Comments on: Ford Focus Review & Road Test

By: Emilio Rodriguez

Emilio Rodriguez — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 04:17:39 +0000

Had my Focus for 80,000klm.
Good Points:
– Great Handling car, very stable on highway
– Roomy especially in the back
– Zippy
– Great fuel economy
– 15,000 service intervals

Bad points:
- Had the Water pump replaced (under warranty)
- Had the air conditioning compressor replaced (under warranty)
- Brake pads wore out after 45,000. Fark me, and they are expensive. Also front wheels are always black from brake dust after about a week after a wash.
- Road noise is quite loud and can be very annoying on long highway drives. But I know it was not as loud as a 2008 Mazda 3.
- Water leaks in hatch behind high brake lights (fixed myself with silicone, dealer could not find leak.)
- Engine warning light comes on for no reason. Took to Ford, cleared warning light. They don’t know why it came up.
- Software bugs (windows go down sometimes when you want them to go up). Ford put a patch to fix this, but it only slightly improved the situation.
- Only one reverse light on car (everyone will keep telling me only one reverse light is working)

This is good and very safe car to drive. I feel it is a good throw away car that you buy to run into the ground. I hope to get 8-10 years out of it.

By: Flavia

Flavia — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:10:50 +0000

Thinking to buy 2009 lx, does anybody know how much I should be paying this days???

By: bruce hennessy

bruce hennessy — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 09:45:24 +0000

just traded an 08 mazda 3 on a new focus, outstanding car, it just rocks (i’m 64 years old) and have owned a few cars and bikes in my time. who cares where it comes from, the finished article is at the top of the pile. only time will tell.

By: franz chong

franz chong — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:11:43 +0000

I have driven an earlier version of the Focus and it reminds me a lot of my mums MERCEDES C180.Nice European Car to drive this Ford and I wouldn’t worry too much about the product being out of South Africa and speaking of which I almost bought one to replace a 2002 Mazda 323 but garage size limitations sent me instead to the Nissan Dealer for a FAR INFERIOR TIIDA.

The Andrew G JACKIE O and Dog in the hand bag commercials at least got the Focus out of the showrooms and it didn’t offend anyone

By: CA

CA — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:35:50 +0000

If I were you I’d be looking at the class leaders in the segment: The Mazda 3 and Ford Focus. Both run rings around the others in all of the expert reviews. And reliability is likely to be far better than the Daewoo Cruz (with NCO Holden badge).

By: confused

confused — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:45:33 +0000

TOO MANY OPTIONS!! Am looking to buy a new car this month, was interested in the Cruze but have started hearing bad things. I have 20-25 grand to spend. I have 2 kids under 6 so safety is important and it cant be too small. I’m also looking at having this car for many many years.

By: Lockio

Lockio — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:20:05 +0000

Very good point benjo, I could put up with a few niggling problems with eoropean/SA built cars and have a brilliant ride and a great looking car but I could never bare owning a korean trash heap. Not even there warrenty’s should be tempting enough for people.

By: Safety Frist

Safety Frist — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:55:05 +0000

Dolly, there are NO common faults witht he vehicle. Sure on the original LS south african builds there were paint issues (funily enough all SA built cars had paint issues with the first model) but apart from that they are have proven trouble free. According to AC Nielsens Customer satisfaction polls (prior to Ford and others cancelling that contract) the Focus polled the best in class with an 87% customer satisfaction rating in Australia.
If you can see your way to it, go the TDCi. More fun thatn the petrol (except the XR5 :p) to drive, has the best gearbox being a 6 speed dual clutch box, similar to what everyone raves about with Golfs DSG. HAs more Torque at 1750rpm than what Commodore 3.0 puts out so that means the vehicle doesn’t have to rev to get anywhere. Saving fuel and engine wear.
Size wise, the 387l (seats up) capacity boot absolute swallows most of the oppositions sedan offerings let alone their hatches. When looking at the car press the unlock key and hold down for 2 seconds and all windows come down, great for cooling the car in summer. (also works in reverse ie hold lock to put them up)
Every motoring group rates the Focus as best handler in class, so you get the safety of responsive handling when avoiding accidents. The pasenger safety cell was designed in conjunction with Volvo S40, so very strong. Suspension and brakes are all shared between Mazda 3 & the S40 so has good pedigree.
If you go the Petrol, the engine and gearbox are also exactly the same as the previous generation Mazda 3 (the 3 was the test bed for the Focus as the Focus is the more important car globally for what was then all Ford controlled companies Volvo & Mazda).
ME I look at the standard kit list and look at what they have that is important and usable to ME! Standard kit like Cruise control, one touch on all power windows, MP3 player input, boot capacity, ease of operation of all equipment these are important, the niceties that I would use are the remote windows function etc. If the warranty offered by some is an issue to you, then remember at any stage during the Factory warranty you can extend it out to 5yrs 200,000km (at a charge sure but you can do it). We recomend doing it within the last 6 months of the original warranty.
As for servicing, the average A service (minor) through the dealership I’m at is $240.00. These are the bulk of services as Ford goes minor minor minor major! So its 60,000 till you get a major and you cam / timming gear doesn’t get touched till 10 years or 240,000km NOT 90/100,000 as per a lot in this catagory. THe advantage offered by one brand when it comes to servicing of $120/130 max per standard service is done at every 10,000 or six months on their competitor. SO not really a saving, basically they all cost around the same to service.
As for resale, if you can find anyone who swears blind that he can guarantee his car will give a better resale ask him for tonights numbers :p The Mazda may give a better return, but it costs more to start with, the hyundai may give a smaller return but it cost less, are you planning on selling the car in two years? then this could be important if not, don’t worry about it.
Happy shopping….

By: Allen

Allen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:14:39 +0000

Dolly, not sure that I am going to convince you one way or another, but just let me explaina few things:
1. Corolla sales are mostly fleet – Toyota market very aggressively to fleet buyers, just look at all of the Coralla hire cars. They are a competant little car, but you will be bored quickly and it will not be any more or less reliable than any other new car in this class.
2. The Cruze is quite a large car, more like a medium sized car, and might be bigger than what are are looking for.
3. The Hyundai i30 is the latest generation Excel with a new name, again a competant car with Hyundai pricing possibly an advantage. Their quality has come a long way, but you need to be comfortable with the brand.
4. The Mazda is a better car than the 3 above, but styling can be a bit polarising now.
5. The Focus has a good reputation for the things you highlighted; handling performance economy and reliability. The sales numbers have suffered from lack of available stock and buyers in this class heading to the Korean cheapies in tough economic times. The Fiesta, being such a great car has canibalised quite a few of the Focus sales. There are lots of them out there, but they haven’t been pushed to fleet buyers, so numbers are down on some of the others. As you have already worked out for yourself, it’s the best alrounder in this class by quite a margin.

At the end of the day, particularly in this class, buy what you want to drive, they’re all quite good, buy with your heart on this one!

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:57:49 +0000

Go the Diesel.
Havent driven the diesel version myself, but it sounds like a real cracker