Faults:

Rear motor mount was loose and caused the engine to rattle at torque load, very common problem, easy fix at about $100 and a 20 minute install.

The catyalitc converter rattles at times, motor mount helped this, but not completely.

The car surges on cold starts, likes to jump forward in 1st gear take off and revs up when you push the clutch untill the car warms up.

General Comments:

This car is not without it's faults, but I still love it. For the money you will be hard pressed to find a car that does everything this thing can. At normal throttle this car feels like your average Focus, but press down on the accelerator and this thing will unleash. It's not the fastest car in the world, but it's fast enough to keep up with pretty much any stock Mustang.

The car looks pretty nice too, I used to hate Focus' because of their rather goofy look. But when I saw a silver SVT at a local car lot, I was impressed. The deep set fog lights are what really make this car, and the really nice looking SVT wheels. The interior looks nice and is comfortable and ergonomic, but it's still a Ford so expect some very serious rattles.

The transmission is solid, the shifter feels great and I believe the car has a new clutch because it grips very easily. But the cars real appeal is it's handling, this thing corners with the greatest of ease. The steering is ridiculously responsive, one minor jerk of the wheel will put you off in a ditch. And the suspension is insanely tight, this car has no body roll and it will knock the fillings out of your teeth if you hit a pot hole. I previously owned a '91 Trans-Am, I can take turns at 70+ mph that I wouldn't dare take over 60 in my TA.

This car has it's ups and downs, I don't recomend this car just to anyone. It's a car for people who like to drive, and still have some practicality to boot.

Faults:

Transaxle has eaten 2nd gear twice, despite replacement (1st time) and rebuilding (2nd time).

Car seems to eat pads and rotors every 15,000 miles.

Car also eats tires. You're lucky to get more than 20,000 miles out of a set of 40,000 mile tires.

General Comments:

After owning a Ford Contour, which was nearly flawless, I decided to trade in for a Focus while it was in for alternator replacement. I had a very good experience from the Contour, as it had been a Ford of Europe product that was adapted for the United States, and assumed that since the focus has the same pedigree, it would be the same experience. I was wrong.

The car is on it's third transmission. Despite being the same manual transaxle as used on the Contour (MTX-75), the focus seems to eat through them quicker than the Contour did. Both of the prior transaxle failures were due to 2nd gear wearing to nothing, and now the car is working on needing a third transmission. I never experienced this issue with the Contour, despite the same clutch/transaxle combo.

The car has excellent handling and braking, unfortunately the brakes wear out too quickly (15,000 miles).

The layout of controls and feel of said controls is great. Everything fits in my hand perfectly, and is in easy reach.

It's larger than it looks, which makes the 3 door hatchback the perfect delivery vehicle.

The seats, while great for short drives, are incredibly uncomfortable if you spend more than 2 hours in them, and the padding degrades quickly.

The car had the potential to be perfect, somehow something went really wrong in development. The brakes wear too quickly, it eats tires, and the seat cushion material degrades too quickly.

It's better for around town driving and short trips, the interior is not suited for any kind of distance driving.

One saving grace is that the car drives very well in snowy, winter climates. Sadly, the heater takes too long to produce any warm air.