7th May 2009, 08:48
I agree. If Kia and Hyundai are putting out better paint jobs, Ford needs to re-evaluate how they are painting their cars. I have not seen it in all colors. I think black is the worst color for them, which I unfortunately have. Mine isn't as noticeable from farther away but it is a smaller car with less large flat areas on it.
8th Jun 2009, 17:12
I have a 95 F150 and the paint is still good on it. I personally like longevity vs pretty. I also just purchased a 2008 Focus used, (only 4k miles for $10K) it does not have the ugly chrome fender thing, so it may be the first of the 09's, but really like it so far and will post a review after a few months. My wife was ecstatic over the gas mileage, she got 30 mpg with mixed city/hwy. She also stated it had a pretty "Peppy" engine???? PS,, adults will not fit well in the back.
10th Jun 2009, 10:25
Original reviewer here... I really like a correctly performed paint job which will last a long time and be "pretty". I just feel that Ford could do better in this area. It isn't as bad as my '88 Mustang, which you could see where they welded the roof to the body under the extremely poor paint job, but that was 21 years ago and I was hoping for better by now.
Actually all of the '09's don't have that chrome trim on the fenders EXCEPT the SEL models. I wish I could remove them without damaging the paint. I may try as it looks much better without them. The only saving grace is the chrome door handles and mirrors, so it looks like a whole package and it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like on the '08's.
The mileage is great on this car. I got 35.7 mpg on the test drive (by the computer) and I average about 33.5 with mixed driving so far. It is getting more peppy as it breaks in and I have noticed it doesn't downshift as much as it did new and can cruise at a lower rpm more consistently. It has also become smoother in downshifting which is nicer. It's not a race car but definitely has enough power to get you around nicely.
I did my first oil change on it and am going to take it in from now on. It isn't designed to be an easy, clean task for sure. The oil comes out the back of the pan and it is so thin it shoots out about 8 to 10 inches, but still trickles straight down off the bottom of the pan. There is no way to catch all of it at the same time, and it goes all over. It was pretty easy to clean up, but I think it won't be worth the effort in the future. It was about $20 for the oil and filter... for the extra $10 I will just have it done.
Great car overall though and I am really pleased with it. I am at around 3,500 miles now.
25th Jun 2009, 19:53
I wrote the review on this site "Not a bad redesign but the engine power needs work". In my Focus rental, there was only a little orange peel on the entire car, less than the size of a quarter. I think it was on the hood, but I don't remember where exactly it was.
The Focus had the best interior of any car I had been in recently, and it sure beat the older Focus. Ford really did its homework. I hope I can own one after I pay off my (used) Camry (which I can't stand). Oh well - 104 payments left!
Ford Focus - here I come - in a few years!
26th Jun 2009, 12:34
I hope you are kidding about the 104 payments!! Yeah, my Focus has a fair amount of orange peel, but like I said it is really only noticeable closer up. It may be a black paint problem too.
The interior is really nice on this car. I have the leather seats, but they also put leather sections on the door panels, adding a really nice touch. All of it is double stitched in a light thread too, which has a sporty look to it.
It has the notorious hard plastic on the bulk of the door panels and across the top of the dash, but so do 90% of the new cars today. Even the Honda I traded for this car had tons of hard plastic inside. Not sure why everyone complains about that.
The armrest on the door is nice and pliable, and so is the center console lid/armrest. All in all I am very happy with it. Could use 20 or 30 more hp and a fifth gear in the AT to be the perfect commuter car, but it is more than capable as is.
Over 4,500 miles and still doing great!!
11th Jul 2009, 19:25
Just to update a comment I made a month ago, my wife is driving this std shift 2008/9 and loves it. She's had it on the road as a commuter for about 3000k miles and she is averaging 33 mpg, mixed hwy/city about 50/50.
She could get better, but she thinks pushing the gas pedal to the floor to get it to speed is the way to drive. NOT! I'm sure I could get better, but it's not worth fighting about. Like the car!
4th Aug 2009, 06:04
Update to our 2008/9 (non-California car) std shift, A/C on. My wife also thinks 5K rpm shifts are the only way to drive. She is also getting 33mpg. I took it on a 200 mile trip yesterday and even with average speeds of 70-80mph, I got 37mpg using the crappy 10% ethanol gas. (For those that don't know, this ethanol lowers gas mileage and causes problems in carburetor vehicles.)
Of note, 70 mph=2500rpm, 80=3000rpm. The car has no problem accelerating 70 to 80 very quickly. Very good visibility all around.
I'm sure I could get 40+mpg using real gasoline and slower speeds.
6th Aug 2009, 10:36
I guess the stick really still makes a huge difference. I am only getting 33 mpg or so on the average with the AT. I do a lot of highway driving, but the parkways here have lots of big hills and the car frequently downshifts and turns around 3,500 rpm's to climb. I thought the AT would perform a little better mileage wise, but it isn't too bad. I will have to see what it does on a long trip on the thruway.
It has been a great car so far and I really do enjoy driving it. No problems so far!!
6th May 2009, 16:56
The initial quality of the paint on our Honda Civic was very good. After a very few years, however, it faded to the consistency of chalk. None of our GM or Ford products has ever had the paint fade as quickly as our Honda. I have a 2007 Mustang I show at car shows and the factory paint on it is absolutely flawless.