Overview & Reviews

Minor changes are in store for the 2003 Ford Focus. Two new trim levels increase the breadth of prices for Ford's economy car; a base trim for the three door hatchback renders air conditioning optional and only comes with a manual transmission. For the five door hatchback, a tilt and telescoping steering wheel, cruise control, front reading lights and a center console are available when you step up to the comfort trim level from the base level. Heated front seats are a new option, as is a traction control and ABS package. New colors for the exterior brighten up the color palette, and the interior is freshened with two new fabric trims. Finally, a CD/MP3 player is now standard on the ZX3 and ZX5. A SVT version of the ZX5 is also scheduled to appear later in the year.

• Thoughtful ergonomics, large interior, smooth ride, sharp steering, impressive selection of body configurations and features.

User Reviews:

Showing 111 through 120 of 353.00

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  Rear Springs - 2003 Ford Focus
  By Stanton6xx - May 6 - 3:15 pm

  Four years of driving and my wife loves the car. Easy for her to handle. Gas milage going down over the years. Main item is rear coil springs. Both needed replacement. $615.00 resolution. Both sprins broke in the lower spring cup. One spring broke the second time. Micro-crack and mechanical break.

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  Good First Car - 2003 Ford Focus
  By Equinox - May 5 - 4:50 pm

  Bought it with 48,000 miles on it. Apart from regular oil changes and one bad heater coil ($100) it has run quite well. Fun to drive in summer but need to be careful in winter.

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  The Ambiguous Focus - 2003 Ford Focus
  By Zetec - May 4 - 9:24 pm

  I loved this car from the start and began to modify it. Lowered racing suspension and rims with high qaulity tires made it handle great, best car I ever had, good power but not great, its not really a sports car after all. Replaced front wheel bearings at 60k after some vibration. After that at 72k i turned on the AC and the blower motor caught fire under the dash and burned the interior pretty badly before it was put out, as I was driving it was considered a car accident not a auto fire and I wasnt covered, total loss. I am however getting a new Focus. Ill roll down the windows

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  My 2002 Focus ZTS - 2003 Ford Focus
  By Devls1 - May 4 - 2:00 am

  Definitely a great vehicle for what I do for a living (Real Estate Appraiser). I travel to several different counties, and the Focus is perfect for what I needed. A comfortable ride (and Im 6 ft 2, 235 lbs.), and handles extremely well. Maintenance costs are minimal, and I am very pleased with that. Im happy where I got it from, and I would definitely buy another one.

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  Great car to roll off a cliff - 2003 Ford Focus
  By John Berklon - April 23 - 10:00 am

  This car is the worst piece of trash I have seen in my life. After 2 months and 5k miles the engine blew out...Great work Ford...Living up to your name of fix or repair daily.

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  Exceeds expectations - 2003 Ford Focus
  By P K - April 17 - 11:11 pm

  Bought this car at 1 yr/8k thinking I would sell it in a year or two. But it has been a great car for four years and now 50k miles. It has been reliable and drives pretty sporty for 130 hp. The premium stereo is amazing for a factory model. The interior is larger than you would expect for a car this size when the rear seat is down. I have only two gripes. The brakes have always been squeaky and the gas mileage of the automatic is not as good as you would expect from a small car. Small complaints compared to the value of this car. I have been very happy with this car.

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  Much Better than I would have thought... - 2003 Ford Focus
  By hatchback2 - April 14 - 4:06 pm

  Ive had my manual Focus hatchback for more than 18 months and have had zero problems. After 41,000 miles Ive had no problems with tires, brakes, nothing. Maybe the first years stunk but I see no reason to put down this car. No, it isnt a BMW but what do you expect? Very impressive on snow and ice. Just had brakes checked and still well within specs. So far much better than the VW Golf I had before this.

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  Tires - 2003 Ford Focus
  By crap - April 8 - 10:40 pm

  This car gets great gas mileage but has cost me a fortune in tires. I bought the ZTW focus 2.0l 5sp wagon new and it no has 88,000 mi on it. I get no more than 15,000 mi out of a set of 15" tires whether cheap or expensive (back have gotten as little a 10K). Called Ford up they said "never heard of that before" but yet supplies my dealer w/ alignment kits to try and cure. Struts blew at 10k . On 3rd set of rear seat belts. Rear latch changed under recall- new latch worse-latch sometimes opens when hit bump-things fall out. Can no longer read LCD #s on blaupunct radio. Dashboard different color than rest of plastics. ps pump leak at 30k.

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  Cute, fun car - 2003 Ford Focus
  By Dugan - March 29 - 10:00 am

  I bought this as a 2nd vehicle to save gas. Shopped around, bought base model no extras, not even A/C. Ford had best deal and rebate at the time. Fun, sparky little car and gets me back and forth to work, thats why I bought it. Enjoy so much have used on occasion for other uses, have a Jeep Cherokee also. Dont know if I would drive Focus in the winter, not completely satisfied with performance in rain.

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  Awful - 2003 Ford Focus
  By Richard - March 27 - 12:26 pm

  Picked this up just over a year ago with 38,000 miles on it & over a year of original powertrain warranty left. Since then, its been into the shop many times. Ive spent over $3,000 repairing this vehicle, replacing the a/c compressor, the a/c condenser, the alternator, the tensioner pulley, & the front sway bars amongst other things. None of the repairs were covered by the warranty. The car now has 47,300 miles on it, & I cant wait to trade it in. In my opinion, I think that overall, its a good idea poorly executed, put together with poor quality parts.