Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

As I am very heavy (300 pounds) and tall (6 feet), I find the seats uncomfortable and front seat space tight. However, my wife at 5 feet 4 inches (a normal sized person) loves the seat comfort and legroom.

I am blown away at the fuel economy of this car. I have gotten as good as 5 litres/100 km highway driving, which is better than most hybrids. The fuel economy meets and exceeds expectations.

I find the quality of interior trim is flimsy. There are some minor issues with the way the transmission shifts at low speed, such as in stop and go traffic. This seems to be normal for this type of transmission, as it is not a fully automatic, but a dual clutch semi automatic. We accept it as it is.

The Focus rides and handles well. The very good sound deadening results in a quiet ride. Much better than the competition.

Faults:

The transmission is the #1 problem with this car. It jerks, shutters, grinds, and jump starts when least expected. Often times at takeoff it shakes so violently I thought it was going to break down in the middle of the street.

I took the car in at least 3 times within the first 12 months of ownership to "reprogram" the transmission. The first time was when I had only 800 miles on it! By the 2nd trip the first dealer said they'd order a new clutch assembly and it would take 6-8 weeks. After waiting 9 weeks and the transmission acting up again, they said they never ordered it and that it would take 12 weeks for the parts to get in.

After expressing my dissatisfaction with dealer 1, I took it to dealer 2 for a 2nd opinion. Again, they "reprogrammed" the transmission and said it will take 4-6 weeks to get a clutch assembly in. Now after 8+ weeks that dealer has no idea when it'll be in.

If I did research before my purchase, I would have bought a Honda Civic instead. Apparently I'm not the only one with this problem. Google "Ford Focus dual-clutch problems" if you don't believe me.

General Comments:

I bought the Ford Focus because I needed better gas mileage and wanted to buy American. I did not appreciate GM and Chrysler using my tax dollars to get bailed out, so I figured Ford would be a good choice.

Aside from a crappy dual-clutch transmission, I do get good gas mileage, and after being rear ended on the freeway, it held up well.

I got the 201A Appearance Package with my car, which was $22,000, and I got a $3000 rebate from Ford, another reason why I went with this car.

Unfortunately the dealers know there's a problem, but they still keep making excuses as to why the transmission acts this way and can't figure out a solution to fix it. I'm currently debating on whether to hold onto it, hoping it'll be resolved soon, or sell it before the problem gets worse and then everyone will avoid this car as their already notorious reputation gets worse. We shall see.