Yes, I've driven the "new" Ford Focus. And yes, it blows. I'm working on the review now, trying to summarize the vehicle's ghastly gestalt without resorting to scatological metaphors. But as bad as the Focus is, the fact that it exists is even worse. For the sake of argument, let's [safely] assume that the "new" Focus predates the tenure of FoMoCo's $25m man, CEO Alan Mulally. Let's also [hopefully] assume that both Big Al and his minions know the Focus is a dog, or what comes out of a dog 20 minutes after its gorged on Sam's Club's cheapest pet food. (Damn!) So why didn't Ford's top suit say STOP! We cannot claim to be a reinvigorated, reborn, chastened automaker and unleash this pistonhead pellet (oops!) on consumers in the world's most competitive automotive marketplace. Even if we take a billion dollar hit, we have to stop this train before it goes off the tracks. THIS is where we draw a line in our history between THEN and NOW. When we tell the world who we are going to be– not who we were. OK, granted, that kind of statement makes more sense when you have the new (as in new) Taurus under a sheet. But hey, sometimes you've got to work with what you don't have. Ain't that The Truth.
Find Reviews by Make:
Read all comments
Things at Ford are so, SO bad right now I assume they feel they can’t afford to be noble. Noble meaning, putting a bullet into the sick, dying US Focus.
Old Focus = Old Hat
New Focus = Sh1t in Old Hat, allow to dry, polish vigorously.
Ford really wasted a turn at bat on this one.
The reheated, leftover Focus is a necessary evil. Ford has no replacement until Ford Europe kicks in with the Gen III Focus, Ford is spending its engineering dollars on the “B” car they so desperately need and they’ve got bigger problems (old truck).
Still, no one can tell me why Mazda can sell a perfectly good Gen II Focus in the US while Ford cannot.
Why not badge-engineer that thing?
I know this will get deleted… but you must not have actually driven it. It was better than the Civic (not quite a 3) in its road manners. The interior was quite good actually and, overall, it was very quiet. No shakes. No rattles. It felt good.
You can certainly critique the looks – it doesn’t have many good angles – but it is certainly better than the equally-ugly chunkified xB and face-smasehd xD in every other area like drivability, NVH and interior layout/design.
Another thought…
Ford has worked most of the reliability bugs out of the Focus. The current model has ranked well in those surveys we all love to hate so it should (knock wood) remain a quality darling.
Never hurts to have that as a known quantity in this segment.
As well, if Ford can price the Focus (or incentivize it) to remain at a lower price/payment point than the competition then it may be not such a bad idea after all.
Hey there’s always fleets and there’s no shame in making a good used car. :)
The thing that gets me is that people always sing “Mullet” Mark Fields’ praises yet, this got approval from him?! And if it didn’t, why wasn’t he monitoring this project? Surely, this is one of Ford’s flagship cars?!*
* = For the record, I’m basing this comment of the Euro Focus and ratcheting it down a few notches. To me, the Euro Focus is an awful car. But I am coming to the United States soon and renting a car. Maybe I’ll rent a Ford Focus for a laugh?
RobertSD:
I tend to agree with you. If the new Focus is just a reheated old Focus, it could be much, much worse. I had a 2000 Focus ZTS sedan a little from ’04 to ’05. The coilover broke going down the highway and fell into the tire. That melted the tire and chewed the wheel up. I took it to Ford that night, but with an estimated repair time of 2+ weeks, no spare car, and the fact that I didn’t know enough to demand a loner, I was SOL. I ended up buying a new Honda Civic and sold the old Focus for $800 more than I gave for it.
Now that you know my experience, I will tell you this. The Focus handled and rode much better than the newer Civic. For all of the crap the Focus gets, it was a lot of fun to drive and pretty reliable (aside from said incident). My friend had an ’01 hatchback that he thrashed for 100K miles, and it still runs well.
As a side note, apparently that suspension breakdown is a known problem on many of Ford’s cars. That is what appalled me at the time, and why I was so eager to get rid of it.
Katie, when you come to the states, if you haven’t been before, take some advice from me (I’m American but lived in the UK for 9 years and had to take a British driving test to get my Driving Licence). I passed 1st time, I might add, with the additional handicap of having to unlearn driving for over 10 years a different way…
Watch out for: a) people not stopping on side roads (“stop signs? I don’t need no stinkin’ stop signs!”); they’ll simply drive right out in front of you, whether they are turning right, in front of you (BRAKE TEST!); turning left across your lane (BRAKE TEST!); or going straight across the road (horn and brake test). Be vigilant and make sure you get a rental car with excellent brakes! Oh, and side-air bags, just in case.
b) tailgating is pandemic here. People think it is their God given right to drive 3′ from your rear bumper, no matter what speed you are doing. Just be aware of the danger and try to keep no more than 2 seconds between you and the car in front of you, otherwise see warning a, again. Bear in mind that the rule here is generally “if someone hits you from behind, it is always his/her fault” (assuming you are not in a “no-fault” insurance state when you rent your car).
c) driving fast while surrounded by total incompetents – avoid Detroit and some other cities like the plague if you can. Going 95 mph in (literally) bumper to bumper traffic (because you cannot go slower or you’ll literally be run off the road) while surrounded by people putting on make-up, continually yakking on a cell phone plastered up against their earhole and God only knows whatelse, is not a pleasant experience to use a bit of British understatement.
d) drive as defensively as possible while going with the flow as much as you feel safe with, because you are literally surrounded by the most inept, incompetent drivers going – I won’t even scare you by telling you about how poor the driver’s ed is.
I will tell you my (once-British) wife did get an Arkansas Driver’s license (in 1981) with a 5 minute “driving test”. Drove out of a parking spot, turned onto a 2 lane road, drove about 1/2 mile, went into an empty parking lot, turned around, came back, turned into a driveway, pulled into a parking spot nose-first. She passed….
Lucky for her I was actually able to teach her to properly drive, and thus far, we’ve both managed to stay alive here by using 110% attention and totally defensive driving techniques.
Drive here as if all of the other drivers are out to kill you, and you might be fine. Swear to God, I sometimes think they ARE out to kill me.
Just wanted to warn you ahead of time from my unique perspective.
AS for the Ford F*ck-up I mean Focus, well, gang, what would you expect from Dorf motor company?
Let’s face it – after losing how many BILLIONS over the past year, how could the Dorf motor co actually afford to do something like bring the somewhat more competent euro-Focus to the US?
Embarrassingly (since I’m a car guy from Michigan), they would have been better off cloning the Mazda 3 and rebadging it….
I firmly believe the practice of continually updating a model rather than starting from scratch every time is the path to quality and profit. However, when you let said product rot for 8 years then update it with a terrible cheap looking design with fake side vents…
The fact is this car isn’t coming out with a great reputation, due to the intially botched launch and then prolonged rotting. With the small car market expanding and becoming extremely competetive Ford needs a home run in this segment. They need a conservatively modern design, the technology they did include, best in class reliability/fit/finish/driving dynamics/NVH, and a kick ass marketing campaign. If it doesn’t have all of those things but still cost more to develop than a car with all of those things would have Mark Fields should be fired.
To me this car points to the same old mentality within Ford that believes small cars should be made simply to meet cafe standards or to convince people to buy the more profitable trucks instead.
The only reason I trashed this car is that it cost the hatch, ST and wagon to do it. If they would have spruced up the 3 and 5-door hatch, I might have taken an extra look. I suppose Mazda bitched that those variants were cutting into “3” sales?
I guess I should be glad, my last Ford was OK (’90 Escort GT), but nothing to write home about.
KatiePuckrik: The thing that gets me is that people always sing “Mullet” Mark Fields’ praises yet, this got approval from him?! And if it didn’t, why wasn’t he monitoring this project? Surely, this is one of Ford’s flagship cars?!
It was too far along for Mr. Fields (and Mr. Mullaly) to stop.
Plus, the current one was getting long-in-the-tooth, so something new was needed. In this case, something (the 2008 model) is better than nothing (keeping the old model until Europe has the next-generation Focus ready).
It’s not perfect, but based on other reviews, I’d say it isn’t the total disaster that Mr. Farago makes it out to be.
In an ideal world, Ford would have the European Focus here now; in the real world of billion-dollar losses and almost a decade of spectacular mismanagement, this one will have to do.
Right now, Mr. Fields and Mr. Mullaly are living in the real world, and have to make the best of what they’ve got.
I agree that the old Focus was decent, but uninspiring. The reskin is disappointing, not just because we deserve an all-new car, but because it is UGLY! It ranks down there with the Chrysler Sebring as something that you don’t even want to rent!
I see your point, but the new Focus was deeply commited and in pre-production when Al showed up a year ago. He should force Mark Fields to get a buzz as punishment though.
2 bucks says that the new US focus will be called something else–they’ll probably have to just drop the nameplate alltogether.
long odds–in 2012 the “focus” gets a new lease on life a la “taurus”
I want to drive the new Focus, where can I find one. I need good laugh, and I think I will follow it with a Sebring then Cobalt drive to give a fair fodder review.
Which color is most fun to drive? Sweet I pass right by a Ford dealer on my walk home, oh wait they only sell used cars and one new Mustang with racing stripes.
New-old stock Focus, like shopping for vintage tubes.
shaker — that last Ford you had.. was a first gen Mazda Protege in disguise :)
they’re great little cars, a blast to drive :)
Speaking of Mr. Rogers, his show was filmed at a Pittsburgh PBS station. One day he walked out of the building and his car was gone. Word quickly got out around Pittsburgh that someone had stolen Mr. Roger’s car. The car was back in the lot the next morning with an apology note.
If the new Focus is boringly reliable, people will buy it if it’s cheap and that will attract a certain kind of buyer. One who doesn’t post here I think.
What’s with this fake fender vent thing these days? Talk about an instant styling cliche.
I have to say that at least from the angle of the photograph, the new focus is a decent-looking car. I hated the old one. It was “F” of the “ugly car alphabet.” I will have to get a replacement.
InsightOwner, that Mr. Rogers story seems like a nonsequitor, but it’s a very funny one.
it was easy to fix the (old) focus – increase the diameter of throttle body or at at least open out the crappo plastic oem part – increase the shift pressure of the autobox changes,(i think many more autos were sold than 5 speeds) give it the old SVT suspension and put a light pressure turbo on the 2litre to get it to 165 hp and while you are at it a set of decent front seats would be nice – incidentally why does Mexico get the euro focus?
Just the fact that it looks like a tricked-out 1990 Escort makes me not want anything to do with it. Add onto that how it’s based on an 8-year-old platform that was kinda ‘eh’ to begin with… and I’m sorry, I’m just not interested.
If you want an 8-year-old platform, maybe check out a used Saab 9-5 instead. Much better drivers car esp. with the turbo, and with it’s depreciation… you can get a not very old one for the same price as the Focus, if not less.
Mr Glenn126,
Thank you so much for you driving tips. I’ve saved them for future use! Mind you, I’m now petrified of driving in the States now! At least, in the UK, if you make a mistake, the worst someone will do is give you the finger (or two fingers, UK derivation). In the US, they may pull out a magnum!
Back to the Ford Focus. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy the “too far long” theory. I bet if Mr Fields or Mr Mullaly saw that the designs for the 2008 Focus bore a more than passing resemblance to a Ford Edsel, they’d have killed the project, there and then.
I also, don’t understand why don’t bring the Euro Focus (I still don’t see what Americans see in this wretched car) to the United States? The first argument was that it would be too expensive. Well, why don’t they take the designs from Europe and build it in North America? Then the second argument was “it won’t meet emission standards”. Now I hate to go patriotic here (dumb concept), but Europe has some ultra stringent emission laws (one has to look to the Kyoto protocol for evidence of that), so I fail to see where the problem lies (I wasn’t being smart, I genuinely can’t see the problem). Remember, it was Detroit who said they couldn’t meet 1970’s emission laws without a catalytic convertor, before Honda proved them wrong…….
“It is of the utmost importance that all Ford model names begin with an F.”
Well, this appears to be not quite as written in stone these days, but not long ago (just pre Mr.Boeing) it was.
I think that a car maker that spends time on eFFing up this way probably took its eyes off the ball where it matters.
@Katie.
Ah – you wonder why Ford hasn’t transplanted the EuroFocus to the USA? One of the things that Mr. Boeing is having a hard time cutting through is Ford’s completely idiosyncratic concept of industrial efficiencies. While I am somewhat skeptical of the benefits of cross platform engineering, there are lots of things that can be done to rationalize manufacturing without compromising brand value.
Ford, on the other hand, managed to create a logistics nightmare, with up to fifty different specifications for the most basic of car seat parts. It takes time to turn that kind of thinking around – of course the US Focus must be its own pretty little thing. Well, not so pretty.
kansei :
Yes, the Escort was fun to drive, but it wasn’t very durable.
I was lucky to get rid of it (55,000 on the clock). I sold it to a co-worker (cheap). In the next 20,000 miles, ignition module, fuel pump, power steering rack, and numerous nickel-and-dime items went — he sort of knew what he was in for, as he had more than one dead “beater” car parked behind his place :-)
Is there any truth that the new design was the result of an, er, “Focus” group?
To further back up Glenn’s ‘Dorf’ quip (or whoever should be credited with the gag), the green house gang seem to be using King Camp Gilette’s marketing prowess in reverse: The 08 Focus grille appears to be only a 2-blade Gilette Sensor, while the Taurus is at least a Mach3. Obviously, neither are, ahem, cutting edge (sorry), since the industry is up to 5 blades now. (curiously, Fusion is a razor too)
Continuing the US driving convo, Katie, I’m a 25 yr old british male, I drive a 65hp diesel clio (65mpg thank-you), but I spent 6 months living in Detroit communting to romulus. The driving there isn’t as scary as Glenn perhaps makes it sound, people are inattentive, but then they are here in the UK too. The only major thing I noticed was that people appeared to accelerate hard from lights etc, a product of massive engines over the past 5 decades. My rental Stratus POS tranny really wasn’t up to the job. The most worrying thing on the roads was the amount of drink driving… However, I reassert the advice to avoid Detroit. Their roads even make Sheffield’s roads look smooth!
Katie, I didn’t want to scare you but “forewarned is forearmed” as the saying goes. As for US driving – well, let’s see…. just this week (and it’s only Thursday morning) I’ve had
An SUV pull out in front of me, crossing my lane on Monday evening on the way home (17 mile commute). Flashed the brights at him, missed him by a couple of feet after testing the brakes.
When going out to get food for the food pantry at church, another bingo-the-clown driver simply drove through a red light, turning right, straight in front of me (in many states, “right turn on red” is legal – AFTER stopping – nobody stops in Michigan and virtually nobody obeys the speed limit here, either).
Tuesday morning, I had TWO people literally drive across right in front of me, one on a cross street (he got the bright headlights and I got a brake test again) and one crossing traffic in front of me, turning left (he didn’t stop at the side road, with that funny little red octagonal sign). Tuesday evening on the way to pick up Mrs (we carpool), I had a VERY close tailgater (I ignore the ones as little as 6′ away – otherwise I’d have an ulcer), couldn’t even see her headlights in my rearview mirror…. menacing.
Wednesday on the way home, I had TWO people cross in front of me… more bright lights and brake tests, then when we were walking the dog last evening, this idiot pickup truck driver talking on a cell phone started driving right towards us on the side of the road before he weaved back onto the pavement (roadsides, paved or gravel, are literally a lane wide here in northern Michigan, so there is somewhere for the snow to be pushed in winter).
Well, you get the picture.
As I say, just pay 110% attention and be confident in YOUR skills to drive defensively, and you’ll be fine.
But because we want you back on here with your comments and want to keep you alive, get a car with side-air bags when you’re at the rental counter, “just in case” (all Hyundai’s have side-air bags in the states, FYI).
nichjs, my “family sized” 5 seat Prius hatchback with air con and all the luxuries, gets about 49 mpg US day in, day out, which equates to about 61 mpg Imperial. I’ve obtained as much as 56.8 mpg US (71 mpg Imperial) on a long journey of 800 miles, mostly 55 mph speed limits, some villages, no air con (it was spring time) – pretty optimal conditions. My Scottish sis-in-law was astounded… especially when she was informed that the MPG is 25% out from UK…. Plus the Prius puts out about 1/17th as much actual air pollutants (HC, CO, NOx, etc.) as does a 2006 VW Jetta diesel…. and only 104 kg/km CO2, as well. But kudos on choosing an economical diesel for your own use. I’m not knocking it – just setting the record straight about what a Prius can do!
Now if only Dorf (“Ford spelled sideways is Dorf”) could get some high efficiency hybrids on the road, other than Stupid Utility Vehicles…
Oh by the way, Katie? Drive with your headlights ON low beam, when you visit and drive in the states – most people do now – make sure to familiarize yourself so you know whether the rental car headlights automatically turn off when you shut off the car and get out…
Even so, I wish the blind drivers out there who continually “don’t bother looking / see me” would at least put a WHITE STICK IN THEIR GRILLS TO WARN THE REST OF US.