year and I'm scared to drive it I'm a nervous wreck about this car and I don't know what to do. There has been is so many recalls on this car I don't know if they have fixed them or not
My car started by losing power and the the engine would race up in any gear. The lights on the dash would dim along with the radio and the headlights. Then on oct 31 2002, the gages went crazy. I parked the car and called ford and asked if they would run a test to see what was wrong. They said I would have to pay for the test and I told them I could not afford it. Since then I only drive the car to the store about 5 miles from my house and back. Now the engine is stalling again in any gear. The engine light is on. I again asked the dealership and ford if they could run the test to see what is wrong with car again they refused. I just now wrote a e-mail to ford. I just want my car that only has about 49000 miles to run. Ford is offering a longer warranty on the newer focus why not offer it to us that owner the piece of junk older focus.
I have been in the shop about 7 times during the last 3 years due to problems with my new focus. The clutch failed at 6700 miles, along with the brakes, and things got worse from there. The front windshield leaked water into the roof, the fuse on the fan/air conditioning system melted, and the brake pads were replaced numerous times. Also, the fabric on the seats caused me to get shocked every time I got out of the car. Ford's lack of customer service was painfully obvious as well during these repairs. I ultimately traded in my car for a competitor's car and I'm feeling much better now.
We purchased this 2000 ford focus on 11/13/00. We began having problems with the manual transmission for the first time in january 2001 and took it to the dealership on 1/25/01 for diagnosis and repair. The vehicle has been in for repairs 4 additional times for manual transmission problems on 8/01/01, 1/11/02,7/09/02, and 2/13/03. The problems have been difficulty shifting into 1st and 2nd gear, grinding when shifting into 3rd gear. One of the times it was taken in we had completely lost the ability to shift into 2nd or 4th gear. Each time they have fixed the problem only to have more problems occur. The vehicle was taken to the dealership on 1/30/03 for road noise and wobbling in the wheel. The tire almost fell off on the way to the dealership. At that time we were advised that there was a recall on the wheel bearings. We had never received notification of this and in fact the service manager said that he was unaware of the recall until he looked up our vehicle in the computer. They subsequently performed the following repairs: found related damage because of recall as follows, left drum, spindle and bearings refaced right drum r & r right spindle. Rear shoes replaced parts for related damage. This is the information stated on the invoice. At this time the check engine light had also been on so we asked them to also find out what that problem was. They found gross leak found at evap manifold line. Replaced line. This vehicle has also been to the dealership for several recalls including the replacement of a battery cable on 1/30/03 and another unspecified recall on 10/02/01. This vehicle has been in the shop 6 times for a total of 67 days in the 27 months that we have owned it. It now has 35,800 miles and the warranty is about to expire. We have made several calls to the dealership and to ford customer service. They have offered to extend the warranty on the drive train and charge us a $50 deductible each time that the vehicle requires service on this system.
Bad brakes, leaking transmission x 2 repairs, numerous electrical probs, one "accident", damage repaired at ford expense, bad tire, noise from front rt side, "surge" prob, car seemed to "stick" in a gear. I don't have my file with me but I know there is more.
When driving the car it goes into neutral then back into gear when backing up the car it grinds the non-drivers side floods everytime it rains windshield wipers were no good both back doors make loud noises when opening and closing there are dents on the non-drivers side below the doors engine light goes on once in a while when driving car sometimes jumps into gear.. (scary) and others I asked the car dealer before buying the car if this car had been in any accidents.. He said.. Michele, we do not sell cars that have been in accident. After some of these problem had occured I checked the VIN# and it said that this car had atleast 12 problems before I bought it
My complaint is all the problems we have had with the focus. We have had numerous recalls and work done from the drivers seat collapsing, wiring harness replaced, bearings in front, and rear, brake assembly, sway bar, and have had to replace 3 sets of tires, and line up 3 times because they will not make good and the car eats tires. Now we have 52,000 miles on the car, and a pin has come loose and gone through the transmission, and case. Altough the dealer has been very good, we bought a new car so we would not have this hassle, and that is all we have had.
I have been hearing funny clunking noises from the motor at highway speeds and more recently the engine cuts out when driving, almost like it slipped out of gear. People have looked at it but they says its fine, its done it 4 times already and its kind of getting old.
Takes off real hard like it wants to die but won't, then stops. When car is ran for a while it starts doing. We are not the only focus with this problem. There are others along with their reverse going out or first gear. Every one who takes it in doesn't get it fixed
I bought the car in june of 2000 since this time the car has had a number of recalls on the car. I feel that the people that bought the 2000 model of this car should not be liable to pay the amount the contact was signed. Due to the fact that at the time the car was bought, the people that bought the car didn't know that most of the car's life would be in the shop being fixed. Also ford knew that the focus was prone to this happening.
I started to replace tires as early as 5,000 miles just about 7 times by now. Replaced ignition 5/03 for $667.00 the key would go in and wouldn't turn. Spring coil driver's side broke while in traffic replaced 4/03 for $158.50. Now the transmission is completly gone the car would not back up. Please help me, I just don't know what else to do. The customer service at paul clark is so poor that I would not go there anymore.
Transmission failure due to excessive contamination metal pieces in the planetary fluid oil transmission.*mr
We purchased our 2000 ford focus in august of 2003 it had low miles and we figured I was a good car. In october it broke down on us and it was a clutch disk that went out. We said ok and they fixed it under warranty. The day after we got it back from the shop it started making a weird noise so we took it back and they said they need to make a adjustment. Then less than 3 weeks later we ended up having it break down on us once again they had to replace the transmission. Well here we are once again. About a month after the transmission. Going through a stop light one day the car started to have engine hesitation and loss of power and then would stall out. Now they are telling us that water got in our fuel tank and ruined the fuel pump. I just found out by doing some of my own research that the fuel system was recalled in nov of 2003 for cars exhibiting the similar symptoms. The dealership where we purchased the vehicle has not informed us of this recall and states that the water was the cause of our problems.
I own a 2000 ford focus 2000 se 4 dr sedan. It was bought as new car 11/1999 and currently has 39500 carefully driven miles. Earlier this autumn an amber dashboard warning light came on as I was driving. At first opportunity to decode its meaning from vehicle's manual, I learned it was the 'automatic transaxle/cooling' warning light on ztec equipped models (like mine). I took it to lincoln mercury deal (where I have had my focus repaired often): 'baron lincoln mercury' in flushing, new york where they performed a computerized check of symptoms. I was told service writer there were 'codes' which indicated solenoid and gear ratio problems in 2nd and 4th. I wasn't sure what all that meant but seemed like good idea to take advice and schedule another more detailed inspection for possible repairs; the earliest opportunity was around 10 days from that day and I took it. I should mention that the light had not continued to remain 'on' following the 1st time. I took my car to baron on a saturday morning and on monday following it, I saw same light to come 'on. That day I called local aamco dealer and agreed to have car looked at there the next morning where their computer found same thing. I agreed to let aamco open up transmission for diagnostic work-up and that afternoon was told that needed repairs totalling approximately $2700. I agreed to let aamco perform work after having first contacted the same service writer at baron lincoln-mercury who informed me that they very seldom did transmission work and that if they did it'd cost around $2700. Since aamco's specialty is transmissions, it made sense to proceed. I am a two time ford customer ('96 and '2000) and won't permit the idea of buying another to cross my mind.
While applying the clutch pedal at 35 MPH, the driver was unable to engage the clutch to shift into the next gear. The consumer was able to drive the vehicle off the main road. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they informed the consumer, that the clutch pedal pin broke in half.
Consumer noticed that when shifting transmission from third gear to fourth gear vehicle lost power/ stalled.
When shifting in between gears vehicle suddenly accelerated. Vehicle had to be shut off to stop. The cause of the problem has not been determined.
I have a 2000 focus. I experiance hesitation when the fuel tank is about 1/4th full, it died once while turning around an offramp cloverleaf. Also when coming to stops it idles rough. When starting and waiting while in or out of gear, idling is rough. Turning corners I occasionaly get creeks from the front and rear. Sometimes I hear thumps from the rear when riding over bumps on occasion. I hear and feel a growl while the engine is running regardless of being in or out of gear or in or out of motion. It feels more prominent when the temp. Is below 60 degrees. I can feel it vibrating in the steering wheel while turning and it seems to stop while turning left but continues when the steering reaches center. While going up or down inclines or small depressions in the road it becomes even more noticeable and you can feel it in the floor. The drivers side rear door lock sometimes clicks in and out of the lock postion erratically when the electronic door lock/unlock button is depressed. This handle is also extremely tough to open. Sometimes power is lost to the radio, I remove the detachable aniti-theft piece and replace it, sometimes it works, sometimes I need to do it numerous times before the radio will turn back on. I had experianced warped rotors on the front when I first bought the vehicle numerous times, but I switched them with slotted rotors so I no longer have this problem. My rear brake drums are stock (but the pasds are not) and they squeal quite frequently, possibly due to excessive dust. I had noticed that sometimes the power window control would not work for windows other than the drivers. This has not happened in about a year or 2. I have just recently experienced water in the passenger well. Last, occasionally the transmission will hesitate while driving. It almost feels like the transmission is shifting into neutral, but more like it was a human with a cluthc out a bit who cannot make up their mind about what gear to use.
Automatic transmission slips gears while driving causing the vehicle to jerk. Also, a squeaking noise is heard when applying pressure to the brake pedal. Dealer attempted to fix the transmission and the brakes but has not remedied the problems.
While driving about 55 MPH on the highway, without warning the transmission locked up. This caused a collision with another vehicle forcing the vehicle into the guard rail. No injuries or fatality reported at this time. Please fill in additional information. Dealer is aware of the problem.
Engine idles at 3,000 - 4,000rpm's when clutch is pressed in. It does this at a stopping position and while driving. Ford dealer spoke with ford engineers and were told that it is "a characteristc of the car and is normal!"
Has been to shop for 26 days in the past 4 months. Repeated failure of clutch (manual transmission), failure of brake pads, resulting in minor crash. Have had to had ball joints replaced. Cruise control was disconnected from accerator/brake. Key would not go into ignition and resulted in key ignition switch having to be replaced. Numerous recalls and trips to shop since bought brand new in august 2003
Vautomatic transmission slipping gears while driving. Dealership did a diagnostic test.
Front coil spring is fractured. Ford motor company's customer satisfaction program 03m02 only covers cars built through december 1999. My vehicle was built in may 2000. Ford's coverage does not extend to all affected vehciles or ford has another problem with front coil springs on focus. Very high efforts to shift in and out of 1st, 3rd and 5th gears - difficlult to shift gears resulting in increased time and attention to shift gears.
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