And from their Ford has steadily tighten the rachet on build quality. I am here to tell you I own a 2001 Taurus with the Duratec Engine and its every bit on the level of a Camry and in some cases better in terms of Quality.

The only problem Ford has is upper management has been asleep and ergo product design suffered. Quality has not suffered. Even products like the Ford 500 although should have never been produce because of no market have good (Excellent) build quality. Where Ford can shine is bringing the heavy guns to the designing the most electrifying products again on the market as they did with the intro of the 1983 T-Bird and then 1985 Taurus which carried on for another 15 before they went to sleep. So if you have a beef with Ford it can’t be on quality. Ford makes a damn good truck. Its the number #1 selling American vehicle! I’ll be most anxious to see what Ford does in 2011 to see the new Focus and even the Taurus planned behind the one their getting ready to do for next year. And even bigger question is Electric vehicle field is starting to really heat up here. Ford get a move on that too.

Their have got to be stiffer penalties than the current lemon laws for manufacturers selling junk like this to the dummies that buy em and find themselve on the side of the roadway calling Triple AAA or onstar for a tow.

They should be able to take by law and if necessary federal court order to have the manufacturer pay back the owner for the cost of at least pushing their GM junkpile to the nearest Automobile Junkyard and Put that POS in the clapper and Crunched it down to the rubbish it truely resembles. Then melt the 2% that is actually good into some useful material.

Meanwhile, they can take the other 98% of it as complete trash and just incinerate another GM POS so society can be done with another public eye sore on our streets!

Because generally you can run Honda, Toyotas, Nissan cars to 300,000 miles + with no major engine problems or anything else going awry.like you would with an American product. I meant ahem GM in particular. Engine Valve and Mainbearing seizes up on its first 50,000 off the dealers lots.

I’d be willing to bet MurcieMe and zoomzoomr are destined to be one of those who push their chevy cobalt to its untimely demise

I got in the back seat for shits and my head hits the ceiling. What a load of crap.

I sat in the coupe version of the Focus at an auto show. I liked it. It was roomy and youthful. Nice small car.

This car makes me disappointed in the human race.”

Accords are selling well too. What makes you people think that folks wont buy an unattractive vehicle? If that were the case Toyota and Honda would barely be in business. Have you ever seen a Yaris? FJ cruiser? Pilot? Avalon? Need I go on?

The interior is even worse with that huge swathe of sliver plastic covering almost the Entire dashboard and centre console. It’s tacky. It’s just as bad as a Jeep Compass in there. It looks and feels notably worse than what it replaced.

I really liked the styling of the Focus before this downgrade. It’s looked both sporty and substantial and could be made to look much more expensive than it was. It had crisp, clean lines that made sense. Unlike some of it’s competitors (Cobalt, Neon etc) it looked like a REAL car, not just a ‘this is all we can afford’ car.

To get out of an older Focus and get into the new one there is no possible way anyone can like it more UNLESS THEY’RE STUPID. And as the article clearly indicates there’s a whole lot of stupid people out there . . .

Ford has in the new Focus done this right off the get go. F*cking brilliant and it’s paying dividends.

OK, I don’t know if that was their intent but it’s as good a theory as any.

Rodd: and you ragged on any Honda or Toyota product that you never owned and drive your old Oldsmobile Silhouette back to home… doesn’t sound too different from the middle-aged assholes you described, not to mention a stupid thing to say for a journalist.

I think people buying it know or hope Ford will be changing it next time around.
but in the mean time for the price would you switch to an Aveo I think not. So that is fueling production for Ford maybe this will spur them to get the Global Focus over here ASAP

This car makes me disappointed in the human race.

I wonder if the European Focus would have a significant price penalty compared to this one?

A few days ago, I saw a now discontinued Ford SVT Focus, and even today, it looks gorgeous, aggressive, and innovative. Thinking of what we have now, I nearly cried…

LLN — suggested edit:

“The newest Ford Focus may not be the best-looking sedan on the market, but its combination of budget pricing, excellent fuel economy, SYNC availability and the lack of any competitors save the Mazda3 are apparently striking a chord with consumers.

“Fleet sales continue to decline.” (imitating Strother Martin) Which is the way ford wants it!

GIUGIK1: the people who are buying the Focus, instead of other compacts, are smarter than you think.

Pauly: don’t ever bring up Consumer Reports and expect to be taken seriously.

To wit:

CR is staffed by these middle-aged bearded assholes that test drive everything and then go home in their Corollas and old Tercels to some smelly shack in rural CT or Vermont, where they chow down on alfalfa sprouts and rent Michael Moore videos. Don’t listen to anything they say. They’re a bunch of cocksucking tools.

Comment by deantj, posted on June29 at 2:07 pm

rsg: yep, the civic is now bigger than the accord used to be.

inline6: smart post at 519p on the 15th

LaCaLover: “Why would anyone buy this over a Civic?” Your rhetorical question sounds a lot better if you take out the words “this” and “over.’

And don’t forget s

Comment by gizmo2: “some people think the new Civic is also ugly …” and cramped, and too loud, and low-quality.

I don’t think it’s a bad car, and I’m told it performs well, but the styling is fucking botched. That being said, as usual people will buy whatever is available. After all, why does the Camry sell in droves when it looks like a manatee?

But it actually looks really good, aside from the front end. I don’t know what they were thinking with the front, it looks as cheap and ugly as all get out, but from most other angles it looks better than the last generation. Especially the rear, I really like the tail lights. However, I am dissapointed they discontinued the hot hatch/wagon, which I thought the hot hatch was selling well, and that they went more mainstream, selling a coupe and 4 door sedan. The coupe looks sorta disproportioned, but then again I’m into a vehicles looks quite a bit so…

The last generation was a really nice car, and very fun to drive. I don’t know what you guys are talking about, as boring as a straight line and stuff, but it’s zippy, gets great gas mileage and is responsive. Drove one not to long ago, a girl who works over at the Chevrolet dealership (kind of ironic, but it’s not that unusual) bought one just before the design. They got a lot of things right, especially the interior, and the new one is even better with that. This new generation isn’t just a re badge of the last generation, they’ve made some major changes.

Obviously price is a big one.

I think the rear actually looks pretty nice. The front, although not exactly consistent with the rest of the car or with other Ford cars, isn’t terrible but not great. The profile and overall look is a bit awkward though, especially for the coupe. The coupe’s profile reminds me of something from the 80′s.