HERE are my first impressions on our new car! I think this car was designed around a roomy interior. Surprising ergonomics and lots of niceties added for 2001: (yes, there is a coin holder, an arm rest...)
The stereo is great. This is a car for people who will never pay for prestige, but need a fair sized car. It only makes sense if you understand that we all have to stop at the lights together.
Important to my opinion:
Silent car, "german type" easy clutch (compared to Nissan for ex), good handling in the city, but a bit twitchy at speed.
Good fuel saving... Nice overall height and view. Can't wait to try it in the snow!!!
Adjustable safety belts are easy (my wife and I alternate driving it!)
DOES fit real people in the back!
4 door sedan looks far better, more solid and bigger than other similar priced cars.

2.0L is a bit shy, but fully compliant with my type of cruising around!
rear three-quarter vision is NOT the best.
The trunk could be bigger (I'd have a tought time fitting a bike in it, compared to a WW jetta) or better designed.
A weebit noisy (radio off) on secondary roads...

Excellent for anyone who does not think cars are toys.
Solid feel, good design.
Very comfy, will definitely take it for serious milage. (good "road" car, as well as excellent "city" car).

It's weaknesses are noticeable as you try it, as you get in it and take it for a spin. It that aspect, it's a fair and honest car. Not a vehicule that shows completely different behavior depending on road type or speed.

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I've driven all sorts of car. Finish and details feel more solid than Honda. Handles like an Opel, or a Jetta.
I'm plenty happy with it. Still not enough milage to talk about reliability (look at 2000 reviews, it's already that!!). Can't wait to drive it in the snow!

KICK butt sporty car!!!
this car was my 15th b-day gift and as soon as i got it i HOOKED it up' w/ 2 12" Rockford PUNCH woofers and an aiwa cd player and a pioner amp!!!
#@Q$ it is a sweet car all my friends want to drive it and just chill in it.
and w/ our hight gas prices it has great gas p/m

no sun roof

a great family car adn a great p!mpin/crusen car!!!

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best car my family as EVER owned

Good handling, crisp manual transmission, decent stereo.

Reliablility. Power. The car needs at least 50 more HP to have decent pickup. The car broke on me over 6 times. After 3K miles all four brake pads had to be replaced as well as front rotors. The car lost its allignement at 2.5K. Driver-side door lock had to be fixed three times and is broken again. Car went to the dealer for the recall as well. Overall, extremely unreliable car. If I could get rid of it now I would without a second though.

Would recommend to my worst enemy. Ford does not stand behind its product. They will be happy to sell the car but once they got you in, you're practically all by yourself. Stay away from Ford if you need a reliable vehicle.

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VW Jetta. Much more reliable.

the kona styling is great. the dirt paint and 16" wheels really make it stand out. the performance is good with loads of torque. the car handles very well.

the bike rack has dammaged the paint where the hatch rubs the rack. also the throttle responce is too slow.

yes, i would recomend this car and have many times already. i think that with a few performance mods this car will really come to life. i am still weary of the durability but i am optimistic that it will do well. i paid 14,300 for the car and feel that it is the best car for the money!

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rabbit GTI, golf GTI the german cars had better throttle responce and were very durable, but also much more expensive

1.) Excellent Handeling
2.) Excellent stock CD stereo system
3.) Excellent layout of the dash
4.) Excellent Price
5.) Excellent interior room
6.) Good seats
7.) Good trunk room
8.) Good view of the road

1.) MPG not as good as sticker
2.) Gas tank too small
3.) Trunk release does not always work
4.) Cruise is a little jumpy

This is a great car I would recomend it to everyone. To a new college grad as a primary car or to a professional who needs a commuter.

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This is much better in every respect than my Toyota Corrolla '88 and Toyota Celica '85

What i like about this car about nothing.

The drive seat it's not really confortable, for long drive. I have less thna 5000 mile (4500 miles) I had to put a new trasmission, we had a recall on this car, something on the electrical, the car can catch fire,
so went to repair for the second time, then the back panel we had to
change for a new one, plus, the mirror fell down, plus some dent to
repair, and finally we just received a new letter form Ford, for
another recall, this is a major problem, pratically the the left back wheel can separate from the car, causing a crash. Thank You Ford

Too much do not buy

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I'm 6' 185' and find the car very comfotable to drive, even on trips of 10 hrs or more. 16 valve engine is a blast to drive,and car handles exceptionally well even at speeds topping 85 mph. Large trunk for it's size. Best car I tried for the money. Trip pkg a must! Great center arm rest & telescoping steering wheel.

MPG's both city & hwy lower than advertised & expected. Does seem to be getting better after 40,000 miles.Lumbar support would be nice, I had to buy an aftermarket cushion needed for 500 mile + trips.

I paid invoice + $250.00 over the net. I would highly recommend this car and have to many people. I drive 50k miles a yr. My typical week starts & ends with a 500 to 900 mile drive. I have had the car just one year this month, 49K & have had no real problems. FORD NEEDS TO LET THEIR EUROPEN ENGINEERS DESIGN ALL THEIR PRODUCTS! My typical clients comments are, "It looks like a Jetta" & "It drives like a BMW"

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My first American car at 35 yrs old. I have always been a VW fan. For the money this car blows the jetta away. Focus is MUCH more comfortable on long trips.

Everything. We drove a lot of mid size cars and just happened to notice this one in the back coming off the truck. Wow! What a neat car for the money.

A center arm rest would be nice. Otherwise you have to reach down and hold the emergency brake for a hand/arm rest. A friend who owns a upholstery shop is going to make us one to velcro into place for trips. We'll lose use of a cup holder which we do not use anyway. I understand the 2001 has center arm rests. Listen up Ford!!!

Island Ford in Bluffton, SC are good folks and give good deals. The service dept needs improvement. We paid around $17,000. for a nicely equipped Focus Wagon. Talk about roomy and head room, headroom, head room, go take a look. Nice thing is the Focus comes standard with accessories you usually have to pay extra for, power windows & door locks, CD, power mirrors, etc. And the drivers seat travels way up and down by turning a knob on the front with plenty of leg room. The 4 cylinder Z-tech 16 valve engine is a real hummer, quick, responsive. Got 25 MPG around town on the first tank full, 30 mpg on the road/interstate. The automatic transmission is like butter, perfect match for the engine. We test drove a stick shift and like driving a little sports car!ZZZOOOOMMMM! Very quiet ride. They do not come with a factory equipped cruise control, but Ford offers one which we had installed. This whole vehicle & engine was developed in Europe and tested in Europe by European drivers for two years before Ford brought it to America. Europeans loved it and drive the hell out of their cars. A Grand Prix driver, now retired, was given one to test drive for a while. He said he was very impressed and the vehicle "begged to be driven". Ford had reservations and wondered how Americans would react/accept the Focus which has a "high" profile relative to the low profile Hondas, etc. But it appealed to every age group and sales have been super. Station wagons are hard to find. The suspension is awesome, cornering superb, ride superb. We have almost 3 thousand miles on ours with zero defects, zero problems. I have talked to students, senior citizens, parents anyone I see in one and they have 100% bragged on their Focus. To summize, we drove a Grand Marquis Mercury which is know to be one of the best and last of the rear wheel drive big engine highway cruisers for years and loved it. The Marquis is a hard act to follow. . . Getting on to our senior years and decided to go to a smaller car and the Focus filled that need beautifully. If you are in the market for a mid sized car you owe it to your self to drive one. I think you will be as thrilled as we are.

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Nothing in the mid size cars compares with this one. We drove all of the big three mid sizes, compacts and a few foreign ones. The Focus wins in all respects. And it is a good looking sharp car. The somewhat "high" profile gives tremendous head room which is great for a tall man like me. You do not feel cramped or stuffed into this car as some mid size or compacts. And you do not feel like you are sitting on the ground either. Very comfortable seats, lots of room in the rear seats, then lots of room behind that for cargo and the rear seats lay down if need be, or lay down just one rear seat. I tell you, this vehicle has more tricks than a Georgia show dog.

great handeling,good looks,roomy,and super fun to drive

seats dont flip forward for back seat entry on the 2 dr.The glove box doesnt lock.

This is an outstanding car in the compact class.I am 6'1" and this is the first car of this size that I fit into and dont bump my head,legs,and arms on the interior.The 2.0 Zetec engine has good pick up and the breaks are great.The car is very nimble and is the funnest car I have ever driven.It hase a good view out of the winshield and doesn't have that claustrafobic feel to the inside like many small cars do.

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Wow. I'm used to driving cars with a little more hp, and unknowingly bought the model with 110hp, but I was suprised at the agility. The focus can move with or better than the best. It can leave such as BMW when it comes to the turns and twisties. It has a wonderful comfort to it, and doesn't leave you feeling like you were the poor sardine that was canned with your other brothers, unlike some other compact cars I had tested. The car is smooth on and off the road. With the amount that you pay for the car, it leaves plenty of room for personalizing the car and its performance attributes, for those with the american muscle background.

The only thing that can be improved would have to be the overall hp output of the engine. The car has the agility in the turns, but it needs more umph in the straight. The base model engine should put out about 150hp and the top model should put out about 200hp. This is the only real thing that can use any improvement on the car. Ford has put itself to the test, and come out a winner.

I paid a little over $12k for the 4-door LX model. It was equiped with the essentials, a/c, am/fm stereo, 5-speed manual. It even had some extras which included, a 6-disc trunk changer. There aren't that many bells and whistles, but for the same price you could get a much better equipped zx3, the coupe styled hatchback. The Focus doesn't have an age range, as it has family models, sedan and wagon, both very spacious and capable of seating 5 averaged sized adults comfortably, and sporty models, sedan and hatchback, both customizable and extremely capable of thrilling the best driver. I would recomend this car to any one who needs a nicely equipped car, or a car that just gets all the looks. It is one of, if not the best cars of the year in any genre.

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For it's size, comfort, and overall performance, there are no other similar products that even come close. I test drove cars made by Volkswagen, Toyota, Saturn, nothing had the same attraction to it as the Focus. Each of the other cars were price thousands above the focus, and though the may have had more overall power, they did not have the same performance and "fun factor" this little car under 12k.