Focus. A friend of a friend owned one and drove 100 miles each way to/from work. As Mechtech noted, many bulletins on it, but it ran like the dickens for 180K miles before he traded it in on a Jetta w AT (mistake IMHO)
Ford Focus or Kia Spectra - Opinons Needed
- Thread starter Clement
- Start date
- Status
kia and hundai are so called deposable cars i read not worth the buy good until 50,000 miles....ford focus all the way...
Why spend $5500 on one of those cars? Buy a 10 year old Lexus ES300 or 7 year old Accord, you will be much happier 3 years from today.
There isn't even any reason to buy a $10,000 Kia or whatever... i'd spend $10K on a gently used premium car before I bought a newer compromised car ANY day!! Why put up with plastic dashes, crappy seats, poor options, wheezy engines, etc etc etc. Wouldn't you rather drive an older car if it started out far superior? I'll never understand why people even bother to buy new mid and low-level cars. First there is the depreciation from a new car, but if you are going to spend $20K on a new Pontiac, why not spend $20K and get a four or five year old inifinity, lexus, BMW, etc...?!??!!
Just my opinion on this,
Andy
There isn't even any reason to buy a $10,000 Kia or whatever... i'd spend $10K on a gently used premium car before I bought a newer compromised car ANY day!! Why put up with plastic dashes, crappy seats, poor options, wheezy engines, etc etc etc. Wouldn't you rather drive an older car if it started out far superior? I'll never understand why people even bother to buy new mid and low-level cars. First there is the depreciation from a new car, but if you are going to spend $20K on a new Pontiac, why not spend $20K and get a four or five year old inifinity, lexus, BMW, etc...?!??!!
Just my opinion on this,
Andy
The Ford is made in Mexico. I won't drive a Mexi car.
Being 6'4'' and having the unfortunate opprotunity to HAVE to rely on driving a Focus while the wifes car was being repaired after an accident....I can say the FOCUS is a great car for money. Very roomy for larger people, such as myself and for the $$$ Id find it hard to beat.
We're going to be picking up the Focus either today or tomorrow.
Thanks for the input!
Tosh, et al as to why don't we just buy an 8 or 10 year old Lexus or similar: = $$
We're financing this car. If I had the means to buy it outright, we might have been looking for something different, but such is life. The younger the car, the easier it is to finance in my experience. With a younger car comes a higher expectation of reliability, generally. Any used car is a crapshoot. My wife is currently driving a 12 year old car, she doesn't want to get another car that old.
As to Passion, cars are a terrible investment. I'm not passionate about incuring debt or spending lots of money (yes, $5500 is a lot of money) on a quickly depreciating asset. I don't believe that passion has (or should have) anything to do with purchases like this, unless you have the money to spare.
Thanks for the input!
Tosh, et al as to why don't we just buy an 8 or 10 year old Lexus or similar: = $$
We're financing this car. If I had the means to buy it outright, we might have been looking for something different, but such is life. The younger the car, the easier it is to finance in my experience. With a younger car comes a higher expectation of reliability, generally. Any used car is a crapshoot. My wife is currently driving a 12 year old car, she doesn't want to get another car that old.
As to Passion, cars are a terrible investment. I'm not passionate about incuring debt or spending lots of money (yes, $5500 is a lot of money) on a quickly depreciating asset. I don't believe that passion has (or should have) anything to do with purchases like this, unless you have the money to spare.
I had an 03 ZX3 which was a pretty decent car however the A/C crapped the bed twice in less than 30K...mine was a stick and other than the A/C issue and a noisy tranny (sounded like a truck's...lots of rattle and such) it was a pretty decent car. Nice and roomy
32-34 and you think that is bad? You won't find more than a handful of cars that can do much better with an auto tranny in that price segment
Goose
32-34 and you think that is bad? You won't find more than a handful of cars that can do much better with an auto tranny in that price segment
Goose
My wife and I bought an 06 Focus ZX4 SES it was built in the states. She loves it...it is a great car...it is averaging 27-30 MPG. We looked at the Kia Spectra5, but decided against it. Too many bad reviews. I'd say you made the right choice.
Actually, this car was made in Michigan, according to Ford.
I have owned a 2005 Hyundai and a 2003 Ford Fiesta. The Hyundai was by far the better built car, no rattles or sqeaks unlike the Ford. Not the direct answer you want but a take on Hyundai v Ford.
Roger, If he was asking between a 2001 + Hyundai Elantra or a 2004.5+ Kia Spectra, I would have said Hyundai/Kia all the way. IMO my '04 Elantra is much nicer than a co-workers 2005 Focus, and cost less too.
But as others, including me, have said, the Kia prior to the Hyundai platform is not the best choice.
Now if it were a Festiva/Fiesta vs the Kia he is looking at, well, that would be hard to say. Not so much a matter of which one is better, mor which one is not the worst.
But as others, including me, have said, the Kia prior to the Hyundai platform is not the best choice.
Now if it were a Festiva/Fiesta vs the Kia he is looking at, well, that would be hard to say. Not so much a matter of which one is better, mor which one is not the worst.
get the focus. my friend has one, rolled 100,000 miles on it, and dare i say that 90,000 miles of that car has suffered abuse of one form or another.
Here are some examples:
Starts the car, floors the gas, revs it at the rev limiter for a good minute. This is right after the car is started. regardless if it's hot or cold from sitting overnight.
Abusive driving in MD/DC/VA area - again, it's a stick, lots of extreme downshifting and upshifting, not to mention skipped gears, and shifting without the clutch.
driving at 100 mph whenever possible (this is even in a 45 mph speed zone).
I'd take the focus over a kia or a hyundai any time.
get the focus and have the dealer look it over, or if given the option, take it to a mechanic and have him/her look it over for wear points and make a list of possible things that are wearing out.
Here are some examples:
Starts the car, floors the gas, revs it at the rev limiter for a good minute. This is right after the car is started. regardless if it's hot or cold from sitting overnight.
Abusive driving in MD/DC/VA area - again, it's a stick, lots of extreme downshifting and upshifting, not to mention skipped gears, and shifting without the clutch.
driving at 100 mph whenever possible (this is even in a 45 mph speed zone).
I'd take the focus over a kia or a hyundai any time.
get the focus and have the dealer look it over, or if given the option, take it to a mechanic and have him/her look it over for wear points and make a list of possible things that are wearing out.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
I had a Mexican made first year 2000 ZX-3. The build quality was excellent. Only problem were the recalls which only required 2 visits..Only the ZX-3 and ZX-5's were made in Hermosillo, Mexico. I averaged about 30 MPG.
cost wise the focus will last you a long time with a ton of easy to find parts. aftermarket,junkyard,dealer etc..etc.. mtce is easy on those also. right around 30-32 is a real world mpg figure for the at coupe. the wagons will do much better mpg. i know that the earlier focus and the previous escorts had tie rod end issues. aftermarket with grease zerks have solved that issue. good luck..
- Status
Similar threads
