Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2001 record →
WHILE DRIVING 70 MPH GAS PEDAL FELL TO FLOOR. CONSUMER HAD NO CONTROL OVER ACCELERATOR, THERE WAS A SOUND LIKE AN EXPLOSION IN GAS LINE. DEALER STATED EGR VALVE NEEDED REPLACEMENT. ALSO, NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE WHEN DRIVING BETWEEN 30 - 40 MPH ENGINE SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS ACCELERATING, BUT SPEED STAYED THE SAME. TO DEALER 5 TIMES, COULD NOT REMEDY PROBLEM. *AK
AIC VALVE REPLACED 2 TIMES CAR SAME: THROTTLE CABLE REPLACED 1 INTERMTTENT PROBLEMS, STILL. THEY TOLD ME "THIS IS THE WAY IT IS" ITS DANGEROUS?
ON TWO OCCASIONS VEHICLE HAD CUT OFF WHILE PARKED AND IDLING. DEALER WAS NOTIFIED, AND INFORMED CONSUMER THAT IT WAS DUE TO ENGINE BEING BROKEN IN. *AK *SLC
THROTTLE CABLE APPEARS TO BE TOO LONG - CABLE HAS KINKED AND CAUSES CAR TO HESITATE ACCELERATION. WHEN THE CAR DOES ACCELERATE IT IS SUDDEN AND COULD BE DANGEROUS UNDER CERTAIN DRIVING CONDITIONS (HEAVY TRAFFIC, ICE ON ROADWAY). IT APPEARS MY CAR IS NOT THE ONLY CAR IN FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM - THE PART HAD TO BE SPECIAL ORDERED.*AK
WHEN PARKED IFO A HOUSE, WAS LISTENING TO STEREO, SHUT OFF STEREO AND LOOKED DOWN AND NOTICED GAS PEDAL ON THE FLOOR. WENT DOWN TO LOOK AND THE CABLE HAD GONE THRU THE EYELET, INDICATING TO ME THAT THERE WAS A BREAK IN THE PEDAL CABLE. THE SHEATHING WAS PULLED BACK AND CABLE PULLED OUT FREELY AND WAS FRAYED AT THE END OF APPX. 18" FROM THE THROTTLE BODY. THE CONFIG ON THIS DESIGN IS VERY POOR; THE CABLE HAS TWO 90 DEGREE TURNS IN IT ABOVE THE RADIATOR AND THE 90 DEGREE TURN CLOSEST TO THE THROTTLE BODY IS WHERE THE CABLE IS FRAYED AND SNAPPED APART.
MANUAL TRANSMISSION IS LOUD AND COARSE. GEAR CLATTER PROMINANT AT ALL SPEEDS. OCCASIONALLY DIFFICULT TO SHIFT INTO GEAR. *AK
ENGINE EXPERIENCING SEVERAL PROBLEMS, VEHICLE IS STALLING AND THEN NOT STARTING, OIL IS LEAKING, THE ENGINE RACES, AND VEHICLE RUNS HARD. *SLC
WHEN ACCELLERATING FAST EITHER FROM STOP OR WHILE SHIFTING INTO SECOND GEAR...ENGINE MAKES A CLUNKING SOUND. TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THE TECHNICIAN SAID TO BE A MOTOR MOUNT. HE SAID IT WASNT STIFF ENOUGH, BUT THAT NEW ONES WOULD ELICIT SAME OCCCURRANCE. CAR DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DRIVEN HARD TO GET CLUNKING SOUND. DISSATISFIED WITH REACTION AND LACK OF ACTION.*AK
INTOLERABLE WIND NOISE BEGINNING AT APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH (WINDOWS ARE CLOSED). *AK
BACK WINDOW APPARENTLY SPONTANEOUSLY SHATTERED WHILE PARKED IN THE SUN.*AK
DASH LIGHTS FLASHED ON AND OFF SEVERAL TIMES THEN QUIT
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 2001 Ford Focus → · Every Focus year → · How the figures are calculated →