15 NHTSA owner complaints for the 2003 Ford Focus mention the alternator. 1 additional report concern a related system category and are counted separately. Usable reported mileage (n=11) has a median of 80,000 mi.
Owner complaints whose text directly mentions this component.
Same vehicle, mapped category, part not named.
Replacement listings that match this model year.
These figures describe mileage reported in owner complaints submitted to NHTSA. They do not represent the failure rate of all vehicles.
15 NHTSA owner complaints for this model year mention the alternator.
1 additional report are coded to a related system category but do not name this part. Those counts are kept separate and are not treated as alternator failures.
Among 11 direct-mention reports with usable odometer data, the median reported mileage is 80,000 mi.
25th percentile 65,000 mi; 75th percentile 109,000 mi. These figures describe mileage reported in owner complaints submitted to NHTSA. They do not represent the failure rate of all vehicles.
Mechanically related parts include starter, battery, serpentine belt. Similar symptoms can come from those parts or from the broader system, not only from a failed alternator.
Use the related-component links on this page when those combinations are published. A system-category NHTSA report is not proof that this specific part failed.
A failing alternator can be one of several causes of a battery warning light or a no-charge condition. That possibility is not a diagnosis of this vehicle.
Also consider battery and other system faults. Verify with testing rather than replacing parts from a list.
If the symptom remains after a alternator replacement, another cause — including battery — may still be involved, or the replacement may not have addressed the actual fault.
This is a diagnostic branch, not proof that the new part is defective or that the related part has failed.
Direct mentions are NHTSA owner narratives that contain this component or an accepted alias. Related-system counts are complaints in a mapped category that do not name the part. They are never merged. Mileage statistics use odometer values from 1 to 400,000 miles. This is not a failure rate.