This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving the vehicle at any speed, strong chemical fumes spread through out the vehicle. The dealer has been made aware of the problem. Nlm the tire rod has loosened, the battery had blown, and the engine light had stayed illuminated. Scc
While driving the left rear tire locked up causing the rear of the car to break loose. Inspection revealed ~1/8" of lateral movement in the left rear wheel/hub assembly. Dealership determined that the left rear wheel bearing had failed. The failure caused destructive damage to both rear tires, the left rear tire has a significan flat spot wile the right rear has a bulge in the sidewall. Dealership refused to replace the tires under warranty claiming that the problem was related to the Firestone tire warranty despite the fact that the destruction of the tires was a direct result of the wheel bearing failure and not in any tire failure.
When consumer went to have her 30,000 maintenance service performed, she was informed that new tires were needed in order to correct the wobbling nosie that was felt and heard in the rear wheel, consumer believes that new tires are possibly needed due to a previous recall on the rear axle, secondly when consumer brought the vehicle in for tire rotation she could never get documentation stating that the work was performed, consumer now has doubts that the tire rotation was ever done.
I have had 3 sets of brakes,3 sets of tires and my rotors shaved(that helped for about 2 months). Seventy percent of my mileage is interstate driving, therefore, not using the brakes that much.the only way to stop the vibration of the wheels is to replace the rotors, which happens to be wearing out my tires with there 50,000 mile warrenty. In otherwords, the brakes and rotares on this car are of the poorest quality I have ever seen. So much for american pride, I'm going back to my Honda!
- Roanoke Rapids, NC, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
While the consumer was traveling the left rear tire blew out and the vehicle swerved all over the road also, the right rear tire was badly worn out, consumer was informed that the tires wore out due to a default in the vehicle which also meant that brakes were needed to this default.
When my car goes 60+ my steering wheel shakes extremely bad. Took it back to dealer and they said I need 4 new tires. What gets me is I have 2 other friends with the same car, and the same problem. Sounds weird. We have all had nothing but problems with the Focus since we bought it! nlm
This car has had so many problems it makes me sick. A quick list: Air conditioning leaked all over my interior, one tire replaced, one windshield replaced, now need new brakes, had transmission replaced on Friday, is always having strange little problems, cd player skips after 45 minutes of use, brakes have always squeaked unbelievably loud. I want to get rid of this car but I can't afford it because I owe more than it is worth. (tiresize: 15)
Tires/ shocks/ wheel bearings/ transmission struts, and rotors all bad and worn out. Dealer unresponsive and so is Ford long file on this car. Dealer refuses to lemon the car out. Totally frustrated by lack of communication with dealer and Ford am considering law suit against both (tiresize: 195R7015)
While driving on a main interstate in the rain, (the vehicle only has around 24000 miles), the rear of the car began to hydroplan. Upon discussing with service advisor, he stated the tires were not new anymore and did not have groves to channel the water out like some of the new tires on the market. He recommended replacing the tires with new ones that have water channels. He stated this was a problem with the car being as light as it is in the rear end.
I was driving on the freeway and 1 mile from where I was supposed to get off the highway my car started to swerve from behind. I turned my side mirror to see if I could see what was going on and what I saw frieghtened me. My tire was wobbling inside the wheel well and began to make a metal on metal grinding sound. The car has had 2 recalls dealing with the back tire, and everyone at the dealership seems to think that this is just a coincidence. My car was swerving from behind and the entire wheel well was filled with smoke 'till I slowed down. This is obviously a defective part of the car, especially after seeing the other complaints filed on the site.
Left rear, and right front and rear have lost both air and sidewall chunks in spectacular fashion. Tires are brand new and deployed in normal driving use. (dot number: 260 tiresize: 195/60R15)
While the consumer was traveling the left rear tire blew out and the vehicle swerved all over the road also, the right rear tire was badly worn out, consumer was informed that the tires wore out due to a default in the vehicle which also meant that brakes were needed to this default.
Tires were worn out/ pitted and caused vibration in vehicle. Also, made terrible noises. Vehicle was test driven at dealership. Mechanic indicated nothing was wrong. 2 rear tires were replaced, but problem still exists. Firestone, firehawk, 87T/gta 87H, P195/60R15.
We were on vacation and 75mph on I-80, in big springs ne, our rear left tire blew out. Our car swerved all over the road but lucky for us it was 2:30pm on July 4th and traffic was light. After getting control of the car we pulled up the nearby exit ramp to a truck stop. The truck service technician changed our tire and put on the spare. The closest Goodyear tire retailer open on 4th of July, was walmart 150 miles away. We had to drive under 50mph on a 70mph highway for that 150 miles, finally arriving in kearney Nebraska at 7:30pm. It seemed impossible that we would need tires so soon. Also, know the tires have been rotated at a Ford dealer every 5000 miles (as per my warranty) the tire technician at walmart informed us that the tires were damaged by a default in the car. He said that Ford tweeks the alignment on their cars to improve handling and that sometimes that tweeking causes unusual tire wear. Also, he informed us they are 65,000 mile tires and should not be worn through in 20,000 miles. He also pointed out wear on the inside of the other back tire and told us we would not make it home driving on that tire. Faced with few choices, we purchased 2 new tires so we could drive home to St. Louis. The total cost for this was $177.10. Upon return to St. Louis I immediately took the car into mcmahon Ford and after 3 days, doug sucher informed me that the camber was at 9 which was dangerously near an unsafe reading. He also told me there was no repair available for this problem. I was told the vehicle also needs new brakes due to this defect. Furthermore, he said he contacted the engineers at Ford and they are aware of the problem but have no solution at this time. He did confirm that the wear on the tires was caused by the improper camber setting and we would continue to go thru tires and brakes at an unusual rate. He also said this is a problem on all Focus models and they are doing tire replacements only on the 2001 models.
Tires on vehicle is wearing down. Rear wheel bearing went bad and had to replace them. Tires had been replaced twice. Contacted dealer, and dealer stated never heard of problem before.
Tire formed bubble only after a few months of ownership. Took car to Firestone dealer and dealer ship. Both say the front right rim is bent that why the tire formed a bubble. They say the bubble was in a certain spot which tells them that I had to of hit a pothole. The tire was replaced with a new one. The old tire was sent to Firestone for testing.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Sandusky, OH, USA