My Ford Focus Failure

My old 2004 Ford Focus Ghia TDCI

From 2008 to 2014 I had a 2004 Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI Ghia hatchback.

It was both the first Ford and first diesel car I've owned. I purchased the car when it was almost 5 years old. I did some research and all the reviews were very good.

The car was in very good condition, as you should expect for a five year old car with just one small dent on one of the rear wings. I wasn't too concerned about this since I paid trade value for the car. I took the car for a test drive and all seemed fine.

The car came with all the correct paperwork and bill receipts from new. Strangely, the owner claimed they were only ever given one key which seemed strange. At a later date I had a spare made which was quite expensive I recall. 

The previous owner drew my attention to some remedial work which had been done under warranty. New dashboard to resolve an electrical fault which meant the odometer was re-set. The service book included a note to declare about 8,000 miles already. New leather steering wheel because the stitching came away. Thermostats replaced on the heated seats.

These various 'issues' were an indication of things to come. In fact it turned out this car had all the hallmarks of a 'Friday car'.

When I collected the car I can remember being told to keep an eye on the radiator fluid level. The next service was due so not too long after owning the car I decided to take it to a Ford main dealer. I wouldn't normally use a main dealer but decided to on this occasion. I asked the garage to look for a potential radiator fluid leak but they couldn't find anything. In the process of investigating the leak they had dismantled various engine components and then were not able to start the car again. I was rather shocked to hear this. The garage kept the car for three weeks before they could get it working again. The only consolation was that they had given me a courtesy car at no extra cost. Surely if anyone can fix a starting fault it would be a Ford main dealer? It seems not. The reason for this was never made clear but I was just glad to get my car back.

During the 5 years I owned the car it had 3 replacement starter motors, a new alternator and 2 new batteries in addition to routine maintenance and servicing. Others things of note were:

• The car nearly always suffered with starting problems whenever it was cold or damp. 
• Rust began to appear along the bottom edge of the front doors.
• The air conditioning stopped working on one of the hottest days of the year.
• Both rear electric windows failed.
• Boot light failed and it wasn't just a fuse or bulb - I decided to leave it. 

I was also becoming concerned it could be a victim of the dreaded DMF (dual mass flywheel) failure. I decided to fit replacement starter motors rather than investigate whether the failures were a symptom of DMF. It just wouldn't be economically viable to sort out the DMF failure so I just kept on using it and hoping that was enough. 

The Ghia spec on the Focus was nice and on top of that it had the optional black leather 'package' which was a good £1k extra if I remember correctly. The optional package included leather seats and 6 CD stereo player.

There are some things with cars which don't always become apparent until you've owned it for some time.  At first I liked the way it seemed to glide along effortlessly. However, after owning the car for a while I grew to dislike the soft suspension which came with this Ghia model. I used to feel like I was sliding off my nice leather seats as I went around sharp corners or roundabouts. It was like being on a boat. I started to miss the stiffer suspension and ride on my previous Peugeot 305 XS. 

I can remember thinking, at least it's got a galvanised body so I don't have to worry about rust. WRONG. Yes the body is fine, but not the doors! It seems this was a common problem with this model - come on Ford!

I soon lost confidence in the car and it was beginning to feel like a liability. Unfortunately I had already pumped a fair amount of cash into the car so didn't want to abandon it completely. I wasn't even doing much mileage and I was still experiencing failures on a regular basis.

The impression I'm left with is that Ford cars are cheap for a reason. They're not designed to last longer than about 3 years before things go wrong. If you're ever choosing between a Ford or a VW/Audi then I would recommend pay the extra and go German every time. I now drive an Audi A3 and it's a far, far superior car in every respect. That may be stating the obvious to some of you but you certainly get what you pay for. Yes, the parts can be more expensive, but it's worth it. 

It also came with a heated front windscreen which I thought would prove very useful during those cold winter days. The problem with this is that the windscreen is covered with small fine wavy lines, which are the heating elements within the glass. I soon found that during at night it produced lots of unwanted and annoying, distracting reflections throughout the windscreen. This was even worse if it was also raining.

Eventually I off-loaded the Focus on someone else. I sold it with non-functioning air conditioning and broken rear electric windows (held up with pieces of wood wedged against the glass). I came clean and declared all the lingering faults but still managed to get a 'fair' price. What a relief that was! It was only afterwards I realised just how much stress the car had been causing me. It was like a curse had been lifted.

Here's all the nice things they were saying about it at the time:

Used car of the year awards 2004 - Ford Focus TDCI