18th Jul 2010, 09:09

I used to own a 2004 Ford Focus. I agree with original reviewer, in that mine was also pretty slow. However, I did own the wagon model, so I'm sure that made a difference in weight.

My Focus was pretty reliable up until it died at 143,000 miles. Still stands today as the most miles I've ever gotten out of an American vehicle.

18th Jul 2010, 13:36

"Power windows, sunroof, alarm, power door locks, air conditioning etc are not luxury???"

I see your point, but all new cars have these features now. "Luxury" has come to define "Ego appeal" rather than any features of the cars or their reliability. For some people, just being able to brag about paying three times as much for a prestige brand name is important. A good case is the Land Rover, which is ranked as the world's most unreliable car. People still buy it for ego appeal.

19th Jul 2010, 19:02

13:36 untrue. Go to a dealer and ask what you get in a Honda DX vs an EX. The DX is the same body, very spartan. My 2004 GM has wind up windows and no power options except steering and no carpet. What else is odd is paying more to get a manual trans in your car on many models today vs an automatic. The Corvette for example has a higher cost for a manual, plus 5k more as a convertible. 40 years ago it was cheaper vs a coupe, and an automatic cost more.

20th Jul 2010, 08:47

"13:36 untrue. Go to a dealer and ask what you get in a Honda DX vs an EX."

This isn't the case for just Honda; pretty much ALL of the base model compact cars these days come with crank up windows and no A/C. Manual transmissions are usually standard equipment on the base models as well, where as they are an option on the higher models.

10th Jan 2014, 06:12

That is far from luxury; pretty much every new car sold under $15k has those options. Luxury would be HID headlights, navigation, air conditioned seats, rear sunshades; stuff like that.