Questioning my decision...

[WizeGuyDezignz]

Ok, so I did (what I thought) a ton of research before purchasing and driving home a brand new Sterling Gray SEL Ford Focus Sedan with MFT. I found this forum after the fact, and it seems like a number of people are having or have already had a myriad of issues with cars that are mostly less than one year old.

Did I make a mistake purchasing this car? Or is this another simple case of a small minority of owners who have issues posting on a forum while the majority are out there enjoying their cars without issues?

I knew going in and I can live with the MFT issues. That can be sorted out with software updates. What I won't be cool with is issues with reliability of driving the car.

Anyone care to calm my nerves?

[Sponsor]

[Yak-Attack]

Its reasonable when buying a new car one would anticipate little or no issues. I think its fair to say, the new Focus is not free of a few quirks. That said, many new cars have their quirks - especially the first model year. I've had some transmission chatter and an occassional MFT issue - neither of which has tarnished the joy of owning this car. I have no regrets.

[Chet Bigguns]

I also have no regrets. I haven't had a single problem with my car and love driving it. My only complaint is the lack of paddle shifters, but I'll be taking care of that soon.

[wilsonfocus86]

Originally Posted by WizeGuyDezignz

Or is this another simple case of a small minority of owners who have issues posting on a forum while the majority are out there enjoying their cars without issues?

The amount of people on here I would say are a very very small percentage of the total cars out on the road. So yes you are pretty much right lol. Out of all the Focuses on the road I drive by, I always think to myself...what's their username...are they the type of person that could be on the forum? No.

[craigsfocus]

I would call the New Focus slightly Quirky. The issues that are around, I can see Ford fixing (MFT and Our "Powershift") I don't think my Focus is bad at all. I have no complaints. The DCT is a little rough sometimes, even with the new tranny update. But when cruising its buttery smooth.

My last car (2007 Chevy Equinox LT AWD) was a miserable car. I was the second owner and got it with 65,000 miles in 2009. When it turned about 70,000 miles the transmission took a crap. At about 80,000 miles, the engine started making a miserable noise that GM said was normal because the engine was a Pushrod engine. I went through 3 batteries, then at 100,000 the body control module decided it wanted to stop working and take my radio with it. I maintained my Equinox religiously without fail to GM's Recommended Maintenance Schedule

I can see my Focus going well over 200,000 miles with the proper maintenance. By far one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. I have Zero Regrets.

[asting]

Don't let these forums scare you. There are a ton of complaints here, but that doesn't mean much. 90% of users that don't have problems don't post here (not an actual statistic, but you get the point). A lot of users register to complain about issues (and rightly so). It doesn't give a fair sample of the population of focus owners.

[Kabigon]

Assuming your car has a recent build date, all known recurring issues have been addressed with the exception of some MFT bugs (and possible exception of front end/suspension noise).

[feta_mgp]

Aside from MFT (and until the recent transmission TSB reflash, some DCT issues) my car has been wonderful. It's a joy to drive every day, its comfortable, quiet, and with some finesse even MFT is workable, it's just far from perfect. I absolutely love my car, quirks and all, but no car will be without it's quirks, and that's a fact, it's all about living with them and whether or not they hurt the driveability of the car, and luckily, IMO, the quirks with the Focus that DID affect how it drives have been taken care of.

So, don't let the naysayers dissuade you from enjoying your car or believing you made the right decision, the Focus is a fantastic car and deserving of the several awards it's already won, it's perhaps the most upscale car in it's class, and definitely one of the most fun to drive (second only to the Mazda 3 of course, but I'd rather my more upscale amenities to just plain driving mechanics).

So, enjoy your Focus! And just know that if Ford hopes to regain some momentum as far as reputation goes, they'll be fixing MFT sooner than later with (hopefully) a true rewrite of the system and not just another patchjob.

[Altis]

In all honesty, even with the issues I've had/am having with the Focus, I'd still take it in a heartbeat over the other cars in its class. Sure there's room for improvement and things to be sort out, but it still feels so nice that I can forgive an issue here or there. My dealership experience has also been quite good, so I don't even care if it has to go in... free loaner with free gas means it all works out happy.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by Altis

In all honesty, even with the issues I've had/am having with the Focus, I'd still take it in a heartbeat over the other cars in its class.

This.

I had headliner stain and rattling issues, multiple tranny updates, MFT issues, idoor/speaker rattles, pretty much everything. But, I also had a May 2011 build - which was relatively early in the model's production life. I still love the car and would buy it again. I hope you'll feel the same.