Is the Focus a lemon?

[AnthonyTDCi]

looking at all the faults with the focus i cant help wondering if Ford have made a lemon....



what are your thoughts?

[pertuan]

I'm sure if you look at Corolla's fault list, it will be just as long. The list here is not really representative of every Focus out there.

[AnthonyTDCi]

looking at the list it seems like there is alot of cosmetical things that people have listed. which doesnt really bother me too much. im more worried about the mechanical side of things thats all. so far so good with my car as far as i can tell though.

[Smoke Pursuit]

From the few i have dealt with yes, it is a lemon, especially the South African built LS cars... Ford Australia has had alot of issues with the SA plant especially with regards to paint, the paint and metal work on the cars is horrible! Will be better when they build them locally, although the Falcons not perfect atleast they can tweak the production line at the drop of a hat.

[melbzetec]

I'm sorry, but if you put up a thread entitled "LS Focus Fault Register", guess what? You'll end up with a list of complaints.

Perfect? No. But a lemon? Far from it.

Put up a thread such as this for any car, and you'll get a list of complaints....but that doesn't make it a lemon

The term "lemon" has quite a specific meaning.

Typically along the lines of a car being defined as a "lemon" if "the same problem recurs despite multiple repair attempts (such as three times in a row over a short period, where previous attempts have not fixed the problem) or where defects have caused a new vehicle to be out of service for a prolonged period (typically thirty days or longer) for repairs." (Wikipedia)

Frankly, I think this is a mischieveous, and frankly BS, thread

[20focus05]

I have had a few issues but none that really effect it mechanically, sure build quality is a bit hit and miss but as said before many other makes and models of cars have similar issues.
Should I name some NEW NEW cars that have had across the board recalls for safety issues!!!!

this thread is a lemon LOL

[ieatsports_cars]

Originally Posted by 20focus05

I have had a few issues but none that really effect it mechanically, sure build quality is a bit hit and miss but as said before many other makes and models of cars have similar issues.
Should I name some NEW NEW cars that have had across the board recalls for safety issues!!!!

this thread is a lemon LOL

yep mum zetec had some isues rear toe out which scrubed out back tyres in 9000kms, a piece of foam come off now and again and skirts have came loose and some commputer error kept comming up now and agin which casued the focus make it hard start occaisionaly and paint is a bit thin in places but it done 60 000 km no issue and all isues has been fixed, mum would buy another focus in a flash ! next time it would be the sedan as it has more room

[GSR]

Hey its not perfect, but its far from a lemon thats for sure. Personally I think its a very good car and so far no real problems. When I bought the car I was prepared to buy either a , corolla, civic, mazda 3, new lancer, astra and I was looking for a good value mid size car with pedigree, solid feel, good driving dynamics, sufficient room, a proven safety standard and servicing that was realistically priced, so I chose the Focus. Would I buy another one again......well Im seriously considering upgrading to an XR5, but I dont want to leave it outdoors which is where its go to live 24/7.

[RJO89]

Originally Posted by GSR

Would I buy another one again......well Im seriously considering upgrading to an XR5

Doooo iiiitttttt!!!!!!

[GSR]

Originally Posted by edgecrusher89

Doooo iiiitttttt!!!!!!

Dont tempt me.......thats all I need..to come home with a new toy...
my mrs will kill me

[BlackLS]

Machanically, the car is very strong.

I've done 130,000kms in over 2 years in an early model LS. Apart from needing 95ron (which I would run anyway) there is nothing really. I always turn around to check it out after parking.

The car has been driven like it was stolen those 130,000kms. Every day the rev limiter is hit. I have gone down 4wd trails, forded a small river, driven it interstate over 10 times, taken it to Eastern Creek drags and its punted around Sydney traffic daily. Car still feels very tight

[20focus05]

Here Here BlackLS
It just cant be helped LOL

[AnthonyTDCi]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

Frankly, I think this is a mischieveous, and frankly BS, thread

ok maybe i should have titled the thread differently. i was just curious as to what people thought about the car even after the "fault list" has some 200ish replies.

i am not here to give crap to any car. i love my TDCi and so far its been a dream to drive. to be honest i dont seem to have any cosmetic issues with it and mechanically its feeling very strong.

didnt mean to cause any problems on here i just want a quick idea of what people thought overall about the Focus.

[Curly]

Sorry, but ours WAS a lemon. Our new Mazda3 is great.

[melbzetec]

And every make and model will have cases where an individual car is a lemon.

It would be dead easy to find someone that has a Mazda 3 lemon for example.

But to suggest that a complete model lineup is a lemon is BS.

[photn]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

I'm sorry, but if you put up a thread entitled "LS Focus Fault Register", guess what? You'll end up with a list of complaints.

Perfect? No. But a lemon? Far from it.

Put up a thread such as this for any car, and you'll get a list of complaints....but that doesn't make it a lemon

The term "lemon" has quite a specific meaning.

Typically along the lines of a car being defined as a "lemon" if "the same problem recurs despite multiple repair attempts (such as three times in a row over a short period, where previous attempts have not fixed the problem) or where defects have caused a new vehicle to be out of service for a prolonged period (typically thirty days or longer) for repairs." (Wikipedia)

Frankly, I think this is a mischieveous, and frankly BS, thread

Agree i do!

[RJO89]

Originally Posted by AnthonyTDCi

ok maybe i should have titled the thread differently. i was just curious as to what people thought about the car even after the "fault list" has some 200ish replies.

:

Bear in mind that of those 200ish replies, only probably 40-50 of them are actually reported faults. And probably even less if you remove duplicate problems. The rest of that thread is predominantly abuse of Ford's service department because of how hopeless they are. So in fact there are probably only around 30ish reported faults from the Focus, it's just that it's an extremely active forum, and has been said before, problems get reported, when the cars running perfectly, nothing gets said.

And I agree with Steve, the suggestion that an entire model of a car is a crock. Most of the users on this forum and any other forum are more than happy with their Foci. Every model has their problems. My parents have a BF XR6, and that's gone in countless times. But it's still one of the most common cars in Australia. Go figure..

[Curly]

I agree too. What annoyed us was that Ford COULD NOT fix the pinging problem with our car. (even on 98RON) They said there was NOTHING more they could do. (The dealer and the Ford engineers). They also would not acknowledge a loud whine in the auto transmission or a vibration at about 80km/h. Perhaps the problems are more to do with poor customer service. They just don't seem to care.

[RJO89]

Yeah. I hate the ford in the customer service department. In fact, I'm pretty sure they don't have one. I hate going into the dealership to get stuff looked at, because they're always so patronising and snotty nosed (probably because I'm younger). I just tell them to straighten the up, and do the stuff I'm telling them to do. Otherwise the point just doesn't get across. There's only one guy at the dealership around from my place that I would want touching my car. The rest of them are write-offs!!

[AnthonyTDCi]

Originally Posted by edgecrusher89

:

Bear in mind that of those 200ish replies, only probably 40-50 of them are actually reported faults. And probably even less if you remove duplicate problems. The rest of that thread is predominantly abuse of Ford's service department because of how hopeless they are. So in fact there are probably only around 30ish reported faults from the Focus, it's just that it's an extremely active forum, and has been said before, problems get reported, when the cars running perfectly, nothing gets said.

yeah thats a good point.

so have you had problems with Ford service edgecrusher?

[RJO89]

Originally Posted by AnthonyTDCi

yeah thats a good point.

so have you had problems with Ford service edgecrusher?

Don't get me wrong, I got my car new and the salesman I had was great. So as I bought the car, it was great. Thought Ford were the bomb dig.
But after they got my money, it was a completely different story. I've had a few warranty problems, easy to fix ones, but the service department just treats you like crap. I've gotta go in on Tuesday too so I'm not looking forward to it. They just don't care about warranty problems. Going to complain on Tuesday if I get treated like crap again

[20focus05]

I got to say ford was more of a prob than the car was. I even rang Ford Aust to get a few things sorted. One was that I was not happy to pay for a hire car when the car had to have 5 days in panel shop to fix paint issues, I said I bought a new car so i would not have these problems and it is Fords fault that I will be without a car. Well got them to pay half.

[BlackLS]

I was the creator of the said thread and I don't regret making it. The thread has 2 purposes, to show what faults could be found on was essentially a new car at a sub-standard factory at the time and to share various experiences with dealers.

I was hoping this could give some extra feedback to Ford Australia (who do read the forums) on top of the silly forms they send out every year - seeing the lack of faults listed for the late model LT Focus's I hope the thread played a very minor but positive role.

I think for every 1 bad things there is 100 good things about the LS/LT Focus.

[melbzetec]

I think the fault register was an excellent idea.

I'm just p'd off with the leap of logic from that register to the suggestion that the Focus is a "lemon". Just stupid

[AnthonyTDCi]

the Ford dealer i dealt with was great. everyone was very helpfull....i hope they are the same when/if i go back for any warrenty work.

[20focus05]

I think the fault thread was a top idea as I used the info to inform the ford mechanics, save them some head aches and me some time. I am a mechanic also

[Turbodiesel]

I think if the Focus came in canary yellow it would look like a lemon, but that's about it ;)

[AnthonyTDCi]

Originally Posted by Turbodiesel

I think if the Focus came in canary yellow it would look like a lemon, but that's about it ;)

lol!

i think thats a good point. lucky it doesnt lol

[DragonMesh]

Only problem i remember having was sometimes the engine wouldnt start but that was like 1 in 100+ times and it was a simple ecu upgrade which they done while i waited. Appart from that the car has been awesome, i didnt think of it being a problem just a teething issue like there will be with any car, for me the focus deffinatly came top over its rivals

[scooby]

Individual cars can be lemons, not the whole model. Otherwise the manufacturer wouldn't last 5 seconds in today's competitive market. Having owned a lemon, I feel qualified to comment.