Faults:

Developed an annoying buzz in the headliner near the windshield above the driver's seat.

Developed a metallic vibration near the right rear speaker.

Was occasionally difficult to start if shut off soon after a cold start.

6 CD changer was buggy when playing MP3 CD's with folders.

Driver's seat side bolster showed wear quickly.

Handbrake cable wore out after 10k.

General Comments:

Overall my Focus experience was satisfactory.

Much better handling than other similarly priced American cars, but it's no Golf!

Engine delivers good performance with just enough grunt to make it fun, though sounds a bit bland.

Good driving position, but wish height adjustment would move the entire seat rather than just the base.

Fuel economy averaged ~28MPG with 70/30 City/Highway driving.

It looks and drives like a European car, feels and sounds Japanese. Price is 100% American.

Faults:

I rented this car for a week. I have no idea about its maintenance history.

However, I noticed that the Focus was missing five of its sixteen lug nuts.

Also, the air bag awareness sticker on one of the sun visors was peeling.

General Comments:

Well, my car (a 2001 Ford Taurus, review #110663) was in the shop for uncontrollable shaking upon a cold start. It turned out to be a valve cleaning worth approximately $3000. Time to trade it in. I drove this car while I was shopping around for another.

If the year were 2007, and I were looking at the 2007 Focus, I would not buy it. Let's start with the positives.

The front seats were definitely not of first class quality. They were sculpted well and made of a very durable cloth, however, that comes at a steep price. You are greeted with two armrests made of horrid plastic- one on the door and the other is the lid of the center console. The armrest on the door is too narrow for an arm but fine for your elbow. The console lid is only wide enough for one arm and is higher than the door armrest. In my example, both seats were manually adjustable. However, the seat would not latch into place after being adjusted fore-and-aft. The recline mechanisms was okay- but the seat stuck on its journey back up to the straight position. The back seat was worse. It was too narrow, too flat, had no armrest at all, had no headrests, and had no legroom.

It was clear that there was a four-cylinder engine in this car. I could tell by the way it sounded. It was loud and thrashy. Acceleration was incredibly poor and I not impressed. I did not bother to take the time to measure the fuel economy. Paired with a so-so transmission, any person with any amount of car knowledge could tell that this was definitely an economy car aimed for people on the lower side of the economy spectrum. I say this because I could hear every change of the transmission, very time. I knew when it went from 1st to 2nd, from 2nd to 3rd, and so on. I could also hear it downshifting, going from 4th to 3rd and on and on. Truth be told, hearing the transmission shifting provided a greater level of entertainment than listening to my iPod with my totally awesome mix of music.

The visibility was a good virtue.

The buttons on the interior were generally appropriately placed. They were also lit very well.

The trunk was big for a car this size.

I couldn't understand why there are so many Focuses on the roads, other than the reason that they are cheap. I can relate to the reason that they are so cheap. The comfort is so-so and and engine and the transmission are poor. The good is outweighed by the fair. There is nothing outstanding pertaining tho this car.

This car is not remarkably poor in any aspect, but it does not shine in any either. If you have any questions, post them and I will try to answer them.