i bought a pt cruiser today
it's for my wife
it was between that and a focus sedan
i was surprised at how well the focus handled, but my wife preferred the cruiser after she test drove it
shit
now i'm thinking of getting a focus
the cruiser is blue
like really blue
I have a 2003 focus.
Don't buy a focus.
Fucking FORD piece of shit.
really
are you having problems maintenance wise or does it just start falling apart after a while?
it test drove real well
didn't have much style to it, but drove real smooth
i can see how it might start falling apart though
didn't seem to be built too sturdy, but felt nice
the other car i test drove was a stratus and that car drove the best of them all
great handling, smooth ride, nice pick up and go, it was just bigger than what i was looking for. i already have a saturn sedan and wanted a compact car for my wife
or else i would have gotten the stratus
Let's see. I'm at about 110K (Km, so 68 350 miles or so).
Went in for my 40K service which was expensive enough. Ford guy says I need new front brakes and at 40K I also need new rotors. They wanted around $450-500 to do the front brakes. I did it myself for about $120 (including the rotors) and while doing it noticed that I still had about 30% left on my brakes.
At about 60K, the ignition switch broke. Put in the key, and it won't turn. Apparently this is a VERY common issue and FORD refuses to deal with it. Ask the tow truck drive when he shows up, chances are he's seen it many times before. Also, the replacement one from FORD apparently suffers from the same flaw so I'm just counting the days (this can apparently be fixed by a locksmith coming out to fix it but sometimes you don't have a week to track one down to find). Total cost of that was about $500.
Then there are the small things that make it clearly a domestic product. Back seat latches that never lock right, rear wiper that pops off the motor sometimes. Seat adjustment lever that falls off.
Between this car, and the Chevrolet I drove before, I'll never buy another domestic car. When a 1990 honda crx with 250,000km on it is holding together better than a 3 year old well taken care of car...
The Focus was designed and engineered in Europe. It's domestic in only that your bought it here.
you mean poorly designed? Regardless of where it was actually designed, it was designed for a domestic auto maker which in my experience means cost cutting, poor manufacturing, and crap assembly.
my most recent issue was a cracked thermostat housing. They use a plastic housing that bolts to the side of the block and yet another common issue that ford is ignoring is the built in washer cracks.
$100 part only available from ford + about 3 hours of labour (for me to do it).
I also noticed while in there that the only way to change the thermostat is by pulling out this housing which is a very poor design decision.
What I mean is the Focus was designed IN Europe FOR Europe, then brought to America.
You're claiming that it was designed poorly because it was meant for America, when this is not the case.
It was designed for FORD though correct? That is my point. Domestic auto makers (hell most auto makers) have gone far downhill i quality in recent years.
What I mean is the Focus was designed IN Europe FOR Europe, then brought to America.
You're claiming that it was designed poorly because it was meant for America, when this is not the case.
It was designed for FORD though correct? That is my point. Domestic auto makers (hell most auto makers) have gone far downhill i quality in recent years.
See, no it wasn't. It was Designed by Ford Europe, which is almost completely separate from Ford North America. Ford NA decided to bring it over from Europe two years after it was introduced in Europe.
Each part of Ford (NA, Europe, Austraila, ect.) have the same over-all president, the NA one, but after that they do their own things.
My first accident I was coming up to a streetlight, trying to get to class. I looked down to change the radio, and when I looked up, the light had turned red and I was about to hit this lady making a left hand turn ahead of me.
Luckily I only scraped her bumper but I was still freaked out afterwards. And late to class.
Cerrius on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
0
Raneadospolice apologistyou shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered Userregular
edited March 2007
steering wheel radio controls are the best invention of man
Posts
Ever.
The Focus was designed and engineered in Europe. It's domestic in only that your bought it here.
my most recent issue was a cracked thermostat housing. They use a plastic housing that bolts to the side of the block and yet another common issue that ford is ignoring is the built in washer cracks.
$100 part only available from ford + about 3 hours of labour (for me to do it).
I also noticed while in there that the only way to change the thermostat is by pulling out this housing which is a very poor design decision.
You're claiming that it was designed poorly because it was meant for America, when this is not the case.
It was designed for FORD though correct? That is my point. Domestic auto makers (hell most auto makers) have gone far downhill i quality in recent years.
See, no it wasn't. It was Designed by Ford Europe, which is almost completely separate from Ford North America. Ford NA decided to bring it over from Europe two years after it was introduced in Europe.
Each part of Ford (NA, Europe, Austraila, ect.) have the same over-all president, the NA one, but after that they do their own things.
Luckily I only scraped her bumper but I was still freaked out afterwards. And late to class.
Are you calling yourself Photobagel?