Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Ford Focus

What it says about you

Opinion

Sharp to drive and, for several years, fitted with a gearbox that undid all of it. You know which year yours is.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

14 model years on record, 22,841 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2014 , 2013 (door), 2012 (steering). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • oil 2017, 2018 peak 31.8% of that year's complaints
  • ignition 2005, 2006 peak 29% of that year's complaints
  • bag 2006, 2007 peak 21.2% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2018 7 recalls 1,568 complaints
  2. 2017 10 recalls 1,738 complaints
  3. 2016 10 recalls 2,324 complaints
  4. 2015 9 recalls 2,006 complaints
  5. 2014 12 recalls 5,235 complaints
  6. 2013 door 4,262 complaints
  7. 2012 steering 3,793 complaints
  8. 2011 0 recalls 113 complaints
  9. 2010 0 recalls 287 complaints
  10. 2009 0 recalls 229 complaints
  11. 2008 2 recalls 250 complaints
  12. 2007 2 recalls 391 complaints
  13. 2006 2 recalls 204 complaints
  14. 2005 5 recalls 441 complaints

What does a Ford Focus say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.