Joined
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10 Posts
Hey Everyone,
Well it's been a week since I took delivery of my 2012 Focus Titanium and, since people's feedback has been so valuable on this site, I thought I'd return the favor.
For those of you who, like me, were concerned with the many negative posts on certain issues, take heart. It's important to remember that lots of folks who have had positive experiences won't post about them. But if something sucks, you're going to tell everyone. So let's start with MFT.
The My Ford Touch System is far from perfect, but I have yet to experience a crash, blue screen or any of the other crazy things that some people have posted about. The biggest challenge I'd say is learning all the commands, how to say them and in what screen you can say them. Navigation probably the most annoying in terms of what order to say street address, etc. Overall, pretty cool to do a lot of stuff by voice. Now if only they had Apple do the OS, not Microsoft. : )
Another complaint I read a lot about is the transmission. I have had some moments of hesitation when starting from a stop sign, but haven't really noticed any issues once you're up to speed. It's as responsive as I need it to be and, having driven a Prius before, actually an improvement over the weird continuously variable transmission in terms of its peppiness.
The moonroof had some complaints about poor installations but mine is fine. I wish it was a little bigger and it doesn't open to 100% of the hole size but lets the sun and air in as I wanted it to.
My only real complaints are backseat room, which I was aware of and willing to accept going into the deal, and lack of storage areas. My old prius had little secret pockets everywhere, including where the spare tire is. The Focus has the glove box, center console and door pockets. They really could have done better on this without it costing a lot more I think.
Now the good. First and foremost, handling. My parents used to have a 79 BMW 528i that I would occasionally get to drive. When I first had the opportunity to push the Focus through some tight turns at a higher-than-recommended speeds, it triggered my memories of how that BMW felt. Very little sway to the car and hugs the turns like nobody's business.
Secondly, the look and feel. I first saw a 5 door focus about three months ago and it was love at first sight. Sure, it's not Ferrari, but what a great compromise between efficiency and style. Great body lines and I love the leather interior - my first leather car ever. Oh, also my first American car ever. I've been supporting the Japanese economy since I was 16 and I figured it was a good time to bring the money home.
At 47, I deemed it my mid-life-crisis car and loaded it up with all the bells and whistles, but still paid about what I paid for a stripped-down Prius 6 years ago. And for all my truck or fancy-ass Euro sedan drivin' buddies and their wives, I laugh at how they spent twice as much to buy a car of similar performance at twice the price and half the gas mileage. By the way, first tank calculated MPG was 27 with some fairly aggressive driving so I expect that to improve over time to just short of Prius numbers.
My experience at my dealer, Salinas Valley Ford (can I say that?), was awesome. They gave a great price and a fair trade-in commitment up front, ordered exactly what I wanted, and nothing changed when the car arrived. Kudos to my salesman John for all of his help.
That's about it for the general impressions. I'd be happy to answer any specific real-world questions that anyone has. And thanks again to all of you Focus Fanatics who kept me excited and informed while I waited for my baby to come in.
Well it's been a week since I took delivery of my 2012 Focus Titanium and, since people's feedback has been so valuable on this site, I thought I'd return the favor.
For those of you who, like me, were concerned with the many negative posts on certain issues, take heart. It's important to remember that lots of folks who have had positive experiences won't post about them. But if something sucks, you're going to tell everyone. So let's start with MFT.
The My Ford Touch System is far from perfect, but I have yet to experience a crash, blue screen or any of the other crazy things that some people have posted about. The biggest challenge I'd say is learning all the commands, how to say them and in what screen you can say them. Navigation probably the most annoying in terms of what order to say street address, etc. Overall, pretty cool to do a lot of stuff by voice. Now if only they had Apple do the OS, not Microsoft. : )
Another complaint I read a lot about is the transmission. I have had some moments of hesitation when starting from a stop sign, but haven't really noticed any issues once you're up to speed. It's as responsive as I need it to be and, having driven a Prius before, actually an improvement over the weird continuously variable transmission in terms of its peppiness.
The moonroof had some complaints about poor installations but mine is fine. I wish it was a little bigger and it doesn't open to 100% of the hole size but lets the sun and air in as I wanted it to.
My only real complaints are backseat room, which I was aware of and willing to accept going into the deal, and lack of storage areas. My old prius had little secret pockets everywhere, including where the spare tire is. The Focus has the glove box, center console and door pockets. They really could have done better on this without it costing a lot more I think.
Now the good. First and foremost, handling. My parents used to have a 79 BMW 528i that I would occasionally get to drive. When I first had the opportunity to push the Focus through some tight turns at a higher-than-recommended speeds, it triggered my memories of how that BMW felt. Very little sway to the car and hugs the turns like nobody's business.
Secondly, the look and feel. I first saw a 5 door focus about three months ago and it was love at first sight. Sure, it's not Ferrari, but what a great compromise between efficiency and style. Great body lines and I love the leather interior - my first leather car ever. Oh, also my first American car ever. I've been supporting the Japanese economy since I was 16 and I figured it was a good time to bring the money home.
At 47, I deemed it my mid-life-crisis car and loaded it up with all the bells and whistles, but still paid about what I paid for a stripped-down Prius 6 years ago. And for all my truck or fancy-ass Euro sedan drivin' buddies and their wives, I laugh at how they spent twice as much to buy a car of similar performance at twice the price and half the gas mileage. By the way, first tank calculated MPG was 27 with some fairly aggressive driving so I expect that to improve over time to just short of Prius numbers.
My experience at my dealer, Salinas Valley Ford (can I say that?), was awesome. They gave a great price and a fair trade-in commitment up front, ordered exactly what I wanted, and nothing changed when the car arrived. Kudos to my salesman John for all of his help.
That's about it for the general impressions. I'd be happy to answer any specific real-world questions that anyone has. And thanks again to all of you Focus Fanatics who kept me excited and informed while I waited for my baby to come in.
