Lets disabuse those of you who don’t own one of a few notions: its not sexy, its not fast, it won’t turn heads.

That said, and if you haven’t guessed already…I own a 2008 2 door Focus SES. I test drove a civic, mazda3,Pontiac G5, Cobalt and Elantra.

I drive 160 miles roundtrip to work 3 days a week, I am also 6′7″. I was looking for a pure commuter car. I eliminated the two best cars in this class immediately: the civic and mazda3 because they could not get their cars down into the $14k and $15k range. I really liked the Elantra SE(it has ECS –AKA greatest safety invention since seatbelt)but I am 6′7″ and just wasnt comfortable.

You want a true POS try the G5 or Cobalt. I knew something was amiss when the Pontiac dealer came down to $11,900 on the automatic G5 to keep me on the lot.

So I got the Focus, and I also paid an extra $1300 and got 100k mile BUMBER TO BUMPER warranty, because I drive about 22k miles a year.

I average 35 mpg on the freeway to and from work, its got sync, which really is pretty cool. The ride and handling is fine and just like the people who rented it said “It gets me where I need to go”.

To all the people slamming this car and don’t own one and can’t understand why someone would buy one: ITS A GOOD COMMUTER CAR AT A VERY GOOD PRICE–GET OVER IT.

The one weird thing is I like the exterior styling. Hope that doesnt invalidate everything else Iv said. Of course I think the Inifinit FX and Scion XB and Nissan Murano et all look insanely stupid. SO if you like those, then obviously we difer in what is aesthetivally appealing.

Yes they should. Americans believe that compact cars should be fuel efficient, small and lightweight, and the current Focus is as fuel efficient, small and lightweight as they can get it. It gets around 28 mpg @145 hp. By contrast, the Mazda3 gets 26. That’s around a $150 per year difference. Plus, the Focus is $2000 cheaper.

Up here in Canada the Focus was quite popular, in particular the wagon and hatchback models, but stateside these models have been demonized for reasons I cannot begin to understand.

I think that station wagons and hatchbacks are ugly. I think most Americans dislike them for pretty much that reason, which is why so many like compact SUVs. If you can build Americans a hatchback that does not have a curvy front and abruptly cut off rear end like the old Focus had (looks bizarre) more Americans will buy it.

We know Americans like big sedans, soft suspension and slushboxes for tranny’s, and gas engines only please, the Focus is a direct result of this line of thinking. This thing is the Ford Tempo of its time.

The Mazda3 everybody wants is bigger. If Ford were out to Americanize the Focus, it would have went for the slightly larger and heavier Euro Focus design. We prefer automatics because we don’t want to row a manual tranny. Gas engines are preferred because diesel costs 40 cents a gallon more than gas in the United States. Bring diesel to premium gas level pricing and many more Americans will gladly buy a more fuel efficient diesel car.

And Canada is too small a market to justify the exporting the Euro model so we’re force fed what the average American wants. Don’t get me wrong nice people, nice country but when it comes to cars sometimes they’re not all there.

Americans have their own taste in cars, just as they have their own taste in everything, but everyone agrees that the current Focus is ugly. The styling isn’t what the average American wants, this Focus was kept because it has better fuel economy, is smaller and is cheaper than the Euro Focus it was to be replaced by.

Also: You guys are getting the Fiesta along with us come 2010, along with hatch and Euro styling.

I saw a Focus at our local Ford dealer and was impressed. It’s a completely different car in person than it appears in photographs. I’m seriously considering buying a coupe for the fuel economy, and because the Focus coupe has the most rear seat room of any coupes on the market. It may seem silly to buy a two-door car and demand good rear seat room, but I tend to have strange tastes. I always liked the old Focus but wanted a 2-door version. I never liked the hatch. I guess I might just get it, even if the car it comes with is somewhat ugly.

Also the active MPG meter (another option on the gauge array) was super nifty and made me really try to keep the bars at maximum. All told, I liked the car and it got my wife and I where we needed to go (and the A/C worked great) so I hereby rescind my bafflement as to why someone would buy this car. It’s decent for what it is, but it’s clear that the Focus isn’t trying to be anything other than cheap.

Becomethemedia, I just read your comment.

You know, we are so called “Force Fed” with this car as well, but it seems that we like this car just the way it is. Take a look at the reviews. These reviews are from people who actually own one and I’m talking about the “2008 Ford Focus”. The reason for all the positive reviews is because “WE” know a high quality Inexpensive vehicle when we see it.

The point is, you have to spend a LOT more to get this kind of value and equipment level outside of the Ford Focus. This car isn’t a special interest car like the Mazda 3 (zoom zoom and expensive), Honda Civic (fit and finish that you pay even more dearly for), Toyota Corolla (what interest, and it still is expensive) or Korean models (low price with awfull driving dynamics). The Focus is a well rounded ECONOMY car with above average driving dynamics. And, it does this very well.

This engine is easy to service, too. No cam belt to add $1,000.00 replacement bills (it’s a chain) and the oil filter and drain plug are right under the front of the engine. Oil goes right in the drain pan, not all over the car.

Only the Mazda is faster, and it is a high RPM hyper fest, too, and not much to my liking. All that tuning for just 8 more HP isn’t worth it.

By the way, that engine wire “tape” is tough as hell. I have it in my 1992 sixteen year old Ranger, and it looks the same as day one. Now, if it is suppoosed to protect and hold wires together, where’s the beef? Fiberglass textile is excellent material in an engine compartment. What you all don’t understand, is that PVC and TPE soft tough material outgas all the light weight oils that make them pliable and soft, over time. Then, they crack and get hard. Ethylene based plastic (PE, HDPE, LLDPE ETC)may feel more waxy, but it will stay that way for the life of YOU. Not to mention it is FAR easier to clean since it doesn’t pick up stains as badly. I’ll take harder PVC and Ethylene materials anyday.

The Focus has a ride that feels like a bigger more secure car. Say, a BMW. It is good handling and quiet at the same time. No, it isn’t as hard as the Mazda or Civic (thank God), nor does it have the pure chassis of a sports car. Besides, why would Ford build another Mazda 3? They have one already, go get the Mazda 3 sedan or hatch and ZOOM, ZOOM. Must all the rest of us suffer adolescent urges just to be in a smaller car?

If you compare this car comparably equipped, it is an amazing deal. I drove everything out there, and this car was clearly better than the rest as a daily driver And, several thousand dollars less, too. My sixteen year old Ranger is still running like new confirming Ford’s reliability, and my 1999 E320 MB is going to be VERY jealous of this car.

The Europeans? The Saturn Astra is poorly matched to its 1.8 liter engine and transmission. Too little torque, even though it is at a commendably low RPM. With an automatic the drive train makes this car feel heavy and lethargic. Where is the so called European superiority here? Drive an Astra back to back with the Focus, each with an auto and see for yourself. The stick is even harsher on the Astra. The Focus will muscle away every time in town.

VW? The five cylinder engine is harsh and noisey. And, you pay like heck for it, too. May as well go mid sized as the mileage is awful. This is a great interior effort, though. But the car is oddly placed for size, cost and economy. Its NVH is off the scale for the mid sized class (where it is in price).

The Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla have the same fate. Too expensive to really compare comparably equipped. For $3,000.00 higher and more they better seem better somewhere! The Corolla really is as dull as last weeks razor blade, even thiough it might look sharp. The Honda is what the Prelude once was, a parts bin of new tech look engineering but pushed onto the masses this time. I don’t need to have a big old tach when I can feel what the car’s engine is telling me. What I do need is an easy way to discern speed at a side glance rowing through the gears in this small rev happy engine. What do you get? A small digital speedometer placed two feet farther out in front of you that you have to “read”. Hint, a big speedometer, please. As a matter of fact, you can drive a good stick with no tach at all if you pay attention to your car. Of course, this is a Honda so we hear nothing of this car’s silly season instrumentation.

Back to the Focus. Sync? Well, I forgot to memorize all my song names and artists. So, I won’t be talking too much to my car. But, I will load up a nice big thumb drive and plug it in and leave the CD’s behind. I never have been so lame in planning as to have to call anybody from my car, so that’s out, too. But it does recognize speech very well.

We liked the car so well we bought two of them, a stick (me) and the Auto (my wife). For the money, with such a thought out chassis and drive train, I don’t know how you could go too wrong. I think that if this car had any other name plate on it than Ford, it would be heralded as a breakthrough product for overall composure and refinement. What’s wrong with that?

http://autos.yahoo.com/ford_focus-reviews_user/

http://autos.msn.com/research/userreviews/reviewlist.aspx?modelid=12750

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/focus/2008/consumerreview.html

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/2008-ford-focus-is-a-hit-with-online-consumers-41441.php

Reviewer is correct about the excess wiring in the engine bay. The Ford 2.3L has the same problem, I’ve noticed. (By contrast, the GM ecotec4 is wire-free in the bay.)

This new Focus should have been a Mazda3 clone. As usual, Ford took the easy way out. But not necessarily a bad way out….

Why didn’t Ford bring in the European model????? It’s friggin beautiful compared with anything on the roads here in North America!!!

To go away from a hatchback is a big step backward too.

It’s too bad because I sure would’ve bought one…

There should be a warning label on each new Focus to keep people from looking directly at it when driving. Jeez, what in the world was Ford thinking? Oh, wait a minute…they WEREN’T.

Spot on. The Euro Focus is such an excellent car, but the American version is simply that, an excuse on wheels.

Some people in Detroit still seem to hold the 70s antedilevian idea that small cars are meant to be cheap, deliberately crappy penalty boxes produced grudgingly for those oddballs who can’t be steered into buying a REAL MURKAN big car — an idea that should have expired with Lee Iacocca’s checked polyester pants.

There are too many imports producing very good small cars and making good profits selling them at premium prices because they are good. Whining that labor costs mean you have to produce cut-cornered junk? Build it in Mexico at $3 an hour. The Fusion/Milan is built south of the border and I don’t see it leading its class in engineering, refinement or dynamics, either. The D3 with their blame-culture seem to excel at producing excuses more than excellent vehicles.

The D3 won’t survive selling only to the shrinking pool of blinkered small-town midwesterners who only shop at the local Ford dealer and want something basic with a fat rebate.

Based on a few of the leaders brought into the 2.8 in recent years, I’m somehow doubting that automotive passion is paramount in selecting the boss. Especially Nardelli.

About the car, not having seen one in person, I can’t say much, but having seen several Euro Focuses, including a few of the ST models, there doesn’t seem to be much of an excuse to give us the current NA styling instead of the Euro styling, unless they think that the NA market is like a flock of morons drawn to shiny things. The Euro Focus looks modern, with a crisp design. This…thing…doesn’t. And that’s just the styling, not the C1 or whatever chassis, or the 2.3L 4-cylinder we’re not getting. They really must think that the average American consumer doesn’t expect much from Ford, so why raise the bar when they don’t have to? Except they do need to raise the bar.

I would say these new Focus has a face only a mother could love.
Why dont they just bring back Edsels, or make her a face like a Shar Pei dog.
Few yrs the Troll doll was a hit too.