2007 Ford Focus Problems

lawgirl

Hey all, just need to see what ya'll think about the problems I am having with my 2007 Focus! Its a 2007 1.4 Petrol, 70k km on the clock, not doing major long journeys with it.

Ok so here are all the problems i've been told are with my car (it all started when the battery constantly drained & i put it in to the garage to be assessed)

1. Ignition barrell needs replacing (this will hopefully stop the battery drain)
2. Keyless fobs need to be reprogrammed
3. inside of left and right rear tyres worn
4. Front right hand brake pad is broken & needs replacing - brake disc has been damaged from loose pad & needs replacing
5. Left front suspension wishbone collapsed
6. Right front suspension wishbone cracked
7. Left and right rear suspension control arm worn


The power steering went two months ago and I spent a fortune getting that fixed.

I'm sick of the car now- how the hell did all these problems occur in a car that I only drive to and from the train station?? Car was never in a crash, had it serviced every year (thought I was looking after it!!)

Should I just sell it & cut my losses now?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!!

ljpg

are the roads you travel full of potholes?,it'd take a serious amount of wear and tear or impacts to collapse a wishbone never mind crack one,unless of course a previous owner gave the car a very hard time,my better half has a 2005 focus with almost twice the miles of your car and has'nt had to replace a bushing yet never mind a full wishbone.

lawgirl

ljpg, I bought the car brand new!! The only thing I can think of is that there are a lot of speed ramps around near my home and on my way to the train station!! I'm not a mad driver I swear!!

CarrickMcJoe

Had the same problems with the battery draining and the ignition barrell was the problem, as for the wishbone problems, we have a lot of ramps where we live too and my mechanic said they are the cause of a lot of suspension problems as people tend to drive too fast over them.
OP, do you ever find yourself hitting ramps hard when rushing for the train?

lawgirl

CarrickMcJoe - didn't think I hit them that hard!! Most of the ramps are the ones that you can put a wheel either side and I do slow down for three full ramps. I don't speed over them.

ljpg

lawgirl wrote: »

ljpg, I bought the car brand new!! The only thing I can think of is that there are a lot of speed ramps around near my home and on my way to the train station!! I'm not a mad driver I swear!!

i never said you were a mad driver!!:),the fact that the two front wishbones are destroyed and the two rear control arms are shot tells me the car has had a hard old time,something broke them,they didnt break themselves!!perhaps it is the speed bumps been taken too fast

lawgirl

If I had known that driving to the train station would do so much damage to my poor car I wouldn't have bought it. As I said in my previous post, i'm not using the car for a long commute clocking up huge milage on it or anything like that. I had a 2002 focus before I bought the 2007 one and I used it for the same journey for 5 years without any problem. I think i'm going to get a second opinion from another garage on it, honestly can't believe that so much damage could be done by simply driving it on a ten minute journey 5 days a week.

Whatever_fools

RE: Your ignition barrel and the battery draining, OH had the same problem on his 07 Focus last year. His used key-less ignition, assume yours is the same. He bought the car second hand from a private seller and was never shown how to ensure that everything is turned off before leaving the car because you can't just take the key out! As a result, he wasn't locking the steering wheel (who does that every time you get out of the car!) and therefore the battery was always draining. He had a new battery and alternator before we realised what the issue was. I know you've had your car since new so you probably know this but for anyone who has the same issue it is worth noting.

PS. He sold the car a couple of months later, seemed to always require some kind of work however small and was draining the wallet. Shame really coz it was a lovely car.

lawgirl

Defo not a lock the steering wheel problem with my car, the battery drain only started recently, but I did fork out for a new battery before the ignition barrel thing was detected. Feel like it is seriously starting to drain my wallet now between everything, it needs to be NCT'd & the insurance is due for renewal so I have to make a decision on it asap.

sebastianlieken

just out of curiousity to get an idea of what kinda speed your taking the speed bumps, what gear are you in going over them? and are you using the accelerator in this gear; coaxing in this gear, or braking while in this gear?

lawgirl

sebastianlieken wrote: »

what kinda speed your taking the speed bumps, what gear are you in going over them? and are you using the accelerator in this gear; coaxing in this gear, or braking while in this gear?

Oh gosh, i'm not too sure about all that but defo wouldn't be more than 20kph for the ones that you can put a wheel either sideas and obviously much less than that for the full bumps.

ljpg

lawgirl wrote: »

If I had known that driving to the train station would do so much damage to my poor car I wouldn't have bought it. As I said in my previous post, i'm not using the car for a long commute clocking up huge milage on it or anything like that. I had a 2002 focus before I bought the 2007 one and I used it for the same journey for 5 years without any problem. I think i'm going to get a second opinion from another garage on it, honestly can't believe that so much damage could be done by simply driving it on a ten minute journey 5 days a week.

there is a possibility that the garage is telling you porkies,when you drive the car is there a lot of banging,clonking when you hit a bump or rough bit of road,if all those things are wrong with the car you'd expect to hear them,also if the wishbone has collapsed then the steering/handling must be all over the place,if its driving ok and not clonking then i'd question the garage your using

lawgirl

ljpg wrote: »

is there a lot of banging,clonking when you hit a bump or rough bit of road,if all those things are wrong with the car you'd expect to hear them,also if the wishbone has collapsed then the steering/handling must be all over the place,if its driving ok and not clonking then i'd question the garage your using

No it was driving perfectly no noise, etc the only reason I brought it in to garage was to fix battery drain issue - would have been none the wiser otherwise. I've arranged for a second opinion this evening so i'll let you all know how I get on!

Bigus

In fairness while not that old , the car is still 6 years old, so a grand on maintenance wouldn't be outrageous, especially compared to depreciation on a replacement.

lawgirl

Bigus wrote: »

a grand on maintenance wouldn't be outrageous, especially compared to depreciation on a replacement.

A grand? Double it and your near to what I've been quoted for all the work!:mad: I'm getting a second opinion anyway.

fatalll

Get rid of it so..if costing 2K.....
Cheaper in long run..might get a little for it as scrap mabybe up to 200.
or try and sell....

McGrath5

Wow, with those kind of problems you would think there is about 270k km on it.

I have a 2006 Focus with similar mileage and it rarely gives me any grief.

Stheno

lawgirl wrote: »

A grand? Double it and your near to what I've been quoted for all the work!:mad: I'm getting a second opinion anyway.

Did you get a breakdown of the quote?

Apart from the ignition problem, everything is basically suspension, tyres and brake pads/discs.

When did you last replace the tyres and pads/discs?

Bpmull

fatalll wrote: »

Get rid of it so..if costing 2K.....
Cheaper in long run..might get a little for it as scrap mabybe up to 200.
or try and sell....

How would you possibly tell the op to scrap the car for 200 euro. It's a 2007 focus with 70k km on it it is worth a good few thousand at least. Was scrapping it suppose to be some joke? It's just your post seemed serious. Anyway op you are doing the right thing by getting a second opinion there might not be half the problems wrong with your car that the garage have said. If there was really that many issues with the car I'm sure it would be noisy and the handling would be compromised.

sebastianlieken

lawgirl wrote: »

70k km on the clock, not doing major long journeys with it.

1. Ignition barrell needs replacing (this will hopefully stop the battery drain)
2. Keyless fobs need to be reprogrammed
3. inside of left and right rear tyres worn
4. Front right hand brake pad is broken & needs replacing - brake disc has been damaged from loose pad & needs replacing
5. Left front suspension wishbone collapsed
6. Right front suspension wishbone cracked
7. Left and right rear suspension control arm worn

The power steering went two months ago and I spent a fortune getting that fixed.

Firstly, 70,000km worth of short journeys can actually be considerable enough. 140,000km of long motorway journeys and you could expect less wear and tear.

secondly, about this faulty ignition barrel draining your battery, has the garage simply fitted a new battery to the car yet and seen if that solves your problem?

Interesting also how the inside of the REAR L&R tires are worn, yet it's the front wishbones that have collapsed. i.e. there is no mention of wear on the front tires.

But you said that the power steering was replaced two months ago. which leads me to think that the power steering replacment could be the only cause for the front wishbones having gone kapot.

Last questions,

would you have noticed the car driving differntly latley? as in, are there strange noises coming from the front? how about under steering, noises then?

if you drive in a straight line do you feel yourself constantly using the steering wheel to keep going straight or could you let go of the steering wheel?

Is one side of the car lower than the other? Judge this just by looking.

ljpg

sebastianlieken wrote: »

Firstly, 70,000km worth of short journeys can actually be considerable enough. 140,000km of long motorway journeys and you could expect less wear and tear.

secondly, about this faulty ignition barrel draining your battery, has the garage simply fitted a new battery to the car yet and seen if that solves your problem?

Interesting also how the inside of the REAR L&R tires are worn, yet it's the front wishbones that have collapsed. i.e. there is no mention of wear on the front tires.

But you said that the power steering was replaced two months ago. which leads me to think that the power steering replacment could be the only cause for the front wishbones having gone kapot.

Last questions,

would you have noticed the car driving differntly latley? as in, are there strange noises coming from the front? how about under steering, noises then?

if you drive in a straight line do you feel yourself constantly using the steering wheel to keep going straight or could you let go of the steering wheel?

Is one side of the car lower than the other? Judge this just by looking.

how o how would replacing the power steering (pump i presume) have anything to do with the wishbones going "kapot"?????

Wicklowandy

I've seen 'mechanics' doing all sorts of damage with brute force and ignorance, maybe it was a rack they changed?

Second opinion time anyway, 6 yr old focus would need discs and pads (possibly original) and a bit of suspension work wouldn't be strange either.

If wishbones are really cracked, theres not a way in the world OP is as careful a driver as they think;)

Wicklowandy

fatalll wrote: »

Get rid of it so..if costing 2K.....
Cheaper in long run..might get a little for it as scrap mabybe up to 200.
or try and sell....

Ask your friends and family, a good independent will fix that car for a lot less than 2k. If you try and sell it (1 owner 70kkm) in that state, it'll be worth nothing, fix and and then decide.

Am i strange in wondering why you'd buy two successive new cars for a quick jaunt up to the station? The bangernomics thread is thataway:)

sebastianlieken

ljpg wrote: »

how o how would replacing the power steering (pump i presume) have anything to do with the wishbones going "kapot"?????

lawgirl wrote: »

The power steering went two months ago and I spent a fortune getting that fixed.

Wicklowandy wrote: »

I've seen 'mechanics' doing all sorts of damage with brute force and ignorance, maybe it was a rack they changed?

what he said

ford jedi

2k to be honest is mental for that work ,, the battery drain issue from the ignition barrell is mailnly only on the keyless entry models , are these main dealer prices you are gettin , 1k would even be heavy for that work

TheDriver

i had 2 power steering pumps go on mine, common issue. Battery drain happened on my parents.
Regarding speed bumps, people always say they go over them slowly but i have them near me and 75%+ go over them too fast, the amount of front under protectors you hear scrapping yet they all potter around town.....

CarrickMcJoe

You don't have to constantly be hitting ramps at speed to cause the damage, once would be enough.

BArra

regarding the battery drain, when you park up the car and have the steering wheel locked - the ford system stays active for 30mins - its meant to then go into shut down mode and run on minimal amps

the keyless system however can cause problems and it goes back to the ignition barrell, possibly a 5e relay in the barrell that has stopped working properly - ie. it does not let the car sleep

the little computer in the dash showing you your mileage etc.. does that stay lit after 30mins of the car turned off? (this would use 2amps and with a cold night = dead battery)

to fix this you would need a very good auto electrician, and verify that it is the relay switch that has failed, otherwise its an entire new ignition barrell with new keys that need coding, which would cost over 1,000

other option is to remove the keyless system and go back to using a key, which would be cheaper

ford jedi

keys dont need to be coded after ignition barrell change .they are not coded to the ignition assembley,

lawgirl

Right so here is the update folks!

Told them to go ahead and change the ignition barrell (as they are a main dealer and wanted to make sure all the electrics were ok) and I would seek 2nd opinion about rest.

Collected car yesterday evening and was told that they had tried for three hours to recode the keys and that they weren't working so I would have to use fiddly real key - a pain but I just wanted to get the out of there :mad:

Brought car straight away to another mechanic who put it up on the ramps and had a look at it - said most of what was said in the report was bull & to bring it for the NCT which I had booked.

Brought car for NCT this morning - it failed because of wait for it folks.......a the headlamp wasn't pointing in the right direction or some such nonsense - but it passed on brakes and suspension, etc....

Cannot believe the carry on of the garage I went to!!! Quote for works of nearly €2k for a car that failed the NCT for a feckin headlamp! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Stheno

What was the bill for the ignition barrell?

Sounds like a lucky escape

Bpmull

You probably just need to get the headlight focused not expensive. Most garage will focus the lights. It's really lucky you got a second opinion it saved you nearly 2k.

MuppetCheck

Did you pay full whack for the ignition? I would be slow to if they haven't finished the job.

dar83

I would also be naming that garage so that everyone can avoid it in future, especially if it's a main dealer! That's shocking carry on...

I also had a key recoded recently enough by Ford (Lillis O'Donnell), took them 20 minutes. Great service and really nice guys.

ljpg

shocked to hear the final outcome,what a shower of p***ks,NAME AND SHAME TIME!!!!!!!,if i was you i'd be reporting these people.

sebastianlieken

Sounds like they're a bunch of cowboys. Please tell me you didn't pay full price for the ignition barrel replacment. It's not your concern how long they spent at it, you're concern is the end result.

A main dealer though... that's really shocking though to be honest.

name and shame so that if somebody ever googles it, they find this thread and learn of your experience.

CarrickMcJoe

Looks like it was a case of the garage taking advantage of the woman owner.
Name and shame time .............very poor service.:mad:

How much for the ignition barrel.