Ford Focus

Price Paid:  $17200.00 from Local Ford Dealer

Year / Model Reviewed:
2008 Ford Focus SES

Summary:
The 2008 Focus SES is a joy to own! I recently purchased the car for commuter use. The two-door coupe is surprisingly roomy and quiet for an economy car. Interior fit and finish are excellent. I'm particularly happy with the height adjustment on the driver's seat -- it gives us shorter drivers a better view of the road.
The Focus is nimble and fun to drive, even with the automatic transmission. It's eager to run, and handles confidently enough to carve up traffic both around town and on the highway. A little more power would be nice, but isn't an absolute necessity for fun.
The Sync system adds to the cool factor, but proves frustrating at times. Let the system learn how you speak before you try to talk to it on the road.

Strengths:
Cool looks, fun to drive, good fuel economy, solid quality.

Weaknesses:
A little underpowered.

Price Paid:  $17500.00 from Local Ford Dealer

Year / Model Reviewed:
2008 SES Coupe

Summary:
I got this car about a month ago, and i love it. Its got a lot of room for a coupe, an amazing sound system, and the sync is a nice feature to have. The car itself looks good with the spoiler and the 16 inch alloys. They did a real good job redesigning the Focus. Great car.

Strengths:
Looks great, SYNC, Sound System

Weaknesses:
Underpowered

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.76 of 5, 17.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from rented at Rome termi

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 Ford Focus hatchback

Summary:
My wife and I just returned from three and a half weeks travelling throughout the South of Italy by car. We rented a 2007 Ford Focus hatchback, 5 speed maunal at Rome's termini station in the heart of Rome.

The car was fabulous. Anyone who has driven in the South of Italy would fully appreciate the abilities of this vehicle.

The Amalfi Coast with its inumerable super-tight hair pins along a rock cliff face falling to the Mediteranean Sea 200 ft below required great handling and agility. Press-back acceleration in 2nd gear (on these roads you can barely get to 3rd gear an the few short straight sections) allowed passing (yeah, we drove like Italians) when only seconds were a luxury.

An Italian parking spot is one that is just 24 inches longer than the car. That's 12" in front and 12 in back. The Ford Focus had the tighteset truning radius of any car we've driven and it was needed to manouver into these tight spots and to handle the "threading" of the car through small village streets where people park in "Italian Random" style.

The autostrada was another story. Left lane driving is normally for Mercedes, Audis and BMWs (andthe odd Ferrari). Not uncommon to be travelling above the 130 km limit ( 150 is the Italian translation) and have another car BLOW past you as if you're standing still. The Ford Focus held it's own in these intimidating conditions so well I don't think the locals new we were tourists.

Did I mention that it was a diesel engine? We used 220 litres to travel 3950 km. That's about 40 miles per US gal or 53 miles per Imperial gal.

The car was a 5 door model. The trunk took our two large suit cases and more.

I can have back pain when sitting in somme car seats too long but there was no discomfort during the odd 500 km day during our vacation.

This was a great looking car with styling that reflected the European image of what they like in their shoes and clothes.

Wish we could get one of these cars here in Canada.

Strengths:
See above

Weaknesses:
Not available in North America. What are we? Second class world citizens?

Similar Products Used:
Acura 3.2 TL 2002 automatic.
Mazda 6 hatchback 2005 4 cyl. manual

Price Paid:  $10495.00 from Kings Dodge/Mason, O

Year / Model Reviewed:
2006 Ford Focus ZX4 SES

Summary:
I think this car is great. . . I bought my Focus used as a 2nd vehicle to commute mainly for a 90-mile round trip to work, the HEMI in my Dodge Ram was not the best on gas mileage. This car is a blast to drive, handles very well, has loads of features I didn't expect to have, especially for the price as a slightly used 1- year old vehicle.

Strengths:
Handles very well, steering feel is good, cruises along well at 75-80, 5-speed has long throws but shifts pretty smoothly, stereo sounds pretty good for factory (6-disc in-dash/mp3), seats have good bolstering, power sunroof works very nicely, 2-tone interior looks more expensive than it is.

Weaknesses:
melted fog light and peeling gear shift knob replaced under warranty, some QC issues (but not much worse than a Honda or Nissan), gauges/radio kinda boring looking but functional, could use a bit more power (probably curable w/aftermarket)

Similar Products Used:
1990 Pontiac Grand Am LE- Quad 4 (crap), 1999 Dodge Neon Sport 2.0 DOHC (also crap), 2002 Dodge Stratus R/T coupe 3.0L V6 (nice car with mitsubishi internals)

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $14900.00 from Armstrong Ford

Year / Model Reviewed:
2006 Focus ZX5 SE

Summary:
I drove several of the new model compacts - 2006 Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Suzuki Forenza, and the Focus was more comfortable and more fun to drive. Armstrong Ford let me take the car all weekend to test drive, which is 47.5 more hours than I got with all of the other dealers. I knew going in that I would be giving up many creature comforts when buying a compact. It's not a luxury car so I am not going to gripe about roominess, ride comfort, or lack of power seats, or plush interior although the Focus does well in most of these categories. I bought the car to commute to work (35 miles/day), save gas, and keep the miles off of my full size pickup so I can live with the weaknesses I listed. The Focus has excellent road manners. The handling, ride, wind and road noise was on par with my wife's 2004 Honda Accord EX - believe it or not. There is a little body roll when taking curves but not so much that it is a concern. The steering is very responsive and there is good feedback through the steering wheel. The brakes do a good job even with drums in the rear but I imagine 4 wheel discs would be great. Highway driving at speeds above 55 MPH is a real pleasure. The car tracks straight and the engine doesn't seem too hurried up to 70 MPH. The auto transmission shifts very smoothly and changes gears efficiently when needed to maintain speed. The radio, heater, and a/c controls are all within easy reach with good visibility. The cruise control works very well and is conveniently located on the steering wheel. The low beam headlights work great with the foglights and really brighten things up when used together. The interior is very stylish but the materials are probably not the best on the planet. Most of it is hard plastic with two different colors of grey and black. The seats are reasonably comfortable but I can't see myself making a cross country run in this car. The rear seats do not have head restraints which could be a safety concern for adults riding in back during a rear end collision. The power windows operate smoothly and the driver's side window has a one touch down feature. The power door locks work well but they make a pretty loud thunk when they are activated. I first thought the door latches were faulty but I found out with experience that the doors seal so well that it takes just a little more force to latch the doors. As for reliability, I haven't owned the car long enough to report. The 2006 Focus comes with a 3 yr/36000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and a 5/100,000 powertrain warranty. A 5 yr/100,000 bumper to bumper can be purchased from Ford at the time of purchase. Consumer Reports has given the Focus above average reliability ratings for the past three years. The first three years ('00~'02)the Focus had major mechanical problems. I believe they have worked the bugs out. Depreciation is most likely higher than the Civic or Corolla but I tend to keep vehicles at least ten years so they are not worth much anyway. I would highly recommend this vehicle to someone looking for a commuter vehicle/weekend errand runner at a fair price with features above entry-level. I would not recommend this vehicle as a primary family vehicle since it is so small. Buy a used Accord or Camry for that.

Strengths:
Excellent handling, 28 MPG avg, decent acceleration, smooth auto transmission, great headlights/foglights, super audio for a basic radio/cd player, good headroom/legroom for a compact, fun to drive, relatively quiet interior, acceptable engine noise

Weaknesses:
No standard ABS/Traction Control, No standard side airbags, Interior is a little cheap but not bad,funky wiper controls take a while to get used to, no rear head rests(safety), black plastics exterior door handles, no heat shield on underside of hood, rear wheel wells have a weird carpet-like material - hard plastic is easier to clean

Similar Products Used:
1998 Chevy Silverado Z71 1988 Toyota Pickup 1983 Pontiac Bonneville 1965 Ford Falcon 1964 Galaxy 500 Convertible