Consumer complaints about Ford Focus Fires

Consumer Complaints & Reviews

Jerry of San Diego, CA on May 24, 2004

I bought a new 2003 Ford Focus. I drove about a half mile to the store, was in and out in about 5-10 minutes. When I came back out I heard people asking me if this was my vehicle. I looked around and there were several people around my vehicle which was smoking. It had caught on fire in the engine compartment.

Good thing there was someone there with a extinguisher who put the fire out. I had it towed back to the dealership, who gave me a loaner car. They insist I go through my insurance which I dont think I should have to being that the vehicle was new and had around 4,000 miles on it.

Ford and the dealership refuse to fix or take the vehicle back. Ford sent a representive out and looked at the vehicle and determined that they could find no defective equipment that would have started the fire. So now I am paying for a vehicle that was involved in a fire and is still at Perry Ford.

Gay of La Grange, CA on April 9, 2003

I have a 2001 Focus - On Jan. 4, 2003 we were driving along in the fog at a speed of 28 mph and the air bags deployed, breaking the windshield and started to catch on fire. When the air bags deployed we were thrown onto the median and it ripped the bottom of the car out. At around the same time we had a recall on the Pinch Belt which affects the steering and a recall on the Rear Wheel Bearings.
When the Air Bags deloyed on their own it was a very frightening experience. When this happened it also scraped my husbands wrist. The damage to the car was $7300.00 and when the insurance put a claim into Ford they wrote back that in order to honor the claim or take responsibility they would have to see the "alleged faulty parts." This is really something since the car was fixed at Big Valley Ford in Stockton and it was one of Ford Motor Company's dealerships that threw the parts away.

Not to mention that we have put 2 sets of Brakes on this car in less then 60,000 miles and 3 sets of tires. I really feel that Ford should take responsibility for this accident and reemburse our insurance company (Mercury Insurance) for the damages that were incurred due to these air bags going off.

Jay of Easley, SC on March 19, 2003

I own a 2001 Ford Focus that was experiencing drivability problems. On the way to the dealer, it cut off, and by the time I called to have it towed, it had caught on FIRE! I had it towed to the dealer. I did some research and found out that there is a recall on 2001 Focus for all of the symptoms that my car displayed, even the worst case of catching on FIRE! The dealer was unaware of the recall, once I informed them of it, they stated that even though I experienced ALL of the symptoms that it did not pertain to MY car. After contacting Ford 'Customer Relations', they refuse to offer ANY assistance!

Zachary of Marshall, NC on Feb. 24, 2003

I bought a 2000 Ford Focus in April 2000. After driving it for 2-3 mo., it needed a new transmission. That put my car in the shop for 3 weeks. Then, a few months after that, it needed a new one again. After expressing my displeasure with the car, the salesman told me Ford would do a "buyback." This would get me a new car, without the malfunction. He gave me the terms over the phone, and they sounded pretty good.
When I got to the dealership, he met me outside, it was about 7.15pm, dark, and handed me some papers. I asked him what all the papers were, his response was, "It's for your new car, don't worry about it. Do you want to get to work tomorow, or not? Just sign them, I don't have time for this!!"

Tony had seemed like my friend, so I trusted him. Big mistake. The contract I signed was not a buyback, like I was told it would be, it was a trade-in. My ESP had been cashed in, as well as the insurance policy I had taken with ford. There was a $3000 rebate in my contract, but the price of the car had gone up $3000. They didn't give me a copy of my contract until last week -- 2 years later.

Denise of So. Pasadena, CA on Nov. 18, 2002

My brand new 2002 Ford Focus caught fire and burned up on 11/09/2002. I was doing my regular errands and I noticed smoke coming from the engine area. We had a big storm in Pasadena that day, so everything was really wet. I decided to pull-over and call for Ford road service. There was way too much smoke. Did I mention my car had only 4400 miles on it? The thought that anything could be seriously wrong seemed impossible.

I was wrong. I went to the nearest pay-phone to call road service, and as I was giving the woman my location people near my car were running out of thier homes. I saw a stream of smoke in the air. I told the rep I need help, that "my car was on fire". I called the fire department and they arrived in less than a minute. The fireman did the best they could but the car was a total loss. The fire department said that if I had not pulled over when I did I could have been a total loss too.