Ford Focus

Kleine hexe

New member
How does a Ford Focus rate amoung the wise on this board? :)

We're looking for a second vehicle as DH's truck has broken down again. It is to be commuter car for DH. He will only occasionaly have one or two boys in the vehicle.

Looking for good milage, reliability, and safety of course.

Anyone have good or bad to say about the Focus?
 
ADS

SavsMom

New member
The Focus is a great little car. All models are great (with the exception of the 2000 model year - it had some recall issues) and the newest ones are very nice and have gotten rave reviews.

My parents have a 2007 as their "run around" car while they are down here in Florida during the winters. They use it primarly for running around town, my daughter (she is 2) rides in that car quite often and it fits most car seats pretty well - even rear facing :thumbsup: They love that it gets great gas mileage and handles nicely and while they don't take it on the highway often, I have - and it was great.

I think the Focus would make a great 2nd car/commuter car. It really is a lot of car for the money and is priced a bit better than its Japanese competition. I'd definately look at a Focus (and I sell Toyota's - lol).
 

Kaede's_Mom

New member
I loved mine :)
It was great, about 30-35mpg and it was the SVT one, so bigger motor and trans.

They are awesome cars, and take some abuse too. However, if you live in a rural area or on a gravel road I advise agenst them. If you live in a town they they are wonderful!
 

scatterbunny

New member
I love my Focus, except for the lack of rear headrests. That's going to be a problem sooner rather than later for us, since my child will outgrow highback boosters in the next year or so. I don't think I've met a carseat I couldn't install in this car, yet. :cool: I have done three-across with various seats, too.
 

BudgieStew

New member
We had a 2005 ZX4 for a couple years. Ours did not have headrests in the back either. Never had any problems with it. We have owned 4 Fords in the last 5 years and not one problem with one of them, course we don't keep our cars longer then a couple years it seems.

Like Scatterbunny said seats are super easy to instill. I've installed my car seats in a number of Focus over the last year or so and they were all easy no matter what year or body type. Our Dealership lends me one or drives the kids and I home in one when they do work on my car.

Milage if I recall was pretty darn good. I had a 09 loaner a few months ago and I was amazed how fuel efficient it was, although I was comparing it to my AWD Flex.
 

sparkyd

Active member
I've got a 2006 4-door hatchback (can't remember the official name) and I love it. The first car seat I ever installed was a Snugride, then a Marathon, then a True Fit. All these installed really well without noodles or anything (the Marathon and True Fit were installed more upright for an older infant/toddler). However, after 2.5 years of continuous pressure on the same seat (passenger side), the next time I installed a Snugride there I needed two noodles. Then when I went to install the Marathon I had a heck of a time because the bight in the seat (where the seat back meets the seat) was stretched out so there was a big gap there that the base of the Marathon was wedging in and the UAS connectors were kind of stuck behind the base. I eventually got it but then it was too upright and also would have needed a noodle. I ended up putting it in our other vehicle and installing a True Fit in that spot and it went in no problem, no noodles. There is also a True Fit on the driver's side, both are RF. I'm 5'3" and the True Fit is a perfect fit behind me. My 6'3" DH, however, avoids driving this vehicle. Which works for me because I much prefer driving it over our SUV. :D

The only other comment I have about it is that it isn't a car that really loves super cold weather (which we get in Ottawa, Canada). It is fine, but it sounds like it's complaining for awhile when you first start driving, and the gear shift is really sticky. Someone mentioned dirt roads and I'm not sure why that would be a problem because we used live on one in a rural area and as long as you don't drive it like it's an off-road vehicle, it is fine.
Great gas mileage, solid, fun to drive.
 

Spam

New member
We had an '07 four door se. Basic model. Great mileage. We got rid of it before A came along, so I don't know about carseats fitting in it. We must have gotten the one fluke. Our transmission went out, luckily it was still under warranty. Besides feeling like I was riding in a tin can, it really was a great little car. Dh's family are big Ford people. His g'pa retired from them, so they get incentives and discounts to continue to buy ford.
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
I love my Focus, except for the lack of rear headrests. That's going to be a problem sooner rather than later for us, since my child will outgrow highback boosters in the next year or so. I don't think I've met a carseat I couldn't install in this car, yet. :cool: I have done three-across with various seats, too.

I agree with Jenny. Our 2003 Focus is awesome for installing car seats. However, since you have two older kids and it's likely that at least the oldest will be in a backless booster before too long, the lack of rear headrests in older Focus models would be a concern for me. I think that the newer models have rear headrests, though, so if that's what you're looking for - go for it! :)
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
The '09 and '10 Focus models have rear headrests, but '08 and older Focus models pretty much do not or only in a few select trim levels. The redesigned 2011 Focus (due out later this year) was unveiled at the Detroit auto show last week, and it appears to have rear headrests, too.
 

kathysr98

Active member
I :love: my Focus. I have the SVT model which is a very upgraded, sporty version made from '02 to '04. It has headrests in all three rear positions. So far I've had no problems with my little car, and everyone is quite impressed with it when they ride in it for the first time. It handles great in rain, and I have no problem climbing the red clay hill to my MIL's house.
 

sparkyd

Active member
I forgot to mention about the headrests when I posted earlier - my 2006 4-door hatch back has rear-headrests in the two outboard positions. Although one of them is broken and I can't get it in. :thumbsdown:

In that model year the 4-door hatch backs were pretty much fully loaded with features.

OK, it was bugging me so I just looked it up - my car is the 2006 ZX5 SES.
 

bobandjess99

Senior Community Member
It's an okay car, but depending on your price range, there might be better options. The biggest thing for me are the incredibly poor side impact ratings on all models before 08.
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=280
I don't like the description here -
Measures taken from the dummy indicate that serious skull fracture and/or brain injuries, plus rib fractures and/or internal organ injuries would be likely in a crash of this severity. A fracture of the pelvis would also be possible, and loading to the shoulder was excessive. :eek:
So, it isn't my personal fave for a used car, but they are decent on mileage, and cheap, and fairly plentiful to find used.
Do you have a budget in mind?
 

2BunniesMommy

Well-known member
I've had 2 and I loved them. The second one had a number of issues, but I am pretty sure it had been in a couple accidents and someone knew someone to keep it from getting a salvage title. Even so I loved it, just not as much as the first, which was the only car I have ever had brand new and I kick myself almost daily for giving in about ex-h wanting me to get rid of it. I would buy another in a heartbeat if we could swing it.
 

mommy2jasmine

New member
We have an 04, and it's a breeze to install car seats in. There hasn't been a seat I can't install in it yet, but that's only been about 5 :p

My only complaint is it's poor side impact ratings, which seem to be fixed within the last years model, and the lack of rear headrests, which also sounds to be fixed recently, as well. Other than that, I love it. We easily get over 30 mpg for it.
 

Kleine hexe

New member
Thanks everyone. DH is off right now to go check one out. It's an 09 with 7k miles on it. It does have headrests in all three positions in the back. I told DH he can't buy a car without headrests.

Now, we'll just what kind of a deal they will give, and what they'll offer for the trade in.
 

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