2005 Ford Focus problems
The 2005 Ford Focus has 600 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (20%) concerns electrical system. After that come latches & locks (9%) and air bags (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 600 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 60 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 63 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 62,000 miles 461 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 | 85 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 63 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 67 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 75 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 54 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 34 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 24 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 25 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 9 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 10 |
| 200k+ miles | 15 |
What the data shows
Among the 461 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 62,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 70,000 miles (95 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 60 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 63 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2005 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Ford Focus with enough data (346 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.
My sister owns a ford focus 2005, she had a minor accident during a trip to work. The car slide down a hill at less then 25 MPH in wed road. The car stop by crashin in to a rock in the side of the road saving her life from a clift. Recently we upgrade the suspension, tires and breaks to prevent it to happen. We took the car for a round trip in it we have a second accident.
Dt: the cigarette lighter popped out and landed on papers and vehicle caught on fire. It burned the passengers in the middle between the to seats. Have not contacted the dealer. This happened monday august 15, 2005. The consusmer sustained burns on right hand.
Air bag failed to deploy on my wife's car 2005 ford focus zx4 in a head on collision 25-30 MPH each vehicle. I contacted ford and they aren't interested in investigate the situation.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH with the headlights in operation, the headlights and instrument panel lights became extremely dim. The engine was turned off and the vehicle failed to restart. A certified mechanic inspected the vehicle and replaced the alternator. The failure was contributed to a faulty liftgate wiring harness. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 176,000. Updated 08/15/13