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Test drove a Ford Focus Titanium Hatchback this morning.

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I've kind of been wishing that I had held off on my Fusion and had at least looked at the Titanium. Gas mileage is driving me nuts.
 
TraumaRN said:
And don't forget for 28K you get a car that will parallel park itself for you...that is if you absolutely suck at parallel parking.
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It's still a ford focus! You can put these features in a Hyundai Accent, but at the end of the day, it's still a Hyundai Accent. I'm not saying it's not a nice car. I think it looks amazing inside and out; but for folks to say that it can be cross shopped with cars that have historically been in the $28k range is ridiculous.
 
krunchykrome said:
It's still a ford focus! You can put these features in a Hyundai Accent, but at the end of the day, it's still a Hyundai Accent. I'm not saying it's not a nice car. I think it looks amazing inside and out; but for folks to say that it can be cross shopped with cars that have historically been in the $28k range is ridiculous.
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You're right. I'm not even considering those cars because they aren't as good or as well equipped.
 
I test drove a 5 door titanium last week. That thing was as solid as a brick. I liked everything about it. I'm still seriously considering it since the car payment is around the amount of Money I'd save in gas (Trading in my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a Hemi).

I'd have to get an SE (So I can get a stick) with the sport package and package 203A, but ti also appears that I can't get Navigation with the stick...

Dealer already has offered Invoice pricing on ordering one plus whatever rebate is available at the time of Delivery (Right now it was 500 bucks)
 
Looks like a sweet little car, I/Wife like hatchbacks but the scion XA we have is currently too small when you throw a baby seat in the back. Would be interested if the focus is large enough to accomodate one without requireing the passenger seat be pushed into the dash.

Now to wait for one to exist used.
 
I went to the website and built one that came out to like 22.5k. If I go to dealer and haggle would what be the price I'd get? 20k? 18k?
 
abaez said:
I went to the website and built one that came out to like 22.5k. If I go to dealer and haggle would what be the price I'd get? 20k? 18k?
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You might have a hard time with that given a few factors: a)it's a new model, people want it and theres not a mass of supply = higher prices b)with gas prices up people are again looking at fuel efficient vehicles, making them more in demand and less likely for the dealer to bother haggling down when someone in their 5 passenger suv comes in willing to pay for it right now. You can certainly try, but I wouldn't expect much right now.
 
abaez said:
I went to the website and built one that came out to like 22.5k. If I go to dealer and haggle would what be the price I'd get? 20k? 18k?
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My dealer claims that he's been selling above MSRP because the demand is so high. Not sure I believe him. I bought by 2012 Focus on x-plan, so no haggling necessary.

I would say that in my area, the hatchbacks were rare. Two dealers in my area, both only had 1 hatchback each, with a handful of sedans.

I went with a hatchback SE model with AT and the 203A rapidspec options. Came to about 22k out the door after taxes and fees.

Just picked mine up today. I'm pleased with it so far. Kind of a Ford loyalist because my dad worked for them. Glad to see the company back on track.

Had it not been for my discount, I'd probably say the car is a tad overpriced given the specs and features. Especially if the dealer is right and they're really selling above MSRP. It sort of occupies a middle ground between smaller (Fit/Fiesta) hatchbacks that get similar gas mileage, similar hatchbacks that are about the same price but get worse mileage (Mazda3) and more expensive cars that get better gas mileage (Prius). Personally, I had a hard time picking between the Focus and the Fit/Fiesta. My #1 priority was gas mileage. Ultimately opted to drop the extra cash for the slightly bigger/more powerful car.

Two marketing related problems I foresee with Ford are overcoming the Focus' history of mediocrity in the states and perception problems related to offering the car at a $28k trim. People are going to look at that number and balk at the model as a whole without realizing that Ford is offering an unusually large range of trims with this model. Truth is, the Titanium comes with a lot of stuff you don't normally see in this class of car and the reason you don't see those options is because it f(*!$s with people's perception of the price of the car.
 
artemicion said:
Two marketing related problems I foresee with Ford are overcoming the Focus' history of mediocrity in the states and perception problems related to offering the car at a $28k trim. People are going to look at that number and balk at the model as a whole without realizing that Ford is offering an unusually large range of trims with this model. Truth is, the Titanium comes with a lot of stuff you don't normally see in this class of car and the reason you don't see those options is because it f(*!$s with people's perception of the price of the car.
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Which is a bit f***ing retarded on the consumers part.

And now that I think about it, it's weird too because when people look at more expensive cars like a BMW, they usually quote it the invoice price of a stripped model when doing price comparisons. But for something like the Focus, they look at the MSRP of it fully loaded.
 
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LTC8K6 said:
The old Focus was selling very well, so I don't know how it had a perception of mediocrity.
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Well, it looked mediocre and wasn't nearly as well equipped as the new model. This car has options I couldn't even get on my car when I bought it and my car was the flagship model Nissan in its day.
 
173,000 in 2007
195,000 in 2008
160,000 in 2009
172,000 in 2010
9,000 in Jan 11
11,000 in Feb
17,000 in Apr

Nice jump for the new Focus...
 
I'm starting to see a new Focus or two on my commute. I'm in the northern suburbs of Detroit, so it's no surprise to see early adopters for D3 cars.

The one thing I am liking--I've been seeing a Focus RS mule on my morning commute. Each time I see it, I know the ST is around the corner.
 
I've had my Fiesta for about 2 weeks now and I really like it. Build quality is great!

I'm still getting used to the dual clutch automatic. It does weird things at low speeds, but I just have to pay attention to it. I'm not even sure how it works yet honestly.

I do mostly city driving, and it's only been on the interstate for a few short trips to st. louis (only 12 miles on hw64 from my house).. I'm averaging 30mpg and I have a lead foot. The average keeps going up, and it was, for some weird reason, only reading an average of 20mpg when I bought it.

I'm not sure how it calculates it.. but the average keeps climbing the more I drive it. Either way I'm learning how to drive with the car and make the most out of how the gears are timed. Coming from a z4 with a sport tuned automatic, with an aggressive sport mode, and the ability to choose your shifts is quite a change.

It's quiet. Really quiet. Night and day difference from my z4 which had a lot of road noise, was really low to the ground, and had noisy tires (fault of tires).
 
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Demo24 said:
Not compared to the competition it wasn't. It only sold 'ok' because it was cheap and got good mileage.
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Exactly, as an owner of an 08 Coupe, I agree wholeheartedly. It was a great economy car, as it was very cheap (cheaper than Civic/Corolla), had a better motor, top-tier fuel economy, was light and simple. The new Focus, even in base form, doesn't really follow this mold. It's more of a premium compact, a la Mazda3s. Now the Fiesta slots in as the economy car, and in base form, is closer to the formula of cheap basic transportation.

The old Focus ('08-'11) was a moderate refresh on the older Focus platform, and as such, was a bit of a mixed bag.

Motor = great. Highly reliable and very competitive 140hp/136tq motor, compares very well with Civic (same hp, less torque) and Corolla (with 132/128).

Transmissions = mixed. 5-speed manual is great even if not as good as the manuals in the Mazda3 or Golf. The 4-speed auto was abominable, robbing all performance while also hurting fuel economy.

Handling = above average. Economy car roundups were routinely dominated by the Focus and Mazda3, with slalom and skidpad marks outstripping the other non-sport models easily. Being the lightest car in the class was helpful in this, averaging 100-500lbs less than other models such as Cobalt, Sentra, etc.

Brakes = average/poor. Standard front Disc, ABS not standard, rear drums (puke). Stopping distances average.

Styling = poor. The refresh had some good ideas, but the shape of the car made these attempts more muddled and messy looking. A low point was the fake chrome fender vents on the SE/SEL models during the 08/09 model years, thankfully absent from 10/11s, and all 'S' models.

Interior = good/average. Comfort, room, and ergonomics are all excellent, but it feels cheap due to cheap materials such as the terrible carpet, headliner, and door plastics. Some simple things are missing such as the passenger upper handle (affectionately referred to as the 'oh-shit!' handle by some), or interior trunk release on less equipped models.

Electronics = above average to excellent. Even the cheapest model has an MP3-capable CD player with easy to read LCD display, Aux-in for Ipod/etc, and fairly good sound quality for the economy class. Models with the Sync system are hands-down better than the competition.

Ultimately it was the dated/muddled styling and cheap interior feel that hurt that gen Focus more than anything, but as rebates/incentives/etc stacked up, the thing remained an awesome value for a cheap reliable runabout. I've put over 60k on mine, and it's been hit twice by negligent drivers, but it still runs like a top, zero problems ever.
 
TechBoyJK said:
I do mostly city driving, and it's only been on the interstate for a few short trips to st. louis (only 12 miles on hw64 from my house).. I'm averaging 30mpg and I have a lead foot. The average keeps going up, and it was, for some weird reason, only reading an average of 20mpg when I bought it.

I'm not sure how it calculates it.. but the average keeps climbing the more I drive it. Either way I'm learning how to drive with the car and make the most out of how the gears are timed. Coming from a z4 with a sport tuned automatic, with an aggressive sport mode, and the ability to choose your shifts is quite a change.
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the engine will open up some on break in, my wifes astra got upper 20's for the first few thousand rounds, now its in the low 30's
 
My wife and I just had a Ford Focus SEL, black on black cloth, as a rental for the last 5 days. Thanks to the good people at Budget at PWM, who have always treated me very well with upgrades and such, we got one of these while we were house hunting. So we did a LOT of driving. A tank and a half of gas on this, and it gets great mileage.

Verdict: Worth every cent.

Our car was the base SEL (Sync and dual climate control, but no Sony package, sunroof, parking tech, navi, etc). I got a good mix of highway and city driving on it.

PROS: Sporty suspension, plenty of feedback. Good acceleration. Smooth shifting DSG. Interior electronics are everything they are made out to be. USB/aux in the center armrest. Intuitive interface. Good sound out of the base system. Mood lighting is a nice touch. The gauge cluster LCD was very useful - trip odo, timers, gas mileage, cruise control, etc. Combined mileage was in the low 30's. I did a split on the 2nd half of the tank, all highway, close to 37 average with my heavy foot. Seats are comfortable, even on long rides (did about a 2 hour round trip at one point). No gas cap at all, which was kind of neat. Good braking, but I did not push them as much as I would have liked to.

CONS: Some may not like the bumpy ride, but it's related to a somewhat stiff suspension, which I happened to like. The idle was randomly rough - could have been this car, but I've read it elsewhere online. The DSG is smooth, but shifts somewhat soft, I'm hoping there's a way to change that in software if I buy one. The buttons on the center stack are... numerous. I'd strongly shop the Touch interface with the Titanium package for that reason, but I also really want navi. Oh, I should add that the manual/select sequential mode kind of sucks. It's two buttons on the shift knob, and they feel kind of awkward, and the shifts are no stiffer than if you let the auto do its own thing - feels like more of a slushbox, actually.

Would I pay the 27k for the loaded Titanium model? Absolutely.
 
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Great review SJW. How would you judge the sound dampening, interior surfaces, comfort, and visibility?

I've heard similar observations about the auto, it seems that the focus (lol) on fuel economy has probably put a dent in the fun factor for those that don't get the 5-speed. Sadly, the 5-speed can't be combo'd with many of the better configurations, so it's kind of a catch 22. I'm fairly confident that better software updates, either from Ford or aftermarket, will help things considerably. If not, there's always the ST 🙂 Hopefully it's not a bank-breaker.
 
Arkaign said:
Great review SJW. How would you judge the sound dampening, interior surfaces, comfort, and visibility?

I've heard similar observations about the auto, it seems that the focus (lol) on fuel economy has probably put a dent in the fun factor for those that don't get the 5-speed. Sadly, the 5-speed can't be combo'd with many of the better configurations, so it's kind of a catch 22. I'm fairly confident that better software updates, either from Ford or aftermarket, will help things considerably. If not, there's always the ST 🙂 Hopefully it's not a bank-breaker.
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I thought the interior surfaces were excellent. Sound dampening was very good, comfort was very good, visibility was good (the side view mirrors have smaller wide angle mirrors at the top outer edge which is a nice touch). Ride is a little stiff with the Ti package and 18" wheels but not horrible by any stretch. I'd like to test drive it over bumpy roads though sometime.

I didn't play around with the manual shift because I'd probably just tend to leave it in auto mode most of the time anyway.

I agree with SJW too, the Titanium model is worth every penny Ford is charging.
 
Arkaign said:
Great review SJW. How would you judge the sound dampening, interior surfaces, comfort, and visibility?

I've heard similar observations about the auto, it seems that the focus (lol) on fuel economy has probably put a dent in the fun factor for those that don't get the 5-speed. Sadly, the 5-speed can't be combo'd with many of the better configurations, so it's kind of a catch 22. I'm fairly confident that better software updates, either from Ford or aftermarket, will help things considerably. If not, there's always the ST 🙂 Hopefully it's not a bank-breaker.
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I'm probably not the best judge of interior noise. I drive a Supra with a 3" exhaust fairly regularly. I'd say you do hear some wind noise, but not a whole lot. It's not as quiet as our Passat.

Interior surfaces look good. Definitely what you'd expect in a 20-30k car, maybe a little better. This was a cloth car, and the fabric looked good. It wasn't spectacular, but everything fit, panels didn't squeak, and the plastics looked better than the GM parts bin, if you know what I mean.

Visibility is average. The B/C pillars do create a blind spot, but Ford tabbed the side view mirrors with a 2x2ish convex, so you can see. Nice touch.

I obviously have not driven a Titanium yet, but the SEL in cloth trim as I drove it costs 20k. I'm not entirely sure what you'd find at that price that is as good as this car, and that is without factoring in Sync, which IMHO is unmatched anywhere.

About the only negative I really see is from a marketing standpoint. This is a legitimate premium compact. There aren't a lot of those in the US, as most premium compacts are really mid size cars. The available technology really sets it apart, though, and at this point I do plan to buy one.
 
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