My local repair manager keeps recommending we install new gas struts on my wife’s 2002 Ford Focus (70k miles), telling us that these fail without warning and the whole front end will break, that the Focus has a history of this. Is he on the level?
Your current struts may last for 200,000 miles. When they finally wear out, the result is gradual not catastrophic. I did a quick internet search and could not find any mention of strut problems specific to the Focus. The situation appears no different than any other car.
My recommendation is to keep your current struts but replace your local repair manager.
What Steve said. Did the guy also recommend rotating your muffler bearings?
Gas struts, like for the hood or hatch? Or struts that are part of the suspension?
I could see failure of the gas struts as a problem because you might be standing underneath them when they fail. I’m with the others if he was talking about regular struts.
Like Steve, I don’t see anything related when I do a Google search. Figure out whether the repair manager really meant the gas struts or not, and then call a different dealership and ask if they’ve had any experience with these failing.
Can you get him to put that in writing on dealer letterhead? That could be real fun.
The 2000 and 2001 Focuses (Focii?) had some suspension problems, wheel bearings, I think, that would break and cause a wheel to fall off. Ford, however, fixed the problems under a few recalls, and changed the design for the 2002 model year.
I like the idea of getting the manager’s recommendations in writing on company letterhead… see if he still says the same thing.
Are preventitive repairs for 2002 Ford Focus necessary?
On certain things…yes they are necessary…but on struts…NO. Wait until they go or get so bad you need to change them. Most of the time you just wait until something breaks before you replace it.
Preventive maintenance is what is necessary to keep a vehicle purring.
Also preventive maintenance is doing repairs on your schedule instead of the car’s.
At 7 years and 70k miles it’s quite possible you could need new struts. There’s a Technical Service Bulletin about coil spring corrosion so maybe there’s some miscommunication since the coil springs are part of the struts.
Check with the dealer about the TSB details. If this is spring related maybe (knock on wood) it could be repaired for free.
The struts won’t break but the springs could.