2008 Ford Focus: Right Is Left

Be happy that it runs.

What do you want for $15k?

My daily driver has the windsheild wiper controls on the right. My old Chevy minivan, which I use overy sporadically when it's services are needed, has the wiper controls on the right, like the Focus. In ten years, I've never once mixed up the controls on either, and I only drive the van, at most, a handful of times a year.

Maybe it was just a bad night.

I'd say you're just having a bad day. The Enclave also has the wipers on the left, with the high/low beams and turn signals. Why have another stalk if you don't need one?

"Why have another stalk if you don't need one?"

For the purpose of less confusion.

Look what happens with BMW putting EVERYTHING in the idrive, with your logic, putting everything together is better. That's what BMW did, everything in one single knob, proved to be a disaster.

Our family Buick that I learned to drive on had the turn signals, wiper controls, AND the cruise control controls on the left stalk.

Mercedes has been using this setup for 20 years at least. It has always been two stalks on the left side: the upper stalk is cruise control and the lower is wiper/turn signal. I believe BMW and Audi also place wiper controls on the left. You may just not think about it because of set it and forget rain-sensing wipers nowadays.

lazyhater - I didn't say putting everything together would be better, I only implied that there was hardly a need for traditionally stalk-based controls to be spread out over multiple stalks.

Hey, at least it's not as bad as the old GM stalks that included all of the above functions plus cruise control!

Reminds me of whenever i go to Jamaica on vacation,weird enough having someone sitting to your left and shifting with your left hand, i always mixed up wiper and turn signal.

Do you ever think these testers have run out of negative things to say about the Focus and are just truly grasping at straws now. C'mon! There must be something more serious to write about or at this price point and maybe above is the Focus just really that good? Sales numbers are saying yes maybe it really is that good. Month over Month increases are very positive (especially in such a dismal time for auto sales!)

"Reminds me of whenever i go to Jamaica on vacation,weird enough having someone sitting to your left and shifting with your left hand, i always mixed up wiper and turn signal."

Same here....my family and I vacation in the Bahamas and Jamaica every year. It's confusing getting used to right hand drive, and driving on the left side of the road. When trying to flip the turn signals, I always end up turning on the wipers.

Well, I'm with Caroline. I think there's some logic to all light-related items on the same left-hand stalk, and everything else somewhere else. Not a big deal once you get used to it, but I prefer my Mazda's arrangment of wipers on the right, signals/lights on the left, and cruise control on the steering wheel, rather than signals, wipers, and cruise control all on a single left stalk as in our GMC.

"Mercedes has been using this setup for 20 years at least. It has always been two stalks on the left side: the upper stalk is cruise control and the lower is wiper/turn signal. I believe BMW and Audi also place wiper controls on the left. You may just not think about it because of set it and forget rain-sensing wipers nowadays."

BMW has three stalks - wiper control on the right, turn signal/high beam/OBC and cruise/ACC on the left.

actually, I prefer GM's multi-function stalk that has been on the left of every GM car made since the dawn of time. (I don't know what they do nowadays since I don't own, nor have I really driven a late model GM vehicle for any length of time to notice).

But I know that when I get into a GM vehicle where everything is going to be. Wipers, cruise (if so equipped), washer fluid, lights etc... My 20 year old work van is the same as my 4 year old work van which is the same as my 6 year old truck which is the same as my 4 year old car. Although the car admitedly splits the cruise function between the stalk and the steering wheel which is dumb. It's like they got halfway there. They left the on/off switch on the stalk and moved everything else to the steering wheel.

But what is so wrong about having all this on the same stalk? If it's your own vehicle and you're not switching rides every day, you would soon learn it and it would become second nature to you. It's not BMW i-drive.

(i wish there was an edit function)...

FWIW, Ford has been doing this as well. I remember the Tortise we had a few years ago had a multi function stalk similar to the Focus and I never had a problem with it.... I didn't mind it at all, although i thought the high beam switch wasn't as intuitive as GM's.

Actually, it depends on the BMW -- my E46 3-Series has a rotary light switch with a driving light button, high beam/turn signal stalk on the left and wipers on the right. The cruise control is on the steering wheel. 325i sport package. The Mercedes setup, I'm sure I could get used to, but in every Benz I've tested, I used the cruise stalk as a turn signal stalk.
Having driven many different Fords, I can say this setup would not bother me. I'd just get used to it.

My wife's mother used my Honda Pilot once to drive my older kids to church. She is used to driving Buicks. By the time they were headed home it was getting dark and she could not find the headlight switch (on the left stalk in the Honda). She drove home with the high beams on by pulling on the left stalk (a feature shared by her Buick). Thankfully it was only about 1 mile of driving, but clearly the author of this post isn't the only one who gets confused by non-standardized control switch locations.

alright, my friend's 03 focus has the wipers on the left side, why Ford changed it, is beyond me. But I used to have a 2000 Nissan Quest and the wipers were on the left side and the lights were on a switch just like this Focus. My dad's 500 has the lights on a switch on the left like the focus but wipers on the right. ALL cars are different and it's definitely not worth complaining about it. Stop hating.

Whenever I rent a car, I make sure I know where controls for all the important functions are: radio, wipers, cruise control, headlights, parking brake, locks, windows, mirrors. Automakers have a habit of occassionally putting these controls in unique places as a way of differentiating their line (or even one specific model) from all that is normal with the automotive world. Why else would there be center-mounted gauges, window controls on the console, ignition to the left of the wheel, et cetera?

Do you remember the commercials that said "Have you driven a Ford lately?" from a few years back? All recent-model Fords I've driven have had the same setup as your LT Focus: Fusion, Taurus, F-150, Mustang (somewhat different light controls), Escape. These controls should only come as a surprise to someone who hasn't "driven a Ford lately."

That said, I don't think it's fair to complain about this, as there are many many other vehicles out there with this exact/similar setup. It's not a flaw with the Focus, it's just an exercise in stumbling through an unfamiliar car. (Believe me, I feel your pain, having had to drive countless rentals at night. The first time I struggled finding the wiper controls in a nighttime downpour, I vowed to always know where the important controls were in the future).

I believe BMW and Audi also place wiper controls on the left.

The stalk for the signals and cruise control(two stalks) on Audi's are on the left side, and the wiper is on the right.