Ford Focus

[Cobster]

My feeling is because the American counterparts figure, forget redesigning and putting money into R&D.
Plus the imports' engineering is/was more reliable.
They (American companies) just buy 3rd party shit (not literally shit) and cut costs this way.
Cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap...plus they suck at innovation.
Imports rule, I deem this thread closed.

 

[John Holmes]

The North American Auto industry has vastly improved over the years in both styling and engineering to compete with the Japanese Market. So automobiles put out by the larger North American companies such as GM and Ford do hold their own now with companies like Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

 

[John Holmes]

Decent car? or stick with the Honda Civic?

Make sure you take the civic out for a test drive first. It has very small seating room. Basically it’s for a small person. I am 6-1 and had allot of trouble driving my fiends civic. Even with the seat all the way back I still felt cramped. When I took a Chevy Cobalt SS out for a drive, I had plenty of seating room. Also the Cobalt’s power could blow the civic off the road.

 

[MYSITEONLY]

Decent car? or stick with the Honda Civic?

I am a car wholesaler we sell over 100 cars a month, there is no comparison Honda or Toyota all the way!!!!

 

[Cobster]

Make sure you take the civic out for a test drive first. It has very small seating room. Basically it’s for a small person. I am 6-1 and had allot of trouble driving my fiends civic. Even with the seat all the way back I still felt cramped. When I took a Chevy Cobalt SS out for a drive, I had plenty of seating room. Also the Cobalt’s power could blow the civic off the road.

I'm 6'3, no problems with the Civics at all in terms of space.
Which Civic did you get into that you found to be, not so comfy?

 

[Cobster]

The North American Auto industry has vastly improved over the years in both styling and engineering to compete with the Japanese Market. So automobiles put out by the larger North American companies such as GM and Ford do hold their own now with companies like Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

Yet use their (Japanese counterparts') engines? hehe
Let's face it, the Japanese ripped the American automaters a new one.
While they were reaping the rewards in the 80's, and didn't care too much about anything else other than the bottom line.
The Japanese came in, and took over 50% of the market from them with quality, reliability and design.

 

[Meister]

Yet use their (Japanese counterparts') engines? hehe
Let's face it, the Japanese ripped the American automaters a new one.
While they were reaping the rewards in the 80's, and didn't care too much about anything else other than the bottom line.
The Japanese came in, and took over 50% of the market from them with quality, reliability and design.

What's the point of your thread? You obviously don't like North American Cars by picking Ford Focus that had severe initial quality problems. North American cars have improved and will continue to do so as more manufacturing is pushed onto tier 1 suppliers like Magna who supply everybody.

 

[Kenwoody]

Hey I am a Honda owner myself. The new Civic has awsome styling. But the Focus is getting decent reviews over the last couple of years. The initial offering of the Focus is the one that garnered all the recalls and bad press. But the newer editions are solid vehicles. My rule of thumb is, all North American automakers wait until the third generation. Japanese automakers are good to go out of the blocks. My 98 Accord coupe, which was the first generation of its style, has been a wonderful car with no faults what so ever. My 92 Accord coupe couldn't keep oil in the thing. The only reason I bought another Accord.........to pawn off the lemon on a Honda dealership. Ya take the good with the bad. But always keep the oil clean.

 

[wollensak]

The North American Auto industry has vastly improved over the years in both styling and engineering to compete with the Japanese Market. So automobiles put out by the larger North American companies such as GM and Ford do hold their own now with companies like Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

Having owned three Mercury Sables and talked to Focus owners I would say this: Ford quality is extremely variable. There are good ones and there are some really bad ones. Too bad Ford is probably going out of the car business. They've had some nice designs but just can't execute.

People buy Honda because they expect NOTHING will break and in general their expectations are met.

I really liked my Sables when they weren't breaking, but they were always breaking and always the same things over and over. My Chrysler is way better than any Ford I ever owned, it's faults are annoying rather than terminal. Also it doesn't piss fluids all over my driveway like my Fords did. I also have a late model Toyota Corolla which burns more oil than any domestic car I've ever owned, despite being maintained by the book.

Mitsubishi has by far the best warranty. Japanese cars depreciate at a much slower rate than domestics. Recently drove a Hyundai Sonata (Korean) and was impressed. Very solid and quiet. Also drove a Ford Fusion - nice car, quiet but felt cheap compared to the Sonata, though both were similarly priced and equipped.

Best way to buy a Ford is as a one-year old demo - keep it three years then dump it because once you get 120k on the clock it's only a matter of time before the fun starts!

 

[Venus_mgr]

The focus has ZERO resale value... one of my staff had one... BIG MISTAKE.

 

[C Dick]

It has been pointed out to me that I called the Civic an import, even though it is made in Alliston. I guess I am just more comfortable buying a car branded a Ford, GM or Chrysler, regardless of where it is made. There are plenty of anecdotes about people who had Fords or Hondas, and had great or terrible experiences. But if you look at the data, you will see that Ford and GM are now comparable to Honda in terms of reliability. I got into cars in the 70s, and to me, it just seems wrong not to drive a "domestic" car.

 

[Diode]

The focus has ZERO resale value... one of my staff had one... BIG MISTAKE.

But if you are going to drive the hell out of a car..who gives a turkey about resale?

 

[Meister]

Ontario has surpassed Michigan as the Number 1 Auto Manufacturing location in North America. 40 % !!!! of the Ontario economy depends on Auto. But, Toyota has the cash to crush GM and Ford (Chrysler is part of Daimler now and not really North American). If that's the case Ontario will be hurting big time. I predict the cars will go the way of consumer electronics. In a few years the majority will be imported. After that what is left? Oil sands? Canadian Bacon?

 

[John Holmes]

I'm 6'3, no problems with the Civics at all in terms of space.
Which Civic did you get into that you found to be, not so comfy?

It was a base model 2002 Civic. It had very small seating room. If you are 6-3 then you must have had your knees up to your chest. I don't know how you could have found that comfortable. I am a big guy, 6-1, 265 lbs, and it was way to small for me. However, most North American Cars, I have no trouble with.

 

[shakenbake]

My Civic is 9 years old, 180,000+ kms.
Only thing major that was done to it was the timing belt, water pump, when it was recommended to be done by Honda 3 years ago. I didn't have to, but I figured I get parts at cost, my buddy is a mechanic and doesn't charge me labour ANNND I can trust his work.
Other than that, oil changes only.
Can't say they're NOT reliable, because they sure seem to be.
I only asked about Ford, because I can get a great price for a new one.
But as one of my buddies said, "I have this Ford phobia".
Something about American cars in general make me second guess them, that's all.
Also makes you wonder why domestic sales lost a HUGE chunk of their sales to imports -namely Japanese imports.
Toyota isn't the strongest and most profitable car company because their quality is crap.

Cobster;

I have a Focus ZTS that I bought the year that it was introduced. Apart from regular maintenance, it has not given me any grief in over 208,000 km. If some one points to recalls for tis first model year baby, I say that it is to be considered as routine maintenance, because recall items have never failed on the cars that I have owned, even when I neglected to have the recalls done for a long while.

As for Fords in general, we also have a Frestyle for about a year and a half, perfect and reliable, and never even one recall. This car replaced an old, used 1987 Taurus that served us well for 10 years, which had a Vulcan engine that was bullet-proof, and was a LOT more reliable than the GM crap that I had bought brand new in 1990.

The bottom line is I say that you can trust Ford, at least from my experiences. I certainly have no regrets. The Focus is a fun car to drive, to boot!

As for Hondas, my friend has had an Odyssey for about seven years and he said he has had so much trouble from it that he would never buy another one. Others swear by their Hondas. I guess that it can be luck of the draw. However, you need to make your own decision and convince yourself that you can't go wrong at the end of the day. So, either way, you wouldn't go wrong in my opinion.

 

[shakenbake]

Ontario has surpassed Michigan as the Number 1 Auto Manufacturing location in North America. 40 % !!!! of the Ontario economy depends on Auto. But, Toyota has the cash to crush GM and Ford (Chrysler is part of Daimler now and not really North American). If that's the case Ontario will be hurting big time. I predict the cars will go the way of consumer electronics. In a few years the majority will be imported. After that what is left? Oil sands? Canadian Bacon?

Canadian bacon from imorted US swine!

 

[shakenbake]

My feeling is because the American counterparts figure, forget redesigning and putting money into R&D.
Plus the imports' engineering is/was more reliable.
Just buy the shit 3rd party and cut costs this way.
Cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap...plus they suck at innovation.
Imports rule, I deem this thread closed.

Third party suppliers are shit?

Tell that to Dana Fruedenberg, Dow Corning, AGS automotive systems, a whole host of big and small suppliers and other third party suppliers. This is how all the automotive industry works. I dont believe that any auto maker in the world makes all the parts that go into their cars.

As for innovation, it is safe to say that many, if not most, innovations came form the North American development teams, like fuel injection, turbo charging, disc brakes, etc.

Finally, you can't make a distinction between domestic and import any more in this world economy. Look at most cars, and you see them and their components made all over the world.

Sorry buddy, but the thread is far from closed until every one who wants to have their say, no matter how one person will disagree with what is said, has it.

 

[Lustology]

Ford Focus is a s-h-i-t box one of the most unreliable cars. Honda= Value, Quality, Realiability, Technology, Class leading cars. Ford is crap and always will be. Imports are dominating the north american market. Sucks for you if you drive american trash.

 

[The Bandit]

I have a buddy tht's got a 96 Caravan...over 450 k with no engine or tranny work done...pretty much the same...tires and brakes..and A/C work..nothing else..


Many of you are too young to rememebr the crap that the imports used to dump over here..the early Civics and Corollas were some of the biggest pieces of rust bucket junk ever assembled...but they sure turned those vehicles around..now everyone extoles their virtues...

/QUOTE]

He's one of the few lucky ones with a Chrysler minivan, they've been the most notorius for tranny's, I've heard of a tranny being replaced 3 times within 200,000 k., and not cheap either.
As for the rust on imports in the mid 70's early 80's, how about the worst Rustangs ever made(do you see any on the road), and what about the Astre, or Vega...or Pinto.
The only reason the North Americans know how to build 4 cylinders, is because Ford is in bed with Mazda, Chrysler was with Mitsubishi, and GM with Suzuki(also Toyota at the Kammi plant).

 

[elmufdvr]

i have a vw.. 7 year 100000..warrenty.. i drive hard and no problems... gas and oil changes... my first import car... i would buy another one ..in a heart beat... my 2 cents... just buy a car and drive it.. resale value doesnt mean squat...they all become worthless...i had a $35,000 gmc truck and in the end it was not worth squat.. i drove it into the ground... it was the best truck i ever had.. rip my ST Jimmy sls...