11th Mar 2014, 18:50

Hi.

I'm glad that you like your Focus. They're good cars.

But why are you so surprised it's like new at 30,000 miles? 30k miles is nothing for a modern car. Perhaps I'm spoilt as I drive Volvo's and recently sold my 2005 one with 298k miles and still going strong with only minor faults? I complain because I had a small rattle in my 2004 XC90 (128k miles), which was sorted by the dealer in 5 minutes! We have recently been away and done 1800 miles in it last week without any worry whatsoever (And 38 MPG - it is diesel!).

It worries me that anyone should be surprised ANY modern car is still good under 100k miles!

12th Mar 2014, 13:35

These days, a combination of advanced tech complications, as well as manufacturing problems in a supplier plant on a given day, mean even cars bought new, not trashed, and serviced faithfully, could still mean a car can break down regardless. Sometimes catastrophically. Often only time will tell if your car wasn't built on a Friday, or a day when a jig was 2mm off calibration. Something that goes wrong could be merely a dud that is fixable forever by a warranty claim, but sometimes you can't tell if it's a design fault that will happen again.

6th Jun 2014, 04:21

ORIGINAL REVIEWER HERE.

It's been about three months since my last update and the Focus is still doing well. The mileage is now 40,654.

Nothing major has occurred in the regular maintenance department. In April, we had a major storm in PA. While driving, I thought I had left enough clearance from a downed tree, but a branch snagged both the passenger doors. It went through the clearcoat, paint, and primer of the front passenger door and scratched the rear door. The rear door was able to be salvaged by a simple buff, but I had to use touch-up paint on the front door. An ordinary person could never tell, so it looks pretty good (remember: I am a former car detailer).

Some other little things have popped up, but nothing major. For example, there is a stress crack on the hump over the steering wheel. I'm still happy with the overall build quality of the car.

I've since started an internship and my commute is 5.4 miles each way, almost exclusively city driving. The Focus is still getting approximately 27 MPG (based on hand calculation). My father's 2010 Camry gets 18 on the same route.

I took delivery of my Focus three years ago today. Knowing now what I didn't know then, would I buy it again? Absolutely, without a doubt.

6th Sep 2014, 04:10

ORIGINAL REVIEWER HERE.

The Focus has taken me through another uneventful 3 months. I'm up to 43801 miles, and the car still drives like new! Each day, I have to go down a hill that has a 10% incline over 1/8 mile several times, and the brakes (untouched other than routine maintenance) are still up to the task.

The Focus still gets about 28 MPG on my commute; I figured that by this age of the car, I would see a decrease in fuel economy, but nothing yet. People who ride in my car for the first time always comment on how comfortable, stylish, and quiet it is, and they always ask if they can ride in (and drive!) the Focus.

The Focus still looks new inside and out. The black interior has really grown on me, and save for the dashboard, it's pretty easy to clean. The doors from the tree branch in April look fine, but the scratches need another coat of touch-up paint.

The rocker panels on both sides of the car in the back (where the fender meets the rocker panel) have begun to ever so slightly rust; the two spots together make up about half the size of a dime. I plan to clean this as soon as possible, and I will monitor the spread and the two back fenders (Ford's notorious rust spots across the model lines). Given that I wash the car regularly (and let it air dry), plus the fact it has seen 4 PA winters, I'm not complaining. I'd say I probably average 2 washes per month (including cleaning the alloy wheels with a wire brush) and at least one "hose down" a week. It looks far better than my father's Camry with peeling clearcoat and paint, and many miscellaneous rust spots all over the body.

I still trust this car with everything and I never seem to want to drive anything else. I'd STILL buy this car again! It's an icon - people see the car before they see me, and it's always a crowd-pleaser!

6th Dec 2014, 20:14

ORIGINAL REVIEWER HERE.

It's been three months exactly since my last update, and the Focus is now sitting at 47,949 miles.

At 45,500 miles, the passenger side wiper jet malfunctioned (the part that sprays the windshield). I think this is because I let the hood slam shut one time. Basically, the wiper jet assembly is a cylinder inside a cylinder, both made of plastic, with a plastic clip that holds them together. This clip broke, and the passenger jet would not work. I paid $7 for the part, and a Ford technician showed me how to fix the jet in under two minutes (no exaggeration). The driver's side jet still works perfectly. Truthfully, I don't think I've owned a car yet where I have not had to replace one of the jets.

The Focus ate another license plate bulb, but otherwise all I've done is change the wipers. People say to change the wipers every six months, but I go through 3-4 sets per year. It looks like the driver's side headlight is beginning to burn more brightly than the passenger's side, so I am going to replace both headlight bulbs in the next day or so. The car's assembly date is 12/10/2010, so I think getting 4 years out of the original headlights is reasonable (I almost always drive with the headlights on).

I used a steering wheel cover for a while, but I didn't like the feel, so I've been driving with the wheel naked for about the last year. The wheel is starting to show signs of wear where I frequently hold it (in three of the four quadrants), so it looks like I'll have to go back to using a steering wheel cover.

I took this car from Cranberry Township, PA to Warrington, PA and back in a 36-hour span for a Student Government Conference. My friend was with me and we alternated driving. Over the span of the trip, 767.7 miles used 23.342 gallons, which resulted in 32.88 MPG overall. The worst leg of the trip was when 203.1 miles took 6.941 gallons, resulting in 29.2 MPG; but that was driving at a consistent 80 MPH on the PA Turnpike. The temperature was between 35 and 44 degrees Fahrenheit the entire trip, and I've noticed over the years that my Ford gets better mileage as the temperature heats up. My father's 2010 Camry (now replaced by a 2011 Fusion) got better mileage in the cold. The friend I had with me drives a 2010 GMC Canyon and he said he liked the sculpture of the seats and the layout of the controls, although he thinks his truck has a smoother ride. On my commute, I am still generally getting 28 MPG, with a fluke tank here and there of about 26. As I said earlier, my commute typically is 13.1 miles one way; 90% city and 10% highway.

People think I'm crazy because I love my car so much. If it always starts, saves you money from being so fuel-efficient, and is extraordinarily comfortable, what's there not to love?