Faults:

Wing mirror paint has started to flake and peel.

Alloy wheel paint has lost its lacquer. I think it could be a case of a poor respray from where I bought it from, rather than a Ford issue.

General Comments:

The focus is really perky, especially as it is only a 1.8. You need to get it upto 3500rpm before the power band is hit, otherwise it fails to pull away effectively when overtaking.

The seats are still hard but really comfortable. The seats allow for the perfect ride position, and with the added feature of adjustable steering wheel height, it just makes you feel at home.

It can be a bit thirsty, especially when using the Air Con. However, when I have been used to a Saxo that will do almost 50mpg, anything will seem poor, although it does 260 miles to £32 of petrol.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car in 15 months I've had it, just minor irritations (see below). Ford seem to be miles ahead compared to the cars they put out 10-15 years ago. But they still have a bit left to reach the top.

General Comments:

This is my company car and I did not have much of a choice since they did a fleet purchase and I must admit I was sceptical. But the car is better than anticipated, I had some ill-fated experiences with Fords in the nineties. Although this car is well put together and so far has no problems with it, I'll rate it miles below VW and Audi or Toyota for that sake. The code word is attention to details or lack of it, for example the Ford is many steps behind my Audi in the quality department. Some examples:

-- Why have they used the cheapest possible plastics many places in the interior

-- The ESP is not very responsive and it seems it takes the computer a sec or two to realise that the car is skidding

-- Although the heater in this car in ultra effective the AC is not and it struggles to keep the car cooled in a hot summer day. Takes ages to cool the car down.

-- The outside temperature indicator is 2-3 degrees off and is useless when the temp is around freezing

-- When you shut the luggage compartment door it's not with a reassuring thud, but more with a is-it-falling-apart? sound.

-- The window washer design is less than optimal and it's difficult to get the window 100% clean

-- The rain sensor controlled wipers, well they do not work especially well. Either too much or too little.

-- The suspension sqeaks when driving over speed bumps

-- But the main irritation point is the noisy and uncultivated engine they've put into this car, it just ruins the driving impression and I've had passengers that think I'm driving a diesel.

I'd rather spend a quid or two extra and get a fully kitted Golf.

General Comments:

I can't say I have a detailed guide of this car as I have only driven one for a week as to prepare me for my decision of my chosen company car, however I guess I can pass on what I felt.

The Focus estate styling on the outside is a bit poor really and the front bonnet just looks a bit out of place however the interior is fairly nice and well laid out.

I found the gearbox to actually be a bit clunky even with 2000 on the clock, the nice silver finishes are done tastefully however the plastic dash is very cheap and tacky looking unfortuantly.

I found the boot door to be very light and flimsy especially when closing it back down as it doesn't seem to close in a nice secure 'clunk'.

The steering is nice and responsive however the seats are no match for my Xantia, the overall views inside of the car is pretty good especually looking over the seats for reversing.

One thing I couldnt understand was why the aircon kept coming on even at different temperaturs and on the 'hot' setting, this confused me a little and started to really annoy me to, but it may be part of the car or it may be a fault so I'm unsure, the front fogs seem a bit pointless as I don't think their big enough for their purpose.

I also drive the 5door version which was really nice (without a/c) in the aqua blue (beautiful colour)...has a big boot to so if you really don't need the size of the estate for boot and can make do with the 5door then I would personally choose that, although the estate stayed on the road through cornering a bit better.

Not sure if I've missed anything, as I say I've only had the car for a week so can't give anything detailed unfortuantly.