How many miles will a 2004 Ford Focus last?
NHTSA holds 42 owner complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 14 past 150,000 and 4 past 200,000. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 387 complaints on this model year, 292 of them with a mileage, and half of those mileages are at or under 53,000 miles; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
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See what the paid report includes →Of the 292 complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus that list mileage, the middle half came between 30,000 and 86,000 miles; 42 (14%) came after 100,000 miles, 14 (5%) after 150,000 and 4 (1%) after 200,000.
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How many miles will a 2004 Focus last?
The 292 mileages owners gave run from 12 to 250,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 30,000 miles, half at or under 53,000, three quarters at or under 86,000 and nine in ten at or under 120,000; 42 (14%) came after 100,000 miles, 14 (5%) after 150,000 and 4 (1%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2004 Focus wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
Most of these reports came early in the vehicle's life: 250 of the 292 came at or under 100,000 miles. The 42 past that mark show the 2004 Focus still being driven at those mileages, not how many reach them: NHTSA's file counts complaints, not the vehicles on the road.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 12 miles |
| 25th percentile | 30,000 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 53,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 86,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 120,000 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 250,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 42 (14%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 14 (5%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 4 (1%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 14,999 NHTSA owner complaints on the Ford Focus that list mileage came after 57,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Ford Focus last? →
Common problems with the 2004 Focus
NHTSA's file holds 387 owner complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus. Owners named the electrical system most often: 183 complaints, and half of the 136 that list a mileage came after 52,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 183 | 136 | 53,000 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 31 | 22 | 14,478 |
| Steering | 29 | 23 | 54,111 |
| Latches/locks/linkages | 28 | 21 | 75,000 |
| Air Bags | 24 | 18 | 27,747 |
Of the 387 complaints, 34 report a crash, 13 report a fire and 24 report an injury (34 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2004 Focus a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2004 is a good or a bad Focus: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2004 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 387 complaints, the 2004 ranks 14th of the 20 Ford Focus model years from 1999 to 2018 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2012 (3,805). The fewest: the 1999 (11).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 Focus | 11 | 3 | Under 10 mileages |
| 2000 Focus | 3,685 | 1,568 | 61,136 |
| 2001 Focus | 1,761 | 951 | 58,000 |
| 2002 Focus | 939 | 603 | 53,000 |
| 2003 Focus | 977 | 749 | 56,000 |
| 2004 (this page) | 387 | 292 | 53,000 |
| 2005 Focus | 441 | 344 | 60,000 |
| 2006 Focus | 205 | 172 | 59,828 |
| 2007 Focus | 391 | 330 | 52,000 |
| 2008 Focus | 250 | 199 | 61,640 |
| 2009 Focus | 229 | 189 | 45,690 |
| 2010 Focus | 287 | 247 | 50,000 |
| 2011 Focus | 113 | 90 | 50,000 |
| 2012 Focus | 3,805 | 3,127 | 67,000 |
| 2013 Focus | 2,181 | 1,744 | 51,000 |
| 2014 Focus | 2,661 | 1,984 | 45,000 |
| 2015 Focus | 1,034 | 675 | 60,000 |
| 2016 Focus | 1,190 | 776 | 61,000 |
| 2017 Focus | 907 | 532 | 55,000 |
| 2018 Focus | 839 | 424 | 56,000 |
The linked 2015–2022 pages show NHTSA's September 15, 2026 collection, so their counts can differ from this table's.
Every Focus year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Ford Focus years to avoid →
2004 Ford Focus recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 6 recall campaigns that name the 2004 Ford Focus (1 vehicle campaign and 5 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 12E007000 | Feb 24, 2012 | EQUIPMENT |
| 09E025000 | May 11, 2009 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS |
| 08E050000 | Aug 11, 2008 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS |
| 06E056000 | Jun 13, 2006 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE |
| 06E026000 | Mar 23, 2006 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2004 Focus lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2004 Focus.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 95 of the 387 complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: FOCUS and FOCUS ELECTRIC. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: FOCUS and FOCUS ELECTRIC.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2004 Ford Focus questions
How many miles will a 2004 Ford Focus last?
NHTSA holds 42 owner complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus that list a mileage past 100,000 miles: 14 past 150,000 and 4 past 200,000. Of the 292 complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus that list mileage, the middle half came between 30,000 and 86,000 miles; 42 (14%) came after 100,000 miles, 14 (5%) after 150,000 and 4 (1%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2004 Focus that never had one.
What are the most common 2004 Ford Focus problems?
NHTSA's file holds 387 owner complaints on the 2004 Ford Focus. Owners named the electrical system most often: 183 complaints, and half of the 136 that list a mileage came after 52,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 387 complaints, 34 report a crash, 13 report a fire and 24 report an injury (34 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2004 Ford Focus a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2004 is a good or a bad Focus: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2004 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 387 complaints, the 2004 ranks 14th of the 20 Ford Focus model years from 1999 to 2018 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2012 (3,805). The fewest: the 1999 (11).
How many recalls does the 2004 Ford Focus have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 6 recall campaigns that name the 2004 Ford Focus (1 vehicle campaign and 5 equipment or tire campaigns that name this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2004 Ford Focus before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2004 Ford Focus.