Are You Truly Happy With Your New Focus?

[Pennut]

I really like my Focus. Got the SE hatch with sport option among other options. I started driving with big block V8's then went to 4 cylinders then for years drove only V6's. Got used to the quiet power of the V6's and was reluctant to go back to 4 cylinder cars again because they were noisy and rough compared to V type engined cars. Well that is past with the new generation of 4 cylinder cars like the Focus. Once you are up to speed, it is V6 quiet. Ride quality is like a bigger more expensive car. Can't wait to start roadtripping in the spring!

[audibleblink]

Can't say that I am. I'm not shifting blame, I should have done the research, but the salesman lied and told me it had Applink. I wanted to go home and research because it wasn't working in the dealership. Sales guy said he would have service reflash MFT if I bought it. I still wanted to go home first but they sweetened the deal too much. So I bought it...again, my bad.

I have intermittent bluetooth problems. I've done the reset, pulled the fuse, reverse pairing, turned the phonebook off and all that. The A2DP connect when it wants.

MFT actually works fine, aside from being pig slow.

[JPopNC]

Originally Posted by FF4

Hey Skippy, not sure what forum you're looking at but the new Elantra has similar if not worse issues. Water leaks, engines replace, failed trannys, electrical gremlins, way below EPA mileage, on and on.

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/231-md...1-elantra.html

The Focus community is made up of more enthusiasts, and as such I would expect more passionate discussions here. Hyundai's are more like transportation appliances than an enthusiast's vehicle.

There's nothing scientific about these boards.

Did a little "snooping" out on the Hyundai boards and guess what???? Those cars have issues too! <shocked face!>

(I will have to say the FF forum layout is much, MUCH better than the Hyundai forum...by far! Just my totally unbiased opinion of course)

And here is a direct quote from a 'Senior Member' of the Hyundai forum talking directly about the Veloster, "Every new model car is going to have issues, all of them. As early adopters we have to deal with them.......". Hmmmm....wonder where I've heard that before??? Sound familiar to anyone else???

So to those who feel like jumping ship and especially to those who feel the Veloster is far superior, you may want to do some more forum comparisons to see which route is best. From what I could tell in that forum, the Hyundai dealers are just as bad or worse, so maybe the logical choice is to stick with what you have, deal with the issues, and hopefully in the end have an enjoyable car, because there's no guarantee going to another car will be any better.

[JPopNC]

Here's an example of a Veloster owner's issues. The thread title is "And the list continues to grow..."

1) Blue Max still doesn't work. After several attempts to "fix", I've asked dealer to replace - haven't replied to that e-mail. (I think this is their version of SYNC)

2) Cruise Control has not set on occassion

3) Auto volume doesn't work, except for the day it cranked to 25 as I drove out of my driveway. It must have thought I was doing 70mph...

4) a speedometer that consistently reads 5 mph faster than I'm actually traveling. Seriously????? This is the 21st century, right? They can't fix this????

5) Fuel use measurement is a joke. Some days it starts from where it left the day before. Some days it resets itself and starts at 41.0L/100km, and then slowly makes its way back down.

That's only after 8 weeks and 5000km

My ultimate hope is that one of these "electronic" issues will set fire to the dash. That way maybe I can get something replaced...


So I STILL love my Focus and would never consider giving it up for anything.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by completely_focused

There are a few things that don't work like when the rain sensing wipers activate the lights don't come on. I have to manually activate the lights.

Not sure if anyone commented, but you can set the lights to come on with the wipers on the trip computer/info screen. In settings, there is one for lights on with wipers.

[jade408]

Originally Posted by JPopNC

Did a little "snooping" out on the Hyundai boards and guess what???? Those cars have issues too! <shocked face!>

(I will have to say the FF forum layout is much, MUCH better than the Hyundai forum...by far! Just my totally unbiased opinion of course)

And here is a direct quote from a 'Senior Member' of the Hyundai forum talking directly about the Veloster, "Every new model car is going to have issues, all of them. As early adopters we have to deal with them.......". Hmmmm....wonder where I've heard that before??? Sound familiar to anyone else???

The dealer I bought my Focus from is also a Hyundai dealer. I didn't even get to look at a new Elantra or Veloster there, they were all out. They also didn't have any SEL or Titanium level Focuses. I ended up having to trade for it.

[jade408]

I have had my focus for about 5 days now, and I keep making excuses to drive! (Considering I work from home, this is harder than you would think. ;) )

I love my Focus!

[Creamsicle]

"Mostly" delighted with it. The glaring exceptions:

1) transmission - all the usual AT complaints and so far my dealer won't agree to do the TSB flash without keeping the car all day to diagnose it themselves. So I'm waiting for the first oil change.

2) head restraints - extremely uncomfortable, give me neck pain on long drives. I understand the compliance and liability issues here, but don't consider it a valid trade-off to be forced to accept chronic injury as a means of avoiding acute injury.

[friction]

I think I love our new Focus more than my wife.....and its HER car!

[DarinS]

I'm very happy with my new Focus! I haven't had any issues with it at all *knock on wood* and the transmission has been smooth as butter, I've never felt a shudder or jerk in 2000 miles. MFT has been laggy once or twice but never for more than a few seconds. I haven't had any rattles, wayward steering or anything like that. I can't say I've 'fallen in love ith it' the way I have other new-to-me cars, but I'm still very happy. And my fuel costs have been cut by 60% or more over my old bimmer.

On the Veloster:
I looked the car over many times and test drove it over and over. I was seriously considering it for several months. The fact they they'll let you get it loaded to the teeth with a 6MT is awesome. But while the Focus is a premium small car that rivals many midsizers, the Veloster is a premium compact that rivals many small cars. It's really in a different class IMO. It rides rougher and noisier (sp?), doesn't have IRS, the interior is not the same quality and it doesn't have nearly the same level of equipment available. That being said, a fully loaded Veloster tops out at $23.5K while the Focus pushes $30K. Similarly equipped the Veloster is $2-3K cheaper. But it's also less car.