CarComplaints.com Notes: Even though the first model year of a major redesign should typically be avoided, Ford did a good job & the 2008 Ford Focus doesn't appear to have any major defects.
That said, the following model years of this 2nd generation Focus (2009-2011) do appear to be slightly better.
1.6
hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
101,496 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
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.
The driver side door handle no longer works from the outside. It feels like the door handle isn't latching on to the mechanism inside the door to open it. I can open my door from the inside though. I have found online that it is a common problem and am confused to why no recalls have been issued out for the faulty door handle brackets.
My ignition switch is getting stuck and it is not allowing me to turn on the car. It is hard to turn on my vehicle. The catalytic converter is marking on my check engine light, it isn't allowing my vehicles motor to vent out.
Starting issues related to ignition housing and or switch. Had to pay $500 to have replaced. Was told by repair shop that this is a common problem with Ford vehicles especially the Focus series. There are also numerous youtube videos documenting the same issue as well as several forums and articles that can all be found with an easy search on the web. My car started having problems starting at around 100,000 miles until it would start at all.
I have an 2008 Ford Focus SE I bought in 2016 and have had problems with passenger seat belt not locking in place, doors not locking/unlocking passenger side, and the biggest problem I have experienced twice is the engine revvening up and making strange noises like it is going to blow up the car does not increase with speed but engine revs and when braking the rev will speed up then decrease to break. Please recall before I get into an accident!!!!!
Door locks stick and lock. Varies with temperature/dust. Unknown actual cause but happens to back doors. Sometimes drivers side sometimes passenger. Most recent back doors are unlocked again but drivers side front will not open from outside but will from inside. When it was back doors would not open from inside or out. Does not make a difference if moving or not. This started with the back passenger side door and then switched to driver side over a year ago and has been an ongoing issue for me. The passenger side finally released a couple weeks ago but drivers side was still locked. After a trip shopping I hit the lock switch by accident and door unlocked. After I opened the door it did not want to latch. I finally got it to close after messing with the lock between compressed air, pb blaster and grease. Both back doors are free now but my drivers side front door will not open from the outside now. It does not seem to be locked but its not working right. The back passenger was very similar but it freed itself. Not so sure I will have any luck with the new issue.
- Addison, ME, USA
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Our car in Feb 2017 while driving on road suddenly stopped with all the dashboard lights on. Car got stuck and we could not start engine in next few mins. After few mins everything back to normal. We started driving again. Same problem again. Took car to local shop. They said serious problem bit where they could not diagnose. Next went to invergrove Ford dealer. Same issue happened in front of them. They did something. Gave car back. But again same problem. We called them again and this time they had similar experience while driving car back to shop. But after going there they could not reproduce problem. So they said to take car back but advised to be careful while driving as car might stop anytime
While driving the car it shifts hard into gears and then it doesn't want to stay in 4th gear while driving down the highway. It down shifts and then wants to run 3,000 or higher rpms while driving 60 mph down the highway.
2008 Ford Focus does not accelerate properly or stalls randomly. On multiple occasions I was in traffic on both city streets and highways and nearly got hit more than once. I had the PCM replaced by a certified Ford mechanic in 11/14, it had a two year warranty. In 1/16 it began doing the same thing. It had to be replaced in 4/16. After replacing the PCM at a Ford dealership the second time my car stalled out on me the next day. The PCM code was the same at each location (code P00607). Both PCM's were purchased from Ford brand new. I am now being told by the Ford dealership that the following code (P0320) was obtained. They indicated the following work needs to be done in the amount of $575: The cost of the repairs include: Tune up is $260 this includes spark plugs, spark plug boots, and 2 ignition coils and the labor to install them. The cost to replaced the valve cover gasket that is leaking oil into the spark plug valleys is $315 this includes the parts and labor. (spark plug valleys #3 and #4 have oil in them.) my concern is that this was never a PCM issue; however, it is something else feeding misinformation to the PCM to send inaccurate codes to the entire system. The probability of three PCM's being faulty in 1 year is not likely. This vehicle has stalled in traffic on more than one occasion and is a risk to others and myself on the roads. I have grave concerns regarding the reliability and safety of the 2008 Ford Focus SE. Ford needs to investigate and correct this safety issue.
2008 Ford Focus - 2 dr driver door only keyed entry point... locked car came back...door wouldn't open with key.called roadside assistance after the 1st time just left unlocked. Took car for oil change forgot to tell them don't lock and of course they locked when done.had to call road side assistance to get it unlocked. This is really unsafe is there a recall on this.
The electronic door locks began to seize up over the course of about a year. Now only one door will lock and unlock using the electronic locking system. The doors can be locked and unlocked manually by pulling and pushing on the plastic manual door locks.
Car stalled in traffic and I could not get it started. Started having problems with the ignition to get the car started. Have to keep the key pushed in, straighten the steering wheel to get it started and sometimes would take 10 times. Not a good thing in traffic. Took it to a dealer and found out that there was a missing screw in an enclosed crimped area of the housing for the ignition which I was then told that was impossible except for an assembly error. Was told there was no way it could have fallen out. We have a stick shift so it is very easy to stall it while in traffic if not paying attention. We almost got hit because we could not get it started. This problem starting it has gone on for some time, but it had continued to get worse. Was told this one screw holds the housing in place so the key works properly.
Manual door latches on 4-door, key entry. Use of key to gain entry on both front doors began a gradual failure. Had to work the key, apply pressure to the doors, etc, until both locks failed to open with key. Twice had put children in the car, accidentally locked doors, then unable to open doors with keys. Ford says it isn't covered by warranty, althought the problems first started appearing when the car was only 2 years old. For the past 2 years, had to leave the vehicle unlocked. Eventually had an auto body man disassmble the doors, lube the lathes, and the work again, althought they are starting to work intermittently again. New latches are $120 to $160 each if you can find them.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Kansas City, MO, USA