14th Mar 2007, 16:15
Having had experience with both the Honda Civic and the Ford Focus, in my mind there is NO COMPARISON. The Civic began to fall apart at 40,000 miles (CV joints went out) and the engine blew up at 90,000 miles. Our Focus was smoother, faster, handled much better, had fewer rattles (NONE actually) and never saw the inside of a service facility except for oil changes.
People who argue that Fords are unreliable have probably never even ridden in one, let alone owned one. We spent less on one of our Fords in 17 years and 300,000+ miles for repairs than one months payment on the overpriced and over rated Civic or Corolla. Not one of my Ford trucks has EVER had a single repair of ANY KIND in the past 16 years.
14th Mar 2007, 16:18
You'll lose that $5000 (and more) that you should have spent to get the Civic when you have to replace the whole drivetrain at 130,000, (if that far ahead). The Civic would have given you 230,000 or more before it gave you any trouble. There's a reason Ford's are cheaper.
15th Mar 2007, 18:57
I work for a company that uses a fleet of station wagons for service vehicles. We used Toyota Corolla wagons for years, but switched to the Ford Focus wagon back in '02. Some of those have 300000Km now. Our experience is that the Focus may have a few more problems, but the repair costs are much lower, thus they are much cheaper to operate in the long run. I guess the matter of which is better depends on your preference: lower operating cost vs. fewer problems.
15th Mar 2007, 19:11
No, we just know you're full of hot air. You give no stats to back up your claims, just off the wall statements of how bad the car it is with no proof to back it up. I know someone who's owned a 2004 Focus SE since brand new and it hasn't given them ANY trouble. Therefore I have absolutely no reason to believe anything you're saying.
16th Mar 2007, 14:35
"Research the 2000 Ford Focus, that should be proof enough."
You probably didn't realize that this is 2007. You must be thinking of the previous decade, along with the back-issues of Consumer Reports that say how Japanese cars used to be better than domestics.
17th Mar 2007, 09:17
And you probably didn't realize that the 2007 Ford Focus is the SAME design, same car as the 2000 model.
Any car that has 20+ recalls in its first year including such inherent design flaws as crumbling ignition locks and flooding passenger compartments is NOT going to improve with age.
Same crap, different year.
22nd Apr 2007, 13:12
Not really you look at the bugs that are in the focus, you tell me someone who has really owned a focus that is a 2005-2007 model and they have had problems with these areas oh wait there isn't any I am sorry.
13th May 2007, 11:19
Actually, yes it will. That's what the RECALLS were for, to correct these issues. And it's not 1990 anymore. The simple, reliable Honda's are gone, and the over-engineered ones that have taken their places are over-priced and are as reliable as anything else on the road because they try to do too much with them.
If anything, Korean cars are the new Honda's, thanks to their simplicity. BUT no thank you! I'll take the Ford...
12th Jul 2008, 01:10
The 2005 onward Focus' are excellent machines (it's nice that they switched to a timing chain, in particular). Because Civics and Corollas *are* really great cars, they hold their value-- which means they're not always a great used bargain. The Elantra and Focus are better used bets, nearly as reliable for thousands less. An automatic '06 Focus ZX5 w/30k runs about $11-12k. Same money gets you an 03 Matrix with 75k maybe?
Anyhow-- I'd say outside of the Chrysler family (sorry), most cars on the market are reliable for 150K miles.
14th Mar 2007, 14:32
Very good value for the money. Compared to foreign cars this thing knocks them in the dirt. We got one fully loaded with moonroof and leather for about five thousand less than the base honda civic. Plus the power-train and engine warranty cover up to 100,000 miles. We average about 32 mpg which is a good mix of city and highway. Our hope is to get 200,000 out of this car.