Are You Truly Happy With Your New Focus?

[TehMark]

Happy with mine overall. Exception is MFT and how it won't ever finish building commands. That right there is a big pain in the ass. Other than that I haven't had any big problems.

[JessicaTi]

I have 4,200 miles so far on mine and I love it! My MFT is working great, once I cleaned up my music files. If you're technophobic I'd recommend not getting MFT, otherwise its a must have!

The Powershift is pretty amazing when you think about it. Its a manual transmission inside, but drives like an automatic. At a stop light it will creep forward like an automatic. I like how quick the shifts are. In normal mode it does shift to a higher gear more quickly than I'd like, but thats the trade off for better gas mileage, and the mileage has been awesome.

All of the materials inside are high quality and feel good to the touch. All of the controls are well laid out and easy to use. Its also very quiet inside. Overall it feels like a higher end vehicle than you'd expect from a Focus.

The quality of mine has been very good. I know they added robots at the factory to improve the fit of the doors, but I don't when that started and if mine was built after the robots were installed or not.

[Whiskeyjack]

I've had my Focus SE Sport for 3 months now (~3,700 miles). I'm very satisfied with the car. I love the looks, the comfort (for a small car) and I love how it drives. Sure, the build assembly quality in some areas (rear hatch fit, weather stripping around passenger door) was not up to par with the Honda's and Toyota's I have owned, but these were fixable at the dealer. I've not had any of the major issues reported on this site.

[JessicaTi]

I found the article on the robots being installed at the Focus factory to improve the quality. The article is dated June 2011.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20068426-48.html

[SydneyRoo]

*science not guaranteed

[Old TU]

Skippy905,

I can't comment on the MFT because of the complaints and I purposely avoided getting it. Using a rental car as to justify Ford not fixing items is questionable. I doubt that most car rental companies return the car to the dealer to fix small items and have it sit at a dealer when it can be rented.

Why aren't you buying another Honda? They are as good as any another car although they are not perfect either.

As others have mentioned using this forum has it's limits. There are many good and bad comments as well as concerns. These represent a small portion of the 2012 Focus owners.
Check out how many 2012 Focus have been sold compared to the complaints in this forum.

[cobie56]

mostly pleased however i still miss my old zx3 which was way more fun to drive. I just had the opportunity to drive a Golf TSI for 2 weeks in Iceland on paved roads, dirt roads and 'barely' roads... Grades ranged from flat to 15% up AND down and speeds up to about 90mph... All the while i got 36 mpg (u.s. conversions applied) with this fun little car... It handled very well and it's 7 speed dry clutch DSG was much better than ford's. It shifted more smoothly and had much less 'clunkly ness' to it than my focus. Also the driving position was WAY better than in the focus (at least for me). I just can't seem to, despite elec. seats, get a good position in the focus... I think it's cus the front doors are either too short or the dash extends too far into the cabin causing me to push the seat back more (im 6'). dunno..but in any case the Golf was a blast to drive and required ZERO getting used to it... just get in and drive. As well, not a rattle or buzz on even the worst dirt, pitted, gravel roads... like it was built from a single block of steel. And , unlike my focus, the suspension doesn't clunk around as if it's floating beneath the car on rough roads. ford could learn a lesson from VW

[cobie56]

just a follow up to my previous posting:
i will say my focus is smooth round town but it doesn't like to be pushed at all.... doesn't feel nimble ... feels 'heavy'. I haven't had anything go wrong w/ it and haven't had any mft problems either
I would have purchased a VW however VW sees fit to give us crap in n. america and we can't get the good VWs you find in europe. This TSI engine and tranny comes on upper level VWs but not on the golf in n. america. We get stuck w/ the ancient 2.5 liter that sucks gas....so it was focus as second best pick and am overall pleased just not totally pleased. I have a '07 civic also that i like but it's not a 'fun' car to drive and frankly the VW i drove was better than both vehicles imo.

[Old TU]

cobie56,

Is the Golf TSI a GTI? If so, that is a 200 HP car that is $25K+. Also, the gas mileage isn't quite as good and I understand VW maintenance is expense. I am 5' 10" with long legs. I had to play around with the seat fore and aft, height and recline adjustments to get comfortable.

[Skippy905]

Originally Posted by Old TU

Skippy905,

I can't comment on the MFT because of the complaints and I purposely avoided getting it. Using a rental car as to justify Ford not fixing items is questionable. I doubt that most car rental companies return the car to the dealer to fix small items and have it sit at a dealer when it can be rented.

Why aren't you buying another Honda? They are as good as any another car although they are not perfect either.

As others have mentioned using this forum has it's limits. There are many good and bad comments as well as concerns. These represent a small portion of the 2012 Focus owners.
Check out how many 2012 Focus have been sold compared to the complaints in this forum.

The point with the rental cars (to me at least) was that two seperate cars had the problems. If only one had them I would have maybe said it was just a bad production run (it happens), but two cars tells me something is wrong. I rent A TON of cars for work, I've driven almost every model you can think of (except Hondas because the don't rent them), and usually don't see problems. Sure I've seen problems with rental cars, but not so many in two cars (albeit I was probably looking more as it was a car I was considering, but I have looked hard at other rentals I was considering buying).

I used to have a '05 Civic and loved it. However, I absolutely hate the '12s and I now I can't seem to track any '11s with the options I want.

Finally, I understand completely the relevance of forums and that people come here to make complaints. IN FACT.........It was me, myself, and I that posted not too long ago that people don't usually come on a forum to say everything is working just fine. Complaints are the first thing people post.
That being said, I do a lot of research when I purchase large items (more than most people). When I go into a dealership I know more about the car than any of the salespeople there. I am on the Hyundai Forums, Kia Forums, Honda Forums, and sometimes the scion forum (although not much recently). The amount of problems/complaints (both about the vehicle and manufacturer) on this board far, far exceeds those on the other boards. Sure it could have something to do with the amount of people on here, but I find on the other boards the complaints are more varied, meaning minor things from vehicle to vehicle. It seems that on here, the complaints tend to be about the same things over and over, not to mention very poor customer service.
These are the things that keep telling my brain to overrule my heart and not buy the Focus.