I am looking at 2001 focus hatchback I might buy...the big concern I have is when you hit bumps or pot holes the front end makes a shudder clunky sound like something is loose i dont think its the CV cause it turns smooth in both directionswithout noise.so does anybody have any insight on what this might be...could it be shocks or ball joints and does this sound expensive to fix if I decide to go ahead and buy!!!! if anyone can help On this matter please do so...thanx

 

It could be shocks or ball joints. 2000 and 2001 Ford Focus were known for a lot of quality problems. But depending on the price you may be getting a good vehicle. If you take care of them, they will take care of you.

 

I had the same problem, I also have a 2001 focus, not a hatch back though. There was rattling, vibrating,and shimming, thought it was cv joint, turned out to be a failed wheel bearing. Supposedly focus's are notorious for bad wheel bearings.

 

I've had some problems with undercarriage shudders and squeaks on the 2001.

One source of an undercarriage shudder turned out to be a big crack in the plastic wheel wellcover. At certain speeds, air turbulence would cause the wheel well cover to vibrate . Duct taping the crack corrected the problem easily and inexpensively.
Another source of undercarriage shudders and squeaks turned out to be a problem with the undercarriage flashing - a big piece of thin sheet metal. Although the flashing's anchors held fast to the unibody, the thin sheet metal had sheared at a fold surrounding one of the anchors and one-quarter of the flashing was loose. This would cause harmonic shuddering at certain vehicle speeds and a painful squeak when the flashing (deformed by wind or water) started rubbing up against other metal structures (i.e. nails on a chalkboard).

The loose flashing also allowed salt water (from michigan winter roads) to reach the shifter cables causing severe corrosion and annual replacment of the shift cables.