Ford Focus vs Chevrolet Cruze: which is more reliable?
The Chevrolet Cruze is clearly ahead of the Ford Focus on the federal record: 77/100 against 57/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Ford Focus
- 8 model years scored
- 12,618 owner complaints on record
- about 133 complaints per year on the road
- 68 recall campaigns, 36 safety-critical
- best year 2011 (94/100) · worst 2012 (32/100)
Chevrolet Cruze
- 9 model years scored
- 3,958 owner complaints on record
- about 31 complaints per year on the road
- 44 recall campaigns, 31 safety-critical
- best year 2019 (92/100) · worst 2014 (54/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Focus against Cruze
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Ford Focus
- Power Train — 6,179 complaints
- Engine — 2,149 complaints
- Steering — 1,539 complaints
Chevrolet Cruze
- Engine — 1,356 complaints
- Electrical System — 816 complaints
- Power Train — 707 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Focus's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Cruze's in Engine. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Ford Focus — avoid: 2012, 2013, 2014.
Chevrolet Cruze: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Ford Focus prices at about $13,000 and a Chevrolet Cruze at about $14,300 — the Ford Focus is roughly $1,300 less, and they return 28.0 against 32.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Focus or the Chevrolet Cruze more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Chevrolet Cruze scores 77/100 against the Ford Focus's 57/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Chevrolet Cruze carries about 31 complaints per year on the road against 133 for the Ford Focus.
Which Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze years should I avoid?
Ford Focus: 2012, 2013, 2014. Chevrolet Cruze: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Ford Focus and the Chevrolet Cruze?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Focus is Power Train (6,179 complaints); on the Chevrolet Cruze it is Engine (1,356).
Is the Ford Focus or the Chevrolet Cruze cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Focus prices at about $13,000 and a Chevrolet Cruze at about $14,300, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.