2003 Ford Focus problems
The 2003 Ford Focus has 1,224 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (44%) concerns electrical system. After that come latches & locks (7%) and steering (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,224 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 44% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 70 and 23
- Injuries and deaths
- 72 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 55,000 miles 934 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 163 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 135 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 206 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 150 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 99 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 79 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 39 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 26 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 20 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 13 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Among the 934 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 55,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 60,000 miles (428 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 70 complaints mention a crash; 23 complaints mention a fire; 72 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Ford Focus with enough data (765 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
I have been in the wrecker business for 20 years, this being the second ford focus involved in an accident this year. I have noticed that this vehicle does not perform adequately when involved in a crash, therefore putting the passengers at risk of severe injury or death. The driver of the vehicle mentioned above lost control, and slid sideways into oncoming traffic resulting in an impact to the passenger door and resulted in a fatality of the driver..the area of protection surrounding the passenger compartment is…
This vehicle has been plagued with electrical issues since the day it was purchased. Now last night the engine, steering and brakes lost all power. The result is now 4 people getting injured and 2 cars damaged. No fatalities but all 4 experienced their first car accident. They are all sore and bruised. I cannot believe that ford has not recalled these cars to fix this obvious issue. I guess someone may have to lose their loved one before ford will acknowledge that they made a lot of bad cars!
Ford focus 2003 rotors wear out incredibly fast.. Took my car in for a 30,000 inspection and had to have new rotors and breaks I was told that many focus's are coming in at 30,000 that need new rotors. Why??? Unless they are defective in the first place.
Approximately 2 months ago I began to notice a difficulty in turning the key when placed in the ignition. The problem began small, a little jiggle of the key and the ignition cylinder would turn and the car would start. The problem grew to the point in which I would have to forcibly knock the key in with the palm of my hand otherwise the key would not turn at all. I tried all kinds of ways to get the car to start, but hitting the key into the ignition cylinder seemed to be the only way to make it work.