Pop the hood of the new Ford Focus and you'll see an infestation of duct tape worms. Every wire is wrapped in black duct tape. And the thing is, Ford didn't even try to hide it. There's no flash-casted plastic cover to hide the Focus' handmade electrical insulation. I mean, how much would that have cost FoMoCo? Five bucks? What's more, the duct tape I discovered in the economy car's engine bay was already unfurling. That's worrying. But it's nowhere near as disquieting as the overarching Scrooge You cynicism informing every nut, bolt and rock hard panel of this po-faced makeover. What’s worse, the new Ford Focus looks atrocious.
When Ford reskinned the Focus to take-on the bevy of B-class beauties prospering from the patronage of economy-minded American car buyers, who’d a thunk they’d use the Medusa-esque Chrysler Sebring as a template? The resemblance is uncanny– and ungodly. The domestic sedans share the same dopey proportions; simmer surfacing, inelegant side and hood strakes; flared and squared wheel arches and what-the-Hell-do-we-do now? rear side glass. Encountering the Focus for the first time is like discovering that a short, fat, balding Elvis imitator has a less attractive twin.
The second time you clap eyes on the “new” Focus the detailing delivers the disastrous denouement. The front end is a dog’s breakfast; incomplete with a two-blade grill (the Fusion, Taurus and Edge get three) and a front bumper sculpted with a Play-Doh knife, that stands proud of the body only in the literal sense. The Focus’ side air vents are an unintentionally hilarious affectation hearkening back to the days when rear wings adorned econoboxes. And I’m not saying the back end is frumpy and ungainly– just in case you think Ugly Betty is a babe.
If Sam’s Club made an interior, this would be it: all the right bits in the right places without any color, style or comfort. Mind you, my tester was an SE stripper: no ambient lighting, all-weather floor mats or fancy SYNC™ system to tell your pacemaker to connect with your iPhone, stat. More importantly, the Focus’ steering wheel doesn’t adjust for reach and there’s so little rear seat legroom that the front seat backs are stuffed with ground-up Nerf balls.
All this would be forgivable– no wait, it isn’t. Save Chevy's Aveo, every other economy car's cabin has a little something to recommend it. The Focus doesn’t. Sure, Ford’s erstwhile designers have eliminated the previous model’s egregious ergonomics, but the old gauges were more practical and attractive, and the stereo and climate controls weren't identical. The new Focus’ interior may be wildly inoffensive, but it reeks of cheap.
Nobody who’d buy a Focus would expect it to be anything other than frugal. And it isn’t. Yes, the Focus’ 2.0-liter Duratec is a smooth and parsimonious mill (helped by spare tire deletion). But the four banger is plenty loud, with a sonic signature that’s about as appealing as a motel vacuum cleaner. (At 4:30am.) The hard-as-nails Hankook all-season rubber adds to the din, which includes an unpleasant graunching noise (and burning brake smell) whenever you beat the Focus’ rear drums.
On the positive side, the Focus’ steering rack is a delight, with perfect weighting, a well-judged turning ratio and more-than-merely adequate road feel. Whether you’re crossing four lanes of highway traffic or fighting for supremacy in the supermarket parking lot, the car goes exactly where you point it. The Focus’ eight-year-old chassis’ motions are also well controlled, with minimal body lean or nose dive. As a result, the sedan isn’t entirely corner-aversive.
But with such little pep on tap, cheap shoes and more understeer than a freight train, who cares? By the time you get a Focus up to speed, the tires have already answered the Deliverance-style inquiry into porcine imitation. In case you were wondering, buying a Focus SE for driving pleasure is like purchasing a Ferrari 599 for mechanical reliability.
The Focus’ ride quality is the more important consideration; Ford’s normally masterful chassis tuners have got the balance between “Euro-inspired” handling and American-style comfort exactly wrong. You don't tip over, but you feel every lump and bump. The physical sensations are muffled, but there they are, entering the cabin like the report of distant cannon fire. There’s no glossing over the fact that the Focus’ aged underpinnings have outlived their usefulness; they give the car’s dynamics the mien of mean.
My biggest problem with the new Ford Focus isn’t the new Ford Focus. It’s the Mazda3. For a couple grand more than the box-fresh Ford, you get coherent exterior style, a classy cabin, an adult-compatible rear compartment, a better sounding powerplant, vastly superior handling, greater residuals and an engine bay without a trace of duct tape. Considering Ford’s relationship with Mazda and their long history of badge-engineering… Oh well. I guess Ford just couldn’t admit they’ve lost Focus.
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Proof positive that America today hasn’t the first clue about how to design a decent car. The mk1 Focus (from Europe) was excellent and significantly advanced quality in this segment (and was truly a revelation after various incarnations of the Escort). Instead of making the sensible choice of bringing the very good (though not quite so game-changing) Europe mk2 Focus stateside, FoMoCo made the bizarre decision to rework the mk1. This may have made good sense financially, but having “improved” the design the result is a car that’s worse, not better.
I quote from the Detroit News:
“This could be the finest small vehicle that Ford has ever produced,” Mulally said during a speech to mark the formal start of production at the Wayne Stamping and Assembly Plant. “This is the vehicle for the next generation.”
Ford’s toast.
Robert,
Thanks for validating my nomination (or reiteration) of this car as a TWAT.
I’ll state again that this slap-in-the-face is exacerbated by seeing new S40 and Mazda3 models driving around everywhere. Ford reportedly wanted to keep the price down by a grand or two (by sticking with the old platform), which I’ve always thought was a bad way to emphasize that they didn’t have anything else to fill the true “entry compact” segment.
EDIT: This just showed up on fark. Get ready for some hits!
Back in September 2006 my wife and I bought an ‘07 Focus 4-dr SES to compliment my ‘05 F150.
I had not yet seen the pictures of the new ‘08 Focus until about six months later. At first sight I thought, “hideous” and “fugly”.
C’mon, Fomoco, you can do much better. Our ‘07 has clean lines, coherent design and yes, a cheapy-cheep dash. But it handles very well, is quiet and we get compliments on it weekly… I don’t think this ‘08 will.
Now now, Robert. You’ve clearly not been paying attention, or drinking enough of Ford’s cool-aid. According to them, the Focus has a “redesigned cabin (that) delivers improved craftsmanship and comfort along with added flexibility and storage.”
And “new suspension tuning and chassis refinements improve an already rewarding and dynamic driving experience.”
I direct your attention also to these words:
“We designed this Focus to prove that inexpensive does not have to mean cheap.” Peter Horbury executive director of Design, North America
“Focus is improved in every aspect – the way it looks inside and out and the features it offers.” Derrick Kuzak group vice president of Global Product Development.
*boggle*
Rental fleets will rejoice when Ford has to offload the majority of sales to them. The Aveos, Cobalts, Corollas and Ions were getting long in the tooth.
What is so dissappointing is Ford could have done a progressive improvement to a decent platform. Instead they swung for the fences – rather a major foul ball. To sum it up…Mullaly must think this is the Way Fordward using its Boweled Moves.
You know, Ford US moan that they can’t bring Euro Focuses to the United States for (pick whatever reason you like). However, maybe Ford are missing a trick here. Instead of shipping the cars from Europe to North America, why don’t they ship the ENGINEERS from Europe to the United States?
To my knowledge, Fords in Europe are designed by Germans, built by Belgians and Spaniards, marketed by Brits and retains Ford’s trademark cheap materials. Somehow, it appears to be a winning formula, so why don’t Ford NA bring those people over to the United States and use their expertise to create the NEXT US Ford Focus (if Ford survive that long). As long as Ford US have the design plans from people who (appear) to know what they’re doing, I can’t see what the problem will be?
But all this aside, I really don’t know what the wonder is about Euro Fords. They’re not very good cars (Admittedly, I’ve driven the last generation Mondeo, not the current model). I really want to drive a Us Ford to see how bad they really are. Ford really should kill their engineering department and outsource that function to Mazda. In fact, here’s a thought:
Give the engineering to Mazda, the build quality to Volvo, the design to Jaguar and Land Rover and have Ford as a brand. At least this way, Ford could have a buyable car on the market?
Honestly, I was shocked when I saw the new styling on this horrible pig of a car. I think the Fusion a rather sexy ride and even the Taurus looks pretty sharp. I found the previous Focus attractive and a decent bang-for-the-buck car, what with the great mileage and handsome hatchback. This car is one of those that throws my mind into disarray when I realize anyone at all will consider it the best option when it comes time to buy. Why would anyone ever lay down, say, $14,000 when a 2-year old used Civic or even a lightly used Fusion will cost the same? Not to even mention the thousands of other cars that even 4 years used with high mileage come out as a better deal than this miserable effort.
p.s. “Does not bad equal quite good?” is the best caption ever.
Link to the eurofocus “minisite”.
Euro Focus
The real reason we get a restyled original chassis Focus vs the C1 is the labor costs. I read somewhere that Ford loses $3000 on every Focus built, which just happens to coincide with the $3000 rebates on the 2007 model. If the C1 chassis does cost more to build, Ford would potentially lose that much more. But, you say, if it was a better car people would pay more for it! Well, maybe yes, maybe no. My experience is that no matter the model, Ford customers, even the loyalists, want a rock bottom price and expect a huge discount off MSRP. Many are very disappointed when I tell them there is “only” a $1000 rebate. A suddenly spectacular all new Focus may not automatically equate to buyers willing to buy at the MSRP.
Remember, those labor costs are part of the reason that Ford loses $3000 on each Focus is that they have to build them in the US to count for the CAFE fuel economy rules.
My experience is that no matter the model, Ford customers, even the loyalists, want a rock bottom price and expect a huge discount off MSRP. Many are very disappointed when I tell them there is “only” a $1000 rebate. A suddenly spectacular all new Focus may not automatically equate to buyers willing to buy at the MSRP.
And that could very well be the downfall of Detroit. They fostered a culture of rebates and incentives. They sealed the deal when they made cheaper cars to compensate.
Oh well, at least the “new” Focus’ steering is still nice. That was always my fav part of the car.
I think SVT Foci prices just shot through the roof. That right there was a great little car.
This is a dog, Ford has to fire J Mays soon, and start putting some style back into their vehicles, it looks like an old saturn and must surely win the TWAT award for the car and for Ford building it, what a bunch of…
Katie, the design team in europe is a european mix, but there are many brits there thank god.
Ford won’t have to worry about losing $3000 on each Focus any longer since these won’t sell period. If anyone I knew ever came home in one of these I would disown them. Truly sad to see this hitting the streets.
If they had to use the old chassis but styled it to be pleasing to the eye then many would have been fooled into buying one of these. If they want to make their cars butt ugly then they need a superb chassis to overcome the ugly a la Toyota. FORD drops the balls big time on both fronts.
Wow, they managed to out-cobalt the Cobalt.
That hideous expanse of dash plastic reminds me of a 90’s era “boom box” — just needs the front speakers mounted about 10″ apart on the passenger side.
Since I utterly loathe this car and have said as much several times, I’ll say one good thing about it..it didn’t get bigger or heavier!
As a recent Mazda3 buyer (Saturday actually), I am dumbfounded that Ford chose to revisit the parts bucket rather than simply rebadge the M3 into the Focus.
For less than $17K I got a car with exceptional handling, build quality and an almost lux interior. This car is really that good. Mazda seems to being doing so many things right whereas Ford keeps finding new new ways to shoot itself in the foot (Renamed Taurus, New Focus are a couple of prime examples).
Folks – IMHO if you are in the market for a car in this segment, not only should you skip the new Focus, you should pass on the Civic, Jetta, Rabbit, Corolla, Imprezza, Elantra, Matrix/Vibe, etc and test drive the Mazda3. It truly sets the standard in this segment. I am still amazed when driving this car, and looking around at my environment, that I am in a $17K car and not some BMW or VW.
Ford is seriously missing the mark on this one. There new line up is so blandly styled it looks like a line of coffee makers from Black and Decker. Apparently they are ignoring what everyone wants and is focusing on the mentality that ‘mericans want cheap, reliable, appliance like cars.
Maybe they just like insulting us and kicking us in the junk. They are basically telling us, “Yeah, we could bring over the mkII focus from Europe, but we don’t give a crap about you.”
My own mad libs style review form for most new American cars: (insert name of American car manufacturer) has released the new (insert name of once liked model). While the interior has been completely redesigned it (insert metaphor to demonstrate how awful the interior is even compared to a rotting camel carcase). The redesigned exterior is (insert comment on the overall blandness, possibly mentioning cauliflower). The handling and performance (insert commentary on how it isn’t that bad, if compared to a 1970’s era econobox, then go on to describe how little character it has compared to Keanu Reeves).
Remember, those labor costs are part of the reason that Ford loses $3000 on each Focus is that they have to build them in the US to count for the CAFE fuel economy rules.
Canadian and Mexican built vehicles are considered domestic vehicles thanks to NAFTA, so Ford corporate fuel economy was unchanged from moving Foci production from Mexico to Michigan.
I think the real reason for the move is that the Mexican plant had a better history of quality assembly and so was designated to build the Fusion/Milan/MKZ, which has worked out very nicely.
Is that the first 1-star on TTAC?
Thanks Robert for sacrificing yourself to test this, uh, car.
Now I understand why those execs are paid so much: with the amount of bull and lies they tell everyday, it must take that much $$ to assuage their conscience.
Good luck marketing Ford products, Mr. Farley.
What a joke. It could pass as a Hyundai Accent.
Edit: Sorry Hyundai – I think you make a better car.
re: the comment about bringing European engineers to build a US-domestic Focus…..
I highly doubt that the Dearborn-folks who work on the Focus design/engineering/interior team spend their FoMoCo employee discount on a Focus as a daily ride…..probably all drive Explorers or Edges.
That’s the real problem with Sebring/Focus/Taurus…..GM/Ford/Chrysler are truck/SUV companies. Their engineers are truck/SUV people. The companies and its people just have no concept of a good small car.
Solution: anyone who works on Ford’s small car design team must drive a Focus as their daily ride…..improvements should follow (at least that’s what common sense would guess).
Sajeev – too true, the domestic’s habit of discounting has created a customer demographic that expects deep discounts and incentives (but are at least less fussy about quality). In effect this has damaged their brands and has resulted in some of the accounting led design efforts we have seen from them. They have to keep costs low as they have to be significantly cheaper than the foreign brands in order to meet their demographic’s expectations. So on one hand they need to improve the quality of their products to expand their customer base but on the other hand they have to keep it cheap cheap cheap to maintain their current customers. It’s a deep hole to be digging yourself out of.
1 Star? Okay so the exterior is ugly. I'll give you that one. And to be fair I haven't driven the 08. But I own an 05 Focus and it easily outclasses most competitors in this class.
Admittedly the Mazda 3 and Honda Civic are much better, but they also cost $2,000 more and while more refined they don't give you that raw driving feel. Actually when Top Gear reviewed the Mazda 3, they said they prefered the old Focus more.
Maybe this new one has lost a little bit of Fun that made the original Focus so great, but in a class with vehicles like the Corolla, it's still a good choice for many customers.
Bah. Next year I’ll be looking for a commuter car. This won’t even make the list. Too bad, I’ve owned a lot of Fords – always seemed to be able to find a decent car for a decent price.
For the moment, though, I’m going to go dust off my SVT Focus and head out for the countryside for a little day-off cruise. It will be a sad day for me when that fun little box isn’t worth keeping any more.
As the owner of an ‘05 Focus, I just have one question: did Ford hire the designers who came up with the Aztek? How could a design this bad get into production? What were you people thinking? (Okay, that’s 3 questions.)
I looked at one of these on the lot this past weekend, and it’s much worse in person…I actually pretended to be looking at the Edge next to it, because I was embarassed that someone might get the impression that I was seriously interested in the new Focus. It’s THAT bad.
And, like I said, I actually own an ‘05 Focus…which might be amazingly bland and has the personality of Wonder-bread, but that’s still one big step up from being so ugly you want to claw out your own eyeballs. Does Ford really hate us that much?
In the Focus’ defense, the primary reasons I bought it were the handling (which was on par with a Mazda 3, and better than anything else in the class) and the fact that it was comfortable at typical 80-100mph highway speeds. Very few of the econo-mobiles seem to be able to handle highway speeds – they turn extremely high RPMs, and feel like they’re going to fly apart once they get over 80mph. I did upgrade the brakes, though…luckily there are numerous options out there, including using SVT components to switch to rear discs & larger front rotors.
Surprisingly, my Focus has turned out to be very reliable – while it has been to the dealer once for a recall (which took less than 15 minutes), it has never had a single problem in 68,000 very hard miles.
Re prior comments on cost being the reason this abortion was foisted upon us instead of the EuroFocus: Didn’t I read somewhere that it wound up costing Ford just as much to design, test, create and manufacture this cynical piece of junk than it would have to bring the already-selling EuroFocus over here?
I just don’t understand this. It’s like selling the old Escort ZX2 back int he late 1990’s alongside the then-new Focus — but at least there consumers could get the mile-better new Focus. Here we are left to drool over unobtanium across the pond while averting our eyes from this “new” Focus disaster.
At first I thought it must be great to work at company like Ford, completely insulated from the pointed questions that real people (like the posters here) would ask…so that they can foist awful products like the Focus on the public with no accountability.
But then I thought how embarrassing it must be to get your ass completely whipped by Mazda in this segment, considering the corporate relationship.
I hope the bloated healthcare costs Ford cries about includes mental health – I know I would need therapy if I worked there.
Sajeev – Well that wasn’t a long wait… TWAT nomination ok now?
How disappointing. I can’t say I’m surprised, from the moment I laid eyes on this “”new”" Focus I knew it would be a loser. Ford is really screwing us in the U.S. over, until I read that picture caption you posted Robert, I had NO IDEA that Mexico is getting the Euro Focus!! That makes things way different, I thought Ford was just stupid for not giving America the Euro Focus, but even MEXICO is getting one, and we’re the home country! I really dislike Ford, and I have for a while. This isn’t helping.
*doing best Homer Simpson imitation*
cheap silver plaasssssssssstic, mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Mexico gets the Euro Focus? Why?
The exchange rate of the Peso to the Euro looks awfully similar to the US Dollar drop.
http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=MXN&to=EUR&amt=1&t=5y
http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=USD&to=EUR&amt=1&t=5y
Sajeev (responding to post below this one):
It’s not just the hardback south of the border, it’s the revised second edition with extensive annotations, collector edition holographic cover, and free audiobook mp3 download.
Sajeev – Well that wasn’t a long wait… TWAT nomination ok now?
dolo: How could I possibly say no?
And I guess its okay for the rest of us to judge a book by its cover. I mean, its sold as a paperback in the US, but the same publisher sells it as a hardback in MEXICO for about the same price!
Mama and Papa Ford tried to have another Focus baby, and this one is apparently missing a chromosome.
*This* is why I bought a Mazda3. :)
*sigh*
This brings me back to the summer of 1987 when I spent a month in England visiting family I never knew I had. One of my cousins had an Escort, a brand new (at the time) 1.8 5-speed model. It was a lively little car and it made me sad to think that my British cousins got a cooler Escort than we did in the States. Things were made worse when I followed him to the dealership to get his car serviced and in the showroom sat a Cosworth Escort, with a rear wing big enough to ride a skateboard off of (this was back when big wings were cool, like on the Ferrari F40 and the Steve Millen customized 300ZX).
It was bad enough to realize while over there, there were many fun cars whose tires would never touch American asphalt, like the old Mini (and another crazy cousin who would routinely scare the beejezus out of me by sliding his Mini into parallel parking spots). It was a downright kick in the gut to discover that even our homegrown manufacturers gave the American driver the shaft as well.
Seeing what Europe gets as their second-gen Focus and seeing what we’re given just brought back those painful memories of the summer of ‘87. Thank you, Ford for justifying the existence of the Deathwatch series.
The Mazda3 is the Focus (euro model) and this is a shoo-in for a TWAT. The sad thing is that the 2003 Focus wagon we drove for a week was a great car, roomy, good handling, reasonable power (2.3l Mazda engine) and distinctive looks. What happened?
Why no photo of the peeling duct tape? This TTAC article definitely deserves a photo taken by the author.
Also, do my eyes deceive me or is that a BMW Hoffmeister (sp?) kink in the rear side windows? No mention of that in the description of the mish-mash styling?
As far as styling goes, the four-door is not entirely hideous. At least from some angles.
The two-door is a major WTFBBQ.
I own a 96 Taurus, and I drove a Focus wagon once as a work-fleet rental car on business to Chicago.
I think the Focus is an improvement over the Escort it replaced; it is quite roomy and it pioneered this “back to the future” trend of making cars taller again and giving them more upright seating.
The two things I remember about are one, the back ache from driving the thing for three hours at a stretch and two, the gas mileage didn’t seem any different than my 24-valve V-6 Taurus. I drive pretty conservatively and generally beat 30 MPG on the highway in the Taurus, and I think I got something like 33 MPG in the Focus.
I know a wagon is a draggier vehicle than a sedan, and a lot of the “enhanced utility, tall seating” compact cars in the mold of the Vibe, Matrix, whatever they call that boxy Scion, Honda Element have highway mileage ratings not much different than your basic family-sedan Impala, Taurus, Camry.
But something doesn’t compute about the Focus. It is hundreds of pounds heavier than the Corolla/Civic competition and the gas mileage is nowhere in that league (the recent engine tweakage to get 37 MPG EPA Highway in the manual shift sedan probably represents optimization for the EPA test and not what people get from this car).
Maybe the thinking was that when the Focus was launched, gas was cheaper than bottled water and that the small-car market was after Spartan and low sticker price — optimizing gas mileage on anything that got over 30 MPH highway was not a consideration. But now with high gas prices, I don’t think the Focus is even in the running for people who want to give up some creature comforts for a gas miser car because the thing isn’t truly a gas miser.
Maybe the thing to do with it would have been to box-it-out a little bit without increasing the weight too much, and maybe on gas, Spartan appointments, and ugly looks, it could compete in the Scion-Element-Vibe segment?
There seems to be strong agreement that the new Focus is a disappointment. I offer this to counter (Disclaimer I haven’t driven/rented a Focus in 3 1/2 years):
When I was renting compacts, I always requested a Focus. I found it drove way better than the other fare at the time and that includes Corollas of the same vintage. I found the Focus taut and Germanic in its feel (no surprise, due to its Euro roots) with terrific steering and seats that I could live with -no small feet for my lanky frame. I find it hard to believe that the car has deteriorated so much in the intervening years, although I accept that the bar has moved with time.
Styling is subjective at best, although at first glance I agree that it seems less cohesive than the original and certainly less attractive than its European counterpart. I’ve only seen pictures though, so I wonder how it looks in the metal.
Te big question mark, IMHO, is how the Focus will rate in Consumer Reports. I suspect that a portion of the target demographic may be affected by CR and I really wonder if CEO Mullaly’s -erm- focus on the customer and the paid sessions with CR labs will translate into results in this area. If so, it would at least herald the ability of the new management to fix what they can on a product that was late in the development cycle when they inherited it.
It is sad that Ford continues to fail in the US. I think that shortly Ford may be deciding whether to abandon their home market at all. If this is the best they can come up with, they might as well save themselves the trouble and start now. The Euro Focus is a great little car, and the Focus convertible is even something I would buy. US Focus? Not so much.
Paul Milenkovic :
Gas *is* still cheaper than bottled water.
Just be thankful our cars don’t run on ketchup.
We Americans are a funny lot. We have no problem talking about how the dollar is tanking against the Euro and other currencies around the world, but somehow we refuse to acknowledge consequences of the drop in value of our money.
IT DOES NOT BUY AS MUCH TODAY AS IT DID IN THE PAST!
Maybe Ford is correct when it says that the Euro Focus is too expensive to sell in the USA. Americans today might be willing to pay a premium for a Honda or VW but are we willing to pay Ford a premium for a Ford product sold at a Ford dealer?
No, henceforth we get the US market Focus. The car market in the US is so different from Europe that it is silly to compare the two. The Euro Focus would make little sense in this market with the Fusion available for what would be only maybe $1000 more if not the same price considering todays exchange rate.
Honestly the new Foucs is what it is, a bargin priced low budget car. I am sure one of these babies can be had for a song and a dance. Ford is correct in understanding that it can make more sales to bargin hunters in the USA than trying to convince skeptical Americans on the virtues of the Euro Focus.
a depressing review of a depressing car. but fully justified.
after my ‘03 protege5 got pranged in a carpark, the rental i was given whilst mine was in for repairs was an ‘07 focus with 18k miles on its clock. someone went wild with the air freshener – it reeked like a tart’s boudoir. someone else either wacked a pothole with extreme prejudice or the front wheels were out of balance – either way, the high speed vibraphone was nauseating. it also shimmied and shuddered in reverse. all in all, a recommendation for the fine designers & builders at ford-mo-co. couldn’t wait for the return of my car …
Having read and agreed with most of the Focus’s criticism here I would have to add that given the choice between it and a Corolla I would still choose the Focus. This refresh clearly fell short of most reader’s expectations but at least there was a refresh, unline the Corolla, which is still the unloved grey plasitc appliance it always was. So maybe the Corolla is still more TWAT-worthy?
Since Alan Mulally is so into “heritage” names, this should have been called Tempo.
carguy -
I don’t think the Corolla ever had any of the fun to drive characteristics of the previous gen Focus platform. It’s a good “sister” car, though – the type you’d recommend to your sister.
Having had the pleasure of shopping this segment for a used car a while back, I will tell you that EVERY example of a 4-5 year old Corolla was light years better in terms of interior quality, NVH issues, etc. than the same age Focus.
The Focus was more fun to toss in a corner every time, but I couldn’t live with the rest of it.
Fortunately, a used Civic handles pretty well and its bits hold up nicely, too. If only it weren’t so #$%& expensive to insure, thanks to all the tuner boys stealing them for parts.
I knew you had it in you Allan Mullullaby, baby! Let’s see, a guy who was in charge of manufacturing commercial airplanes is indifferent to coach class, i.e Focus buyers, comfort? And, that is surprising exactly how? The good news is that he is probably really working hard on getting the cost of the tape down, and rationalizing the labor intensity of putting in on. The savings per car can run to 45 seconds and $3.45. Real money baby, and worth the time in figuring those contracts with Hertz. What do mean we have to sell to individual customers? That’s a hassle. Your 2008 Focus, now on sale at Shady Bill’s Ford Emporium (where hard selling is a way of life) for $8999.99*! *one only
Guess anyone that wants a “new” Focus should just import one from Mexico.
bloodnok: More than likely the front wheels were out of balance – Ford has been having a problem balancing wheels/tires for a few years now. I’m not sure why they can’t seem to do it properly (it’s not that difficult), but I had the dealer re-balance the wheels on my Focus before I picked it up. I did the same thing with my ‘04 F250, which had a wheel that was balanced so bad from the factory that it would nearly hop off the ground at any speed over 45mph…it was bad enough you couldn’t even drive the truck. Considering that the truck had only 3 miles on the odometer, I have to assume that someone at Ford seriously dropped the ball on that one.
Roger Hislop :
“We designed this Focus to prove that inexpensive does not have to mean cheap.”
Actually, what Peter Horbury of Ford North America really wanted to say was: “We designed this Focus to prove that cheap does not have to mean inexpensive.”
Absolutely guaranteed to reap the next TWAT award.