Most common 2001 Ford Focus problems
Share of the 1,761 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Ford Focus complaints by model year
Best Focus years: 2011, 2006, 2009. Years to avoid: 2012, 2014, 2013, 2016, 2017. Compare all years →
2001 Ford Focus recalls (7)
Latches/locks/linkages › Doors › Latch
Certain passenger vehicles with four or five doors and originally sold in or currently registered in connecticut, delaware, illinois, indiana, iowa, maine, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, new hampshire, new jersey, new york, ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island, vermont, west virginia, wisconsin, and the…
Remedy: Dealers will have a lower rocker seal added to the door and have the rear door latches evaluated free of charge. A latch that passes the evaluation will be lubricated to prevent future corrosion.
Fuel system, gasoline
On certain passenger vehicles, contamination of the filter in the fuel delivery module (fdm) can reduce, and eventually block, the flow of fuel to the engine.
Remedy: This action is deemed a safety improvement campaign and is not being conducted under the safety act. All owners will be notified of the problem, and dealers will replace the fdm with a new design at no charge if the…
Electrical system › 12V/24V/48V battery › Cables
Certain passenger vehicles equipped with zetec engines, loose or broken attachments and misrouted battery cables could lead to cable insulation damage.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the battery cables for the condition of the cable insulation and proper tightening of the terminal ends.
Steering › Linkages
Certain passenger vehicles have loose pinch bolts that secure the lower control arm to the steering knuckle have been reported.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the steering knuckle pinch bolt for tightness and correct as necessary. Owner notification began February 10, 2003.
Visibility › Windshield wiper/washer › Motor
Vehicle description: passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and light and medium duty pickup trucks. A switch located in the plastic cover of the wiper motor gear case could malfunction and overheat, potentially resulting in loss of intermittent wiper function, loss of wiper park function, complete loss of wiper function, or…
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the date code on the wiper motor. Motors built with the suspect time frame will have the wiper motor gear case cover replaced. Owner notification began August 20, 2001.
Seats › Front assembly › Recliner
Pm certain sedans and wagons, the seat back recliner handle spring could have been damaged during an in-process test and the occupant May notice a chucking, or perceived looseness of the front seat back, or the seat back could unexpectedly recline.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the seat back recliner handle spring for the driver and front passenger seats. Owner notification began April 3, 2001.
Show 1 more recall
Seats › Front assembly › Recliner
Vehicle description: station wagons and 3-door vehicles. The subject vehicles have a folding 60/40 second seat that becomes a load floor in the folded position. When the 60% portion of the seat is folded down and a load is applied to the front edge of the load floor, the outboard hinge pivot could disengage from the hinge.
Remedy: Dealers will install a revised seat back hinge pivot.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 9 possible defects involving the 2001 Ford Focus:
Front suspension lower control arm
There is no summary currently available
Engine stalling
The primary concern of this pe is loss of engine power.stalling May occur at low speed or high speed.at the time of occurrence the average vehicle mileage is 30,000 miles.because these vehicles stall and/or hesitate unpredictably, an increased risk is inherent to these vehicles.if a driver expecting this vehicle to perform as designed, is trying to cross an intersection or merge into traffic when the vehicle stalls…
Inappropriate air bag deployment
There is no summary currently available
Air bag burn injuries/vehicle fires
Information disclosed during this pe shows allegations of burn injuries resulting from abrasion and/or termal causes.allegations of chemical burns also exist.several incidents allege vehicles fires resulting from deployment of the air bags.this pe has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea) to facilitate a thorough review of the complex issues in this matter.
Front susp collapse/wheel separation
See attached report.
Engine stalling
Clogging of the fuel delivery module (fdm) filters in the subject vehicles can lead to stalling and other related symptoms.these symptoms become increasingly obvious to the driver as the clogging gradually increases over extended periods of driving.stalling in these vehicles is most likely to occur when accelerating through a right hand turn such as merging into freeway traffic when the fuel level in the fuel tank…
Burn injuries due to air bag deployment
All of the consumer complaints allege an incident in which deployment of the driver frontal air bag caused some type of burn injury.most of these injuries are due to contact and/or abrasion with the air bag and are of relatively minor to moderate severity.it is possible that some drivers May have sustained burn injuries to the skin as a result of hot gases exhausting from the vents of the air bags in the subject…
Engine compartment fires
There is no summary currently available
Fleet Vehicle Recall Completion Audit
On November 18, 2010, NHTSA's Recall Management Division (RMD) opened an audit query (AQ10-001) to investigate recall remedy completion by rental car companies on safety recall campaigns.It was expected to provide the agency an indication of how completely and how quickly rental car fleets perform necessary recall-related remedies on the vehicles owned and then rented/leased for use on the roadways.RMD queried three…
What 2001 Ford Focus owners say
Electrical system all 496 →
On 9/2/2020 around 10 pm in michigan I was making a pizza delivery, I pulled into the subdivision where I had to make the delivery, all the sudden my car completely shut off. I couldn't accelerate or brake. I got my car fo saftey away from the houses because my first instinct was safety. I grab my phone to call my boss, I thought my car juat broke down. Then I saw smoke and sparks. I called the emergency services and the cars smoke got darker and the flames got bigger. I was very scared. All my windows exploded and the car melted to ground. By the looks of my photo the fire started near the battery and cables. Ever since that night, I've been scared of fires, hot surfaces, and weary around cars. I'm lucky to be alive but it was very dangerous as the flames reached about 10 feet high. Luckily it did not catch anything near by on fire.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 Ford Focus. While driving at approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle started to jerk and the contact smelled smoke. The battery warning indicator illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped on the side of the road and the ignition was turned to the off position as the contact exited the vehicle. The contact observed flames under the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle restarted without being prompted and started rolling forward. The fire department extinguished the fire. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 02V288000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Fuel & propulsion system all 318 →
I took my vehicle to the Ford dealership in December of 2003 for the so called "recall" of the fuel delivery module because my vehicle was experiencing the listed symptoms among other issues. The dealership kept my car for 2 days and drove it less than a mile and determined that my vehicle was not affected by the fuel pump problem and charged me for a diagnostic test. Since that time I have had several other repairs due to exhaust problems and fuel problems. Now my vehicle will not start due to a faulty fuel pump which should have been replaced when I requested it to be done. Now I have to get my car towed to the dealership to benefit from the 10 year warranty that they put on the fuel system. My vehicle would sometimes have small surges. On July 15, 2005 it surged while at a red light and caused me to hit another vehicle from behind. Now my insurance May increase. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 Ford Focus. She had her vehicle repaired according to recall# 03V482000 ( fuel system, gasoline). After the repair while at a local gas station she saw a puddle of gasoline from under the fuel tank. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer and an updated version of the component was installed. Years later, while driving the driver-side head light failed. She pulled over to a local store and turned the vehicle off. Minutes later smoke engulfed the front-end of the vehicle, and then flames erupted. The fire department extinguished the flames and cut the battery cables. A fire fighter speculated that the battery caused the fire. The manufacturer was contacted in reference to recall #: 02V288000 (electrical system:battery:cables). Upon contact she was advised that her vehicle identification number was excluded from the VIN range. …
Engine & cooling all 275 →
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 Ford Focus. While driving at approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle started to jerk and the contact smelled smoke. The battery warning indicator illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was stopped on the side of the road and the ignition was turned to the off position as the contact exited the vehicle. The contact observed flames under the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle restarted without being prompted and started rolling forward. The fire department extinguished the fire. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 02V288000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Driving Ford Focus slowly in snow,a Jeep spun out of control hit the drivers side front of car spun around and hit us again from the rear.airbag deployed and it my passenger full in face. Damaged her face with chemical burns and created a coroidital tear in her eye that is permanent and permanent vision loss in one eye. The impact of the airbag jarred her brain and she now has a brain injury called chiari malformation,
2001 Ford Focus engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0L 4-cyl | 5-speed manual | FWD | 25 / 32 / 28 |
| 2.0L 4-cyl | 4-speed automatic | FWD | 22 / 30 / 25 |
EPA ratings. Class: Compact car.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2001 Ford Focus a good car?
Based on 1,761 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2001 Focus rates avoid: 2.7× as many complaints as a typical year of the Focus at the same age. It is one of the Focus years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2001 Ford Focus?
The electrical system — 496 complaints, 28% of all complaints for this model year, most often about ignition. Next are the fuel & propulsion system (318) and engine & cooling (275).
How many recalls does the 2001 Ford Focus have?
There are 7 recalls for the 2001 Ford Focus, the most recent from February 1, 2005 (latch). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Ford Focus?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2011, 2006 and 2009. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2012, 2014, 2013, 2016 and 2017. See the full Ford Focus years comparison.
At what mileage do 2001 Ford Focus problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 58,000 miles; 41% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.