My father owns this vehicle, but he bought it for me for safety reasons, I am a 16 year old female. Traveling at normal highway speed on a dry, two lane highway with no traffic at night my 2002 ford focus lost control due to the front control arm fracturing. My right front tire ended up totally unattached to the control arm and only staying attached to the vehicle by the hold of the tie rod. My vehicle swerved into the median and into the oncoming traffic (thankfully no traffic was around). Being by myself with no cell phone I waited until someone stopped on the side of the road. A police man, officer strom from the titusville police dep't stopped and noticed the skid marks and verified the front wheel had in fact come loose of the control arm and caused the accident. The tow truck operator, herb daniel's also verified the fracture in the control arm. I was not physically injured, but it was pretty emotionally traumatizing. My dad looked up information on the internet the following morning and found that accidents similar to mine had been reported before and no recalls had been made. We have video footage to show the skid marks and scene of the accident. At this point our main concern is to keep this type of accident from happening again and to make sure the new part that will be added to the car will not be defective.
2002 Ford Focus suspension complaints
Page 5 of 5: complaints 101 to 109 of 109, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Backed out of driveway and rear wheel buckled. Now rubbing on front of firewall.
Front wheels squeal when ever the consumer will start to drive faster then 30 MPH. Contacted dealer, and dealer was not willing to do anything. Please provide further information.
Consumer took vehicle to dealer due to suspension's erratic behavior which caused vehicle to bounce around. Dealer fixed 4 wheel alignment. Problem reoccurred.
I had noticed that the rear suspension of my car was very wobbly and all over the place when driving. Real bad going around curves on freeways. Do not feel safe. Took to dealer and they said they did a "rear" alignment. It's not any better, afraid to drive car especially on michigan's bad roads. Passengers in back seat say they're thrown all over the place.
The original firestone tires (205/50r16) wear out prematurely. The vehicle becomes unsteady on bumpy, wet or snow covered roads, causing the driver to lose control. The rear tires vibrate and chatter when driving on wind roads and on open roads at highway speeds, also the rear tires were showing irregular and premature wear. The manufacturer representatives stated that improper factory alignment specification were the cause of the problems. Auto door locks malfunctions. The rear hatch door was misaligned and would not close properly, the rear window washer would not spray properly and the rear window washer nozzle failed, there was an odor coming from heating or A/C system, the power steering line was leaking. The transmission was difficult to shift into 2nd gear and reverse when it was cold, the child restraint brackets was putting dents in the rear seat
Left rear wheel bearings would cause wheel to wobble and wander. Had it replaced 3 times for problem. Informed by mechanic to replace wheel before eventually it disconnects by itself.*ak
While driving, it becomes very unstable when moving over bumpy roads, manholes. It also becomes very erratic when roads are wet. Took to dealer several times. The problem has not been resolved. Nlm vehicle starts and then stalls in am. Dealer could not duplicate customer concern.
Rear end very unstable is snow-more than normal. Dealer said he has had 3 other complaints - dealer says does not know what to do.
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