My wife and I purchased a 2007 Ford Focus 3 door model a couple months ago. I would prefer a larger car, but she loves smaller cars that are economical and reliable. We did our market research, and for the money we kept coming back to the Focus.
In my opinion Ford hit the mark with this econo-box car. If you are looking for a Point A to B car for a good price this car will fit the bill just fine.
Our model is the three door, automatic, CD/MP3, A/C, Power Group with fog lights and cruise control. We paid $16K for this car, the sticker brought it in at $19.8K.
Power is adequate, but you're not going to be pinned back in the seat during acceleration. Driving this car 600 miles to West Virginia was comfortable enough. The car handled the steep hills in WV just fine. The car is comfortable, even for me at 6 foot 1. Leg room in the back seat is nominal at best, but if you want leg room look at the 4 door model. The hatch-back design provides enough room for suit-cases and the back seats fold down to offer greater room if you need it.
The interior is spacious for a small car and the CD/MP3 player is fantastic for stock equipment. The materials used in the dash are well thought out. There's no glare from the dash board, which I appreciate. All the power options work well and and are appreciated.
One feature that sticks out as especially nice is the leather wrapped steering wheel. Even in this econo-box I was surprised at the quality and comfort it provides.
The exterior paint looks good, although I wonder about how good it will look down the road. Something about it seems cheap to me. We chose the black paint, which really looks nice with tinted windows.
The car handles well on curvy roads however you will notice bumps and pot holes. Surprisingly the car is equipped with Perelli tires which grip the curves without fail.
The warranty offered on this car is phenominal for such a cheap buy. 7 year 70K powertrain, 100K tune-up sched, and 3 year 36K bumper to bumper. The dealer also offered "Free Tires For Life". However, when I examined the offer I found that ALL scheduled maintenance had to be done by the dealer. The "scheduled maintenance" was a joke and equated to about $400 per year in checks, toping off fluids and such. Not economical, 16 inch tires are not that expensive!
Anyway, the bottom line is that this car appears solid and well built. We've amased 5K miles in the first few months and we are happy with the performance we get in this ecomonical buy. Passing up the gas stations are always fun, especially in the current environment. We're getting about 32 mpg with this car. Insurance is cheap and we recommend to anyone looking for a cheap car to take a look at what Ford is offering in the Focus.
Amount Paid (US$): 16000.00
Condition: New
Model Year: 2007
Model and Options: 3 Door Hatch-Back, Power Group, Automatic