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Old 03-27-2011, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana
14,100 posts, read 28,379,066 times
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Read in a car magazine that the Ford Focus starts at $16,000 but with options can go up to about $28,000. I then went to the Ford website and selected the "Build Your Own" option. I checked off every option available except for accessories and the price went up to $29,000. They did the same thing with the Ford Taurus, affordable price on up to near lux price.
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Old 03-27-2011, 10:26 AM
 
3,071 posts, read 9,092,426 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sailordave View Post
Read in a car magazine that the Ford Focus starts at $16,000 but with options can go up to about $28,000. I then went to the Ford website and selected the "Build Your Own" option. I checked off every option available except for accessories and the price went up to $29,000. They did the same thing with the Ford Taurus, affordable price on up to near lux price.
Problem is for all that extra money the car is not made more dependable...Focus does hold the record with FORD for having the most recalls and problems of any past or present car they make....I would be afraid to buy one.
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Old 03-27-2011, 01:00 PM
 
Location: Lafayette, Louisiana
14,100 posts, read 28,379,066 times
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Originally Posted by Nativechief View Post
Problem is for all that extra money the car is not made more dependable...Focus does hold the record with FORD for having the most recalls and problems of any past or present car they make....I would be afraid to buy one.
That was the American engineered focus. This is the European focus
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Old 03-27-2011, 03:07 PM
 
1,657 posts, read 2,680,013 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nativechief View Post
Problem is for all that extra money the car is not made more dependable...Focus does hold the record with FORD for having the most recalls and problems of any past or present car they make....I would be afraid to buy one.
Consumer Reports shows the Focus sedan to rate Very Good or Excellent in most categories for the last six years. A Focus won the Auto Trader Used Car of the Year award in 2007. Foci won World Rally Championships in 2006 and 2007.

Since 1998 the Focus has been Britain's best selling car. Introduced to America in 2000, the Focus was that year's North American Car of the Year. In 2001 the Focus was the world's best-selling car. There are plants in a dozen countries worldwide, and more than 11 million have been sold so far.

There have been more Foci sold than other Fords like the Mustang, Ranger, Taurus, T-bird, or Explorer. Production numbers of the Focus have already exceeded those of the Cutlass, which was in production for 40 years.

I'll spare you the list of all the vehicles I've owned or driven in the last 53 years, but none could compare to the Focus in reliability or driver satisfaction, and I own a 2000, which might have the record for most recalls. One of the recalls was for a new speaker and amp, even though mine was fine. Another was for a piece of plastic trim and one for an odometer cable.

Ironically, the worst part on the vehicle - the ignition lock- wasn't covered, and many owners had to lay out a nice piece of change for R & R. Other than for recalls and maintenance, my Focus has only been in the shop once, for a timing belt change at 133,000 (it was still OK, but better to be safe.)

I took care of an alternator, master cylinder, thermostat housing, valve cover gasket, and motor mounts myself. Also added a Volant CAI, which looked and sounded nice, but did not improve performance.

Since the 3rd generation Focus is heralded as the best one yet, I don't think you have anything to fear.
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Old 03-27-2011, 04:31 PM
 
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To learn more about the focus google "ford focus recalls/customer complaints and see.
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Old 03-27-2011, 05:26 PM
 
Location: The Milky Way Galaxy
2,256 posts, read 6,931,342 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nativechief View Post
To learn more about the focus google "ford focus recalls/customer complaints and see.
You google any car name with the keywords recalls/customer complaints and you'll see that cars recall and complaints too...whats your point?

Bottom line is lots of people buy a Focus and quality is on par if not better now than a Civic or Corolla.
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Old 03-27-2011, 05:38 PM
 
1,961 posts, read 6,775,696 times
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The addition of options with pretty much any car nowadays, takes the price through the roof. If you load a Honda with options the price could go past the Acura tag. I don't see the point though, these are not luxury cars and the options mostly do nothing to the structure of the car. At the end of the day it is the same drivetrain/built with a lot of gizmos.
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Old 03-27-2011, 06:01 PM
 
1,657 posts, read 2,680,013 times
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Originally Posted by Nativechief View Post
To learn more about the focus google "ford focus recalls/customer complaints and see.
The Focus has had 58 recalls and, over the same period, the Civic had 98. What is more important, I think, is how these figures trend. The Focus had just 2 recalls each year in '06, '07, and '08. This tells me that the quality is much improved.


Quote:

Read in a car magazine that the Ford Focus starts at $16,000 but with options can go up to about $28,000. I then went to the Ford website and selected the "Build Your Own" option. I checked off every option available except for accessories and the price went up to $29,000. They did the same thing with the Ford Taurus, affordable price on up to near lux price.
You can get carried away with the options on any vehicle, but the trick is to try not to pay more than 50% of list for these high-profit items.
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Old 03-28-2011, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Poway, CA
2,698 posts, read 12,111,912 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nativechief View Post
Problem is for all that extra money the car is not made more dependable...Focus does hold the record with FORD for having the most recalls and problems of any past or present car they make....I would be afraid to buy one.
So, despite the fact that the car is brand new from the ground up for this model year and that, as mentioned, the Focus has had little to no recalls in the last 6 years PLUS that it has had less than some of its Japanese rivals in the same timespan, you're going to assume that a 2012 MY car has the same number of issues a 2000 MY car had? Sounds like a well-informed decision (I'll leave off the smiley because the sarcasm should be that obvious).

For those seriously considering a used Ford Focus, my recommendation would be to research the specific MY of the car you're looking at and go from there. Generally speaking, 00-01 models were the most problematic but most issues were resolved by the 02 models. Skip anything with the SPI engine (available until 04 in some parts of the country) only because it's a dog. Zetecs are OK, especially if you can find a gently used SVT, but the Duratec engines (available starting in the 03 models in some states) are the way to go. Of course, this is all from a power standpoint. Reliabilty-wise, they're all fine.

Back on topic, there are a couple reasons why it makes sense for Ford to offer such a wide range on the Focus in terms of options. First off, with the introduction of B-segment vehicles to the US, compact cars are no longer relegated to being any brand's econobox. Second, and most obviously, gas prices are causing a lot of folks to think twice about the guzzler in the driveway, but they aren't quite willing to step backwards in terms ot amenities and build quality. And lastly, one thing that the US has asked for time and time again is to get the same vehicles US makers offer to overseas markets. For Ford, that meant FINALLY giving us (back) the Euro-spec Focus. Of course, as we all know, Europeans seem to get by with much smaller vehicles than us, so a Focus would actually be considered a family sedan. As such, you would expect it to at least have the option of having all the doodads and gizmos we've all come to expect from out family haulers in the last few years.

Mike
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Old 03-28-2011, 09:10 AM
 
Location: Lafayette, La
2,057 posts, read 5,297,575 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nativechief View Post
Problem is for all that extra money the car is not made more dependable...Focus does hold the record with FORD for having the most recalls and problems of any past or present car they make....I would be afraid to buy one.
at this point if reliability is your concern you should be more afraid of buying a toyota or Nissan.
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