l bought my car used about 3 years ago and it had about 21 K miles on it.It is a 2003 and had 2 previous owners. l checked the vin# and it came up clean at the time. It now has 33,400 miles on it and l have spent quite a bit on repairs. l have the oil changed every 2000 miles as l only drive 4k a year and l had the 30k mile go over a year ago. 18 months ago the check engine light came on and the dealer charged 400.00 and said it was the oxygen sensor. It lasted about a week and the car made worse noise and the light came on again.It went back to the shop and they said it was a series of problems linked together and had something to do with dry rot and the intake something or other. They said because it was such a mess that they were going to help me out by getting Ford Motor Co. to pay for the repairs. After that it was fine but still makes a rattling noise. Now recently l have had 2 500.00 + repairs. They told me l had rusty roters and the stabilizer bar needed new links and then it was a cv axel leaking grease and a power steering pump leaking.The car also makes a lot of road noise when the winter tires are not on. Am l right in thinking that this car seems to need an awful lot of work for a car that does not get used much??
Who is giving thesea thumbs down? It is not me.l appreciate the .

well first mistake ur going to the dealer second mistake is u dont know about the car ur driving & how it works which makes it easy for them to take ur money & really if u have spend all that in repairs why not sell it now before u spend any more money on it.. & ur going to the wrong place to have work done they taking u for a ride if u really want to know call autozone ask how much a oxygen sensor is then cal any shop & ask them how much to replace it.. but really sounds if u have a junker or lemon

Unfortunately, a ford focus is not known for its quality. Since you have had the car for 3 years, the lemon law would no longer apply. The best thing to do is trade the car in and get something else. Also, before you buy a car, have a local mechanic check it out. Good luck.

Edit: Oh yes, as Kelly said, NEVER go to the dealership for repairs. That O2 sensor should have never cost 400.00 that was a complete price gouge.

A couple of issues u actually mention is u do not drive the car much. l have had a lot of experience with cars that have low mileage or minimal driving. You mention u drive it 4000 miles a year which is virtually nothing, the average car gets about 10,000 to 15,000 a year. The less u use a car the most likely it is that parts will start to fail from minimal use. It is fine when the car is new but as the years go on the parts r not lubricated as much & seals begin to wear. l have a friend with a very low mileage Ford truck that is a 1978, the truck is driven about 1,000 miles a year but had continual problems with the carb, it turned out to be cracked mainly because the carb bowl was dry rotted. You have to drive cars on the freeway around town give them a chance to run to lubricate the parts. l have restored many old cars with low miles that have dry seals broken window motors because of no use, radios that wo not play right because always left to sit. If u do not use it it will wear out from being stuck in one position.

l am not sure what part of the world or country u live but harsh weather will play havic on cars that sit also. You also mention u have been experiencing a lot of rust which makes me think this car was maybe in a flood. l had a Ford flooded up to the rear bumper & we restored it BUT we also drove it a lot. If u have excessive moisture & rust on this car l would say that is the problem. Ashame u have run into this because the Focus is actually a very good car we have them in a fleet at work, they did have problems in the early models but u do not even mention those problems the original cars experienced. l feel u purchsed a damaged car from a flood & it needs to be driven more.

The Focus is one of those cars that you either hate or love. l take it that it hates you. Stop going to the dealer, get rid of it (cut your losses), and go with an economic Japanese car. Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Altima. l am a car dealer and mechanic. l tell you these cars will give you the least worries and most bang for buck.

you need to find a new repairer, the one you are currently using is making loads of money from you.

stop having it serviced every 2000, once a year is fine with the miles you do.

it has been suggested you try something japanese, go for it but if you think they are any better than the focus you will have a shock and the repair bills for these cars are huge.