Faults:

License plate light housing completely rusted out. At only 25,000 kms this really suprised me! Only a $12 part, but how many times am I going to have to replace this?

General Comments:

I just drove 4,000 km round trip to go back home for Christmas. I drove across Canada during some bad snow storms that came up from the U.S. Anyway, on icy roads I found that the rear of the vehicle wants to sway back and forth. I found that I expended a great deal of energy fighting what the car wanted to do. I have driven many vehicles in all types of weather, but this is the first time I have felt scared and unsafe!

When on ice, the back end of the wagon seemed to want to swing to the side. Once I hit dry pavement, the car would "kick" back into a straight line. This was very unnerving! Had the Ford dealership in a town we passed through been open, I would have dumped that car for something else; perhaps the Escape Hybrid.

It has been an okay car otherwise, although I find it to be very under-powered! Other vehicles in the same class seem to have better "get up and go". I found it to be reasonably comfortable on the long trip though.

I wish I had made a different purchase!

Faults:

Stereo did not work from new.

General Comments:

Having been given a budget for a new company car I was not really keen on getting a Focus as there are just so many on the road. However, after taking a look at the Focus Edge (basically a Zetec with 16" Alloys and a few other extras) I was quite impressed with the way it looked. It was also great value for money compared to rivals like the Megane & Mazda 3, as air conditioning and CD player came as standard. Now having owned the car for 7 months I feel I definitely made the right choice.

The thing that really took me by surprise was the handling. To sum it up in one word, incredible. The sports suspension and low profile 205/50 tires make sure that the car stays planted firmly to the road with minimal body roll. This does however have two drawbacks. Firstly the overall ride is not that refined and secondly it makes you drive like a complete hooligan at every opportunity.

I was a little disappointed with the performance of the car when I first had it, but as the engine has loosened up it has become more responsive. It does still lack punch at low revs and needs to be thrashed to get the most from it, this is probably part due to the very long gear ratios which I feel for a 1.6 engine are far too long. If your budget can run to it go for a 2 litre model.

The interior is quite funky and feels very well put together with no rattles so far. The seats are supportive and the driving position in near on perfect.

I can't really comment on dealers as the car still hasn't had it's first service. What I can say though is that they were extremely helpful when I took the car to my local dealer as the CD player didn't work after it was delivered. A mechanic came straight out and fixed it within minutes.

If you're on a budget, love exercising your right foot down country lanes and need the space of a family car, then this is the one for you.