Automotive / Economy Cars / 2008 Ford Focus - Just Plain Awful

After test driving the new Ford Focus, I have come away severly disappointed. The new Focus has no appeal. The car feels extremely cheap from the plastic interior to the faux side accents that make the car laughable. Look around at the body at the weird edges and angles. Grasp your hand around the cheap plastic door handles. Performance is just average and it is not as fun to drive as a Mazda 3 or Honda Civic. The Microsoft Sync system works well, but this is the only thing that seperates this car from the other economy cars. The Sync system is also optional equipment even though it is the only thing Ford advertises with the Focus. For fuel economy, I observed around the mid-20's from mostly highway driving, which is a far cry from Ford's stated 35 mpg. When the Ford Focus was released in 1999 it was a far departure from the bland Ford Escort and brought many new advances in economy cars. Also it was fun to drive. This model goes back to being bland and boring like the Escort. There are much better choices out there for economy cars like the Mazda 3, Honda Civic, or the new 2009 Toyota Corolla.

Was this helpful? Link here from your blog or website


Click the copy to clipboard button on the right or right click on the link code and select copy, then paste the supplied code into your blog or webpage template file.

  • That's too bad that the Focus disappointed you-whenever I see the commercials for the car, they always focus on the Microsoft Sync system so I just assumed everything else was pretty sharp!

    Chocollette on June 08, 2008 08:56
  • Interesting comments on the cheapness of plastic, etc. Thanks for the heads up on this vehicle.

    LJohnson on June 09, 2008 21:58
  • I actually get an easy 33 to 35 mpg on the highway with my 2007 Ford Focus, and I've taken it on several long-distance trips now ranging from 200 to 800 miles. I'm surprised that you only observed around the mid-20s in highway mpg from your test drive of the 2008 model. Could that be due to the new Sync system that I don't have?

    Alexsandralyn on June 18, 2008 06:21
Showing 3 of 4 comments for this review [View All]


Please Login to comment. Not a member yet? Signup Now!

Author Profile:
4tyGames

4tyGames


Rank: 2443rd (down 5)
ShareScore: 1%

Gender: Male
Education Level: university
Country: United States

Economy Cars Expertise:
4.0

More reviews by this Author
Detailed Info:

Overall Rating:

1.0
Made By:
Ford
Model:
Focus
It was a gift Category: Automotive / Economy Cars Published: December 20, 2007 18:14
Feature Ratings:
Performance
4.0
Reliability
3.0
Appearance / Style
0.1
Gas Mileage
3.0