I love everything about this car and I think that if you are interested you should take a drive. If you do plan to buy....get online quotes FIRST. you will get a much better deal in the end.

Everybody stares at me, I am not used to envy.

I paid 16,000 with just about every option. I would recommend it to everyone.

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Chevy citation....dont ask

Very comfortable with plenty of head and leg room, especially for a compact car. Standards such as air conditioning and cd player are a bonus. Nice dash layout, adjustable verticular seating and telescopic steering wheel which is a godsend for short people like myself, electric door locks, air filters and anti humidifiers for the passenger cabin are a plus for those smoggy hot drives, massive trunk, adjustable seat belts. Great handling for an economy car, and surprisingly good pick-up on the highway and dead stops - even with the air conditioner on! Excellent European design.

I was expecting the gas mileage to be a little more economical, then again it's a lot better than my old minivan, and the Focus engine is a 2.0 litre which doesn't get the same gas mileage as a 1.8... The side mirrors are all one solid piece which is bad news if someone bumps your side mirrors. The wind noise on the highway (especially if you are in the back seat) can be annoying. Only one received notice for the A-pillars recall but that matter was taken care of in under of 3 hours.

I did a lot of research before I came to the decision to buy the Ford Focus. I talked to people in parking lots, kept tabs on my neighbor's Focus and asked his opinions over the course of 4 months, and I researched the car through magazines and the internet for 6 months before I was in the home stretch to make a purchase. Of course there is nothing better than driving off a lot with a brand new car, but my vehicle has proven itself in the long haul so far. It is pleasant enough to drive and maintain and I couldn't be happpier with my decision. I drive a lot and I have taken quite a few roadtrips in this car and I am pleased to say that my experience with my car has been a positive one. The customer service where I purchased the car as well as Ford headquarters is more than accomodating. The 4-door model is great for families on a budget like myself because this car will give you o.k. gas mileage, plenty of comfortable cabin room, and an eye catching design that's hip and fun and isn't boring like some of the other cars in this class - and it is the best deal for the price. An overall joy to drive!

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I test drove 4 other cars that were in my price range:

TOYOTA ECHO - the good: lots of headroom, lots of places inside the car to store items, excellent gas mileage, great first little econocar for students and families on a tight budget. One of the best affordable and economy cars around BUT...
The bad: exterior designs looked a bit cheap as was the overall handling of the vehicle, absolutely no power with the air conditioning on, felt like I was driving a shoe box and the tires were little bigger than donuts. I would not have felt comfortable driving that car on the highway with my son because the car felt was a bit too flimsy for my liking. the dash layout was awkward and distracting. Also, the salespeople were incredibly unhelpful, couldn't answer any of my questions, and were extremely rude.

MAZDA PROTEGE - the good: comparable gas mileage, decent little car for tooting around town but wouldn't want to take it on a long road trip.
the bad: boring design, uncomfortable interior

VOLKSWAGEN JETTA - the good: nice streamlined design, fantastic handling, optimum comfort, incredible warranty, lots of standard equipment and options, good reputation for being an excellent car and having accomodating customer service. I cannot think of anything negative to say about the Jetta other than by the time tax and liscense was figured in, it was beyond my price range. Otherwise I would've gotten the Jetta!

HONDA CIVIC - the good: excellent reputation and customer service, good gas mileage, good warranty, a great all around car or else there wouldn't be so many of them on the road. the bad: Broing cookie-cutter design with a boring spectrum of colors to choose from, totally uncomfortable and not enough head and leg room for anyone over 5'10" especially in the backseat, and it's a couple thousand dollars too expensive for what kind of car it is. As far as long haul performance though, the Honda is known for still going strong after 100,000 miles so that's something to consider.

Great car all around!!! I bought the SE with the sport package and comfort group. The ZETEC is zippy and gets 30-31 mpg with the 5 spd. Handling/drive is excellent. Factory stereo/cd is decent.

Seats need more lumbar. I modified mine and it's very comfy now. Too many safety gadgets, key switch is awkward.

I paid $14,800 for mine and love it. If you want a better and more expensive car, buy a German car. If you want a worse and more expensive car buy a Honda or an American car such as (Mopar-Jeep)or a GM product.

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Accord, Jetta, Passat

Cargo Space, Design

Groaning front brakes and suspension, Squealing power windows, Burned Oil odor from vent and Air Conditioning, Strong Gasoline odor from rear of vehicle after driving, Rough Idling, Overall horrifying initial quality

Halfway home after purchase, I let up on the brake pedal only to hear a loud groaning noise from the front brakes and suspension. This noise has only become worse after 1500 miles and occasionally occurs when turning the front wheels to the right or left. The driver's side window squeals like a siren when it is lowered (power). There is a terrible burning oil odor from the air conditioning and ventilation. After driving the vehicle a strong odor of gasoline emerges from the rear of the vehicle. The dealer offered to "spray some deodorant in there". I drove away without letting them touch the vehicle. I wish I has driven away before I purchased this thing. Resale value is poor, especially when the vehicle makes all these horrible noises and odors. It also has rough chugging when idling. No one should be strapped with this kind of terrible burden.

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Ford Escort, Nissan Sentra, Plymouth Sundance. The Focus is definately the worst initial quality of all - even worse than the Sundance. Sentra and Escort were quality vehicles

Handling, quality, and room are great in this car. The handling has been remarkable for a lower priced car. I have yet to havee the tires even squeel at any speed. I have taken the car into turns exceeding 70 MPH! The room is great and you can fit 3 child seats in the back and the anchors are well placed. I don't have kids yet but it will come in handy. On gas mil. I am getting a regular 30MPG and the car burns 87 Octane!

There is considerable road noise and some engine noise in the car--although overall this is a small price to pay for the handling.

A great car for a great price with exceptional almost European handling qualities. The brakes stop on a dime and it fits four adults and there luggage with no problem. The car gets great gas mil. and I have yet to have any problems at all in 18K. It could use a few extra hourses for fun but it has no problem in the get up and go department.

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It is better than my friends Civic. Even he says so and he is a loyal honda guy! It is a little underpowered and I am hoping that the SVT engine makes it into the four door

.......hmmm........

1.It makes horrible noises
2.The air conditioner smells
3.It is not reliable
4.The gas miledge is awfull

I purchased this car brand new in June of 2000...Since the time of purchase it has been in the shop for a total of 42 days...During the time my Focus was in the shop it had several thing fixed the major problem has been that it has had three motors in it...and if that is not enough it has had several electrical probs...You would think that with a motor that sounds more like a lawnmoer the check engine light would appear,but it only comes on if the car is running normaly,wait I mean the way it ran when I purchased it...This car has been a very big disapointment to me...
I would stay away from these cars untill ford has all of the bugs worked out and that could be never.....

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...none.....

IT HAS GREAT GET UP AND GO. THE CD PLAYER IS GREAT.LOVE THE 16IN, WHEELS. I GET ALOT OF LOOKS IN THIS CAR.

NONE!!!!!

I HAVE TO SAY THAT I JUST LOVE MY 2001 RED ZX3. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT CAR .I DRIVE 60 MILS ADAY TO AND FROM WORK AND IT IS SUCH A FUN CAR TO DRIVE.MY ZX3 HAS ALL THE TOYS ON IT.

Huge trunk and lots of interior space. Better than most midsize SUVs. Good acceleration (5 speed) and lots of security features. ABS, Side airbags, Traction control (Advance Trac), 4 wheel disk brakes. Very good car for a young family like us, also because of the new child seat mounting system (LATCH/ISOFIX) and the very good offset crash test rating.

Poor assembly quality. But I did not expect more from an american car. Gas milage could be better. I do not know how Ford/USA calculates the milage but the offical values are far away from reality. The same car is offered in Germany and the milage stated in Germany is around 20/city and 34/highway (all without usage of A/C!).
My average is below 25 miles/gallon (mainly city) and this is too low for a car of that size.
So far I had no problems with this car except the roof rack. The factory mounted bars are crap and I strongly recommend to everybody to not to use them to mount a bike carrier but to attach some strong bars from a third party roof rack supplier(e.g. Thule).
Unfortunately all the securtiy are only available if all packages are ordered. Fully loaded but including e.g. 6 CD changer it gets almost up to 20000.

Overall I think I can recommend this car. Because I have just a bit more than 1000 miles on this car I have no bad experience with the reliability so far. At least its seems to be better than my last car, a Mitsubishi, which was more in repair than on the road during the first 5000 miles.

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There are almost no wagons in this size available in the US. The Saturn has a too poor crash rating and the Subaru Forester has a much smaller trunk.
Beside I don't need a 4WD here in Texas. I did not take a minivan into account because of the worse fuel economy and because I didn't want a 6 cylinder nor automatic transmission.

Hey this and a 85 crown vic is the only thing that can hang with my lead foot. I have had troble with warped rotors (twice replaced) but the car has guts. in one year I have drove 32000 hard driven miles.

vehicle has weak brake rotors or im really really hard on brakes. I replaced front pads and rotors at 18000 now at 32K will need rotors but not brake pads (still good) hard to get in reverse but shoot I drive forward any ways

car kicks ass,price cant be beat,still needs better or bigger brake rotors cross driled maybe? Like I said the little car kicks ass all around great car period........

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Honda civic: too small, every one has one, feels like a tin can. suzuki just plain sucks stick to motor bikes. Elantra just had a bad rap.chevy caviler all noise no speed!

Awesome handling (and I mean AWESOME)
Super comfortable (leather seat option)
Great stereo and sound system
Dash and panel are very well designed, not square and boring like others
Good power for a 4-cylinder engine
Good gas mileage means more driving for the same price=)
Exterior design is very cool, especially the hood/headlight area

AC takes a while to get cold - especially in 120-degree summer of Phoenix
Not too many storage places - center console and glove box is about it

2001 model has been greatly improved over the 2000 model, as I have gathered from the other reviews on this site that the 2000 had several issues. I have had no recalls to take my car in for - I bought it brand new in November of 2000 - 7 months ago - and the only problem I have had with it is the driver's side windshield wiper wasn't fastened correctly and wouldn't wipe, just lay there... so that was fixed quickly, no problem. This really is a great little car, the best I have ever driven. I had been dreaming of owning an SVT Contour, driving a little Escort wagon in the meantime. I was at the dealership to see if they had any (SVT is rare) and got sidetracked by the Focus. Took it for a spin and the thing was just amazing. I later test drove the SVT Contour and have come to the conclusion that my little Focus is a great little car. I love the SVT body (and power), but the Focus handles just as well and the interior is designed better than any other car I have driven. I love winding, dippy roads because the car handles so great on them, it's so fun. Basically, this is just an awesome overall car - I was really surprised.

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Test drove an Escort ZX2, the Focus is way better ergonomically, has much better power, and is styled much better
Test drove an SVT Contour - (an awesome car, I might add) - The Focus handles just as well as (maybe even better than) the souped-up SVT and is definitely styled on the interior better than the Contour. Exterior is another story (I love the SVT body), but the Focus is still styled MUCH better than any other compact cars out there
Drove a 2001 Dodge Stratus for a while - now that's a horrible little car - this is WAY better than that one in EVERY aspect. Seriously.