2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe: Oops...It Did It Again

Well, FORD does stand for Fix Or Repair Daily...

The problem with the Focus is that "kinda okay" just doesn't cut it in this market. This may sound obvious, but you only get to pick one car to spend your money on (typically), so as they say in Top Gun, there are no points for second (or in this case, eighth) place.

"No wonder domestics have the reputation of dismal quality."

Yet Ford took the Gold in Initial Quality surveys. Go figure.

Actually, FORD stands for Found On Road Dead.

It looks like a Tercel from this angle.

I remember when the 06 Civic came out and my initial impressions were that the interior materials were average at best. Keep in mind that I hadnt driven a new economy car in some time and for some reason I expected more.

I really didnt have a lot of respect for the Civics materials and overall build quality until I rode in a coworkers 08 Ford Focus sedan. As soon as I got in it was apparent that the Civic was MUCH better in terms of materials and build quality as it actually felt like its sticker price whereas the Focus felt like something from the mid 90's.

The Civic was actually her first choice but she said the Focus was MUCH cheaper. I thought to myself "you get what you pay for". The European Ford cars cant come soon enough.

I was able to spend this past weekend in a rental '08 Focus in that exact shade of blue and scooted around LA in it (my one moment of feeling like an Edmunds tester!).

All around it was a good car; I liked the peppiness as well, the handling is still superb, the transmission was perfect for hill-climbing, the stereo system is very clear and is MP3 capable, it was roomy, and the fuel economy was awesome (I averaged 39.5 MPG in mixed driving).

As much as it was a good car and I wouldn't laugh at anyone who buys one, it wouldn't be my choice. The trim was tacky, the ventilation/audio controls are poorly positioned and hard to read, and the car felt somewhat cheap. Also I miss the hatchbacks and can't get past all the gawdy chrome trim inside and out.

I think the Focus has more personality than a Corolla and is a bargain compared to the Civic, but it can't compare to the Elantra. That car is attractive, well-built, feature packed, fun to drive, less expensive than a Focus, and almost matches it in fuel economy.

But overall, the Focus was better than I thought it would be and was a good company this weekend.

"I think the Focus has more personality than a Corolla "
A turtle has more character then a Corolla :P

lol

I couldn't agree more

I can kinda, almost see what Ford was going for with that goofy side vent in the top picture... shame it looks so goofy from every other angle...

The Focus is "ball-up-my-fist-and-hit-it-ugly", it's crappy quality, crappy interior, and did I mention ugly? It's not generic, "no persona" ugly. It's "sucked on a lemon" ugly.

Maybe because it's a factory built boring car with crap stuck on it to make it look "sporty" when all it does is make it look craptastic.

I think the Sync lady got angry at the prospect of having to read non-standard media files. So when you weren't looking, she reached out from her perch on the dashboard and yanked the door pull until it broke.

I tell ya, those computer viruses are getting worse these days!

No excuse for design flaws, but everyone needs to remember this a $10,000(that's what the advertise it for down here anyway)car that is pleasent looking and gets great MPG. No wonder it sells well. Now if they only got rid of that cheesy looking fake chrome vent..........!

Yeah, it is a "get what you pay for" car. And for what most people pay for it, it's a pretty good little car that is just way overdo for a complete refresh. Nonetheless, it's got a solid economical engine and still has a great chassis....

Joe

The Focus isn't a "bad" car; I agree, you get what you pay for. But that door pull makes me think of the old pitch "At Ford, quality is Job 1."

It's iPod touch, not iTouch!

joefrompa, a car with a "solid economical engine" and "great chassis" doesn't sound to me like a car that's "overdue for a complete refresh." It sounds like the sort of car that only needs a fresh look and here-and-there upgrades.

It's not the age of its components that's a problem with the Focus. It's the caliber of the upgrades...well, updates it was given. With the same chassis and engine but higher interior quality and less divisive styling, what would be wrong with it?

NOTE: We actually have never had the Focus' door handle examined by a dealer. So bad on us for complaining about it again, however, the inherant design flaw of placing the door handle so far forward remains.

-JR

You might as well break off the driver side door handle before you take it to the dealer to save you a trip.

Bradyholt - The chassis could probably use a refresh, and the engine a re-tuning, but I was pointing out that neither were weak points.

However, the entire interior needs to be re-done, as well as the trunk layout, complete exterior.

Those things require a whole new model, not just a refresh, since you need to start more "from scratch".

Joe

still its not a 'opps...It did it again' its an Opps we non car owners at edmunds never got it fixed, and it geuss what its still broken, kind of post.

joefrompa, the 2008 update had changes you're describing: all-new interior and exterior. They just didn't execute it properly. There's no fundamental reason the car would need to be all new to correct all of its current flaws.

Brady,

The 2008 update being an all-new interior or exterior is fundamentally flawed. It's working off the same exact platform; so the updates were not all-new.

For packaging reasons, designers can not move certain things around in such a refresh because the supports/mechanicals are still in the same place.

Joe

P.s. Opfreak - I think the driver's side was broken and never fixed, and now the passenger side broke.

Joe same handle, just follow the link. even have a video of it. Both times passanger side, both times same problem.

So i really dont know why they bring up the same issue without fixing it.

get it 'fixed' then if it brakes again complain.

Argh, that is stupid. I re-read Donna's post and I think she just didn't realize it was never fixed.

joefrompa, the problems with the Focus have nothing to do with it using the old platform. Interior styling may be loosely based on it, but quality and seat design (two shortcomings) certainly aren't. The age of the car didn't force Ford to put on the universally hated fender vent.

With an attractive, high-quality interior, less garish exterior details, and a reversal of the decontenting, there wouldn't be a major flaw with the Focus. None of those have to do with the age of the car's mechanical underpinnings.

"With an attractive, high-quality interior, less garish exterior details, and a reversal of the decontenting, there wouldn't be a major flaw with the Focus"

That would only be true if Ford were the only car company available. The Focus is a perfectly fine car whose only fault is everything else on the market is better.

Add to that the cancelling of the only 2 interesting versions of the Focus (the wagon and the hatchback) and it's clear that either Ford set up the car to fail or the people in charge are complete idiots.

Almost snapped a door handle off of a Focus at the auto show when I didn't realize the car was locked. Cheap, flimsy plastic that allowed the handle to wiggle around beyond its normal range of motion. Oh, wait, on the other thread, we were told we couldn't tell whether plastic was cheap. Never mind. Overall, I had the same impression that the Civic was a step above, and I totally agree with firstwagon - I really miss the wagon and five-door options. Those were great mini-ute alternatives.