Replace the water pump, timing belt(chain?), or head gasket on that car and you’ll hate it.

How much better fuel mileage could it get if it had a manual transmission? How about some XFI voodoo magic on this car? Extreme aero and other various tweaks. Make XFI cars stand out solely due to their extreme aero mods.

Don’t believe me? Look at the new JD Powers long term dependability study and see who is almost at the bottom.

As for the focus, for cheap transportation after rebates it could work as long as you get a mid line model.

That one suffers of smalltrunkitis, which is bad for a wagon.
The Elantra Touring will be identical to the European i30cw, and if you look into the specs of that, it only has 415 liters of trunk space. Which is worse than a Civic hatchback (485 liters) and only a bit better than a Euro-Focus hatch (400 liters)
The 1st-gen Focus wagon had 520 liters, the new one only 475.
(For comparison: Jetta wagon 510 l, Skoda Octavia wagon 580l, Accord wagon (old) 520l, Accord wagon (new) 405l)

Even the Kia cee’d wagon (on the same platform as the Hyundai) has 535 liters.

Really? You’d rather be seen in a Prius, a Nitro, or a Rondo? Underpinnings aside, these cars and dozens like them might as well be rolling warts. The Prius in a particular; the side profile isn’t far removed from an Aztek.

The entire class of vehicles that the Focus inhabits is homely. The only one even approaching attractive is the Mazda3. The rest are derivative (Hyundai), gelatinous (Toyota), or cycloptic (Honda). This car’s sporting pretensions actually make it distinctive, which is more than can be said for the other anonymous econoblobs.

cpmanx:

While I applaud their gas mileage, I’ve always found Corollas effeminate. I’ll never figure out how they became a styling target. I can only assume people buy them despite the appearance, not because of it.

Thanks for a welcome dose of common sense. Having just had a thoroughly uninspiring experience in rental (high-line) Matrix, I can say that the main knocks against the Focus relative to the Corolla are a) it’s totally un-hip and b) the interior is a bit cheap.

There’s no point in arguing the former–people will believe what they want to believe. The latter is a reasonable gripe, but since the real-world transaction price of a Focus is thousands of dollars less than a Corolla, a little fabric-and-plastic tradeoff isn’t unreasonable.

Steve Biro: “I also understand the S model will be dropped, leaving only the SE and SES.”

Only the 2-door Focus S gets dropped for 2009.

The 4-door Focus S will continue on for 2009, presumably as a mainstay for rental car fleets.

What will be interesting is in 2010 when the current Focus and all-new Fiesta share a showroom. Ouch!

Do you actually think that “redesigned” cars (be it American, Japanese, European) that share no sheetmetal with their predecessors actually get new unibodies, suspensions and powertrains on a regular basis? The Focus’ old underpinnings are far superior to all its competitors that still run a bone-headed live axle out back.

I’m looking at you, the all-new 2009 Corolla. :)

And SYNC sells cars, like it or not. I’ve dissuaded people from buying the Focus but they still want it because of SYNC.

1) It’s not as pretty as an Aston Martin.
2) It’s not sporty.

I’m remitting the one about about the age of the car’s platform. Engineering isn’t inherently better because it’s more recent. There are only so many ways to efficiently package a small car, and the structural materials haven’t changed. The previous platform was probably of such quality that few modifications were necessary to bring it up to date.

And then there’s the usual drivel about the inherent superiority of foreign vehicles. Save for this last point, the comments here almost exactly mirror those for the BMW 1-series. “It’s ugly and it’s not a 2002! BURN IT!”

I wasn’t fond of the 135i’s styling, but I’m not about to pan the entire car because the rocker panels have too many curves, or the door handles are too shiny, or whatever other trivialities are passing for criticism above. Beneath the skin of this Ford lies a properly good small car for American tastes. It’ll sell in droves to those willing to take it for a drive.

Beelzebubba: “Cause nothing says 4-door econobox like fake side vents…..maybe Ford dealers will be giving away a butter knife with each purchase so the new owners can pry them off???”

Too bad the fenders with the fake side vents have alignment holes for the vents. I guess it would be a toss-up as to what would be worse, the vents or fenders with two little holes in them.

That car drove like a dream – tight in the corners, lots of pep, sticky rubber, almost ready for prime time 5 speed gearbox.

This latest iteration (er aberration) does nothing for me. They look tinny and unsubstantial on the road, and the wheels are too small (all small cars should have 17 inch (or greater) tires period)

I will stick to my Mazda8 (I have a 2008 Mazda3 and a 2008 Mazda5 = Mazda8 – LOL!)

Ford will have to do better than this to keep up with the 3’s, Corollas, Civics and Subis out there. Folks, spend a little more and get a much better car, even if you just need a commuter. Most who drive a Mazda3 buy one, as far as I have heard. For 16-18 grand you get a world class little car that feels far more substantial than what you paid for it.

I forgot about the Forenza, but then I remembered why I forgot: EPA 19/27 in both transmissions. I think an AWD Vibe does better than that! Hell, a Ford Escape FWD manual is 22/28! A 4×4 Jeep Patriot is 22/27!!

Sucky Daewoo engines need to go before Suzuki is even on the radar.

Megan B- the Civic is painfully noisy on the highway. It’s worse than my Saturn and I know my Saturn is bad.

Say WHA??? I can listen to classical music in my Civic LX going down the highway at 75 MPH. Sometimes if the wind is blowing the right direction there’s a slight whistle in the door, but that’s it. My old car was a Saturn: at highway speeds rock music was drowned out by wind noise, and a conversation with the wife while traveling would leave me with a sore throat due to how loud we had to talk over the noise.

Something must have been terribly wrong with the Civic you tested.

I park near a recent 2005-6? focus sedan and find it to be a smaller version of the euro mondeo. The color helps quite a bit as well as the fact that the car is always immaculate and well cared for.

This new one is ugly, and to be fair, the cobalt is easily more attractive.

…lastly, I vote Megan’s “power of Christ” comment to the TTAC hall of fame.

You nailed it. Their “S” nomenclatures are horribly vague and completely BS: it started when the Taurus’ neglect was more than a little obvious and carries on in the Focus.

Overall, the “L” designated Fords had standard features that made for sensible model delinations. You knew your Ford was loaded if it was an “LX” with leather and chrome rims, a “GL” with alloys and a few options, or a strippo “L” with plastic wheelcovers and power nothing.