I’m going through the same thing right now. A family friend who is a single woman (never married) in her late 60s had one of her cars totaled. The car is a 1996 Ford Taurus wagon and this was her “good” car. Her other car is a 1990 Honda Civic she inherited from her mother. At any rate, my wife volunteered my services to help our friend search for a new car. I started with these questions:
What do you do with the car? Our friend often makes trips out of town for about 1000 miles total. She also has a Kayak which is the reason she has a station wagon.
What is the maximum you will spend?
What kind of gasoline mileage do you expect?
Do you have a dealer for the make of car you are considering that is close? One car that would fit my friend’s interests is a Subaru, but we have no Subaru dealer in our town. Another car we struck off the list is the Mazda–no Mazda dealer.
I gave this friend my recent Consumer Reports magazines so she would have an idea as to what is available. She is not in a big hurry, so she can wait a couple of weeks until the Consumer Reports 2013 auto issue comes out. Her Ford Taurus is still driveable–someone backed into the left side and the doors are mangled. I suppose the other driver’s insurance considered it a total since the repairs would be more than the value of the car. I’m not recommending buying the car back for the insurance and having it fixed with used parts because this is a single woman who does take road trips and the Ford Taurus is a little old for her style of driving.
Of course, my first recommendation was a Miata, but Dagosa is right about not listening to this advice. I would like my friend to get the Miata because I would like to ride in it. However, do your homework. You are the one who will be driving the car.
Get a small pickup, forget the bike rack which damages the paint and bumper. She’ll look good in a blinged truck. Forget any sedan other than a Camry because the backseats are cramped. In a pickup, you throw the kids in the cargo area with the bike and other stuff.
@my2cents yes, I am entitled to my opinion. We have Ford Focuses in our fleet, so I work on them and drive them regularly. I know them very well and think they’re cheap.
You said “the Ford Focus was challenging the Toyota Corolla as the worldwide sales leader.” That may be so, but we all know that high sales volume doesn’t guarantee a good car in the long run.
We all remember those 1986 Hyundais, which also sold EXTREMELY well. When’s the last time you saw one of those on the road?
By the way, if my opinion is incorrect and unfounded, why do I still see tons Corollas being driven on a regular basis?
I suppose all those Corolla drivers must be idiots for choosing a Corolla over a Focus.
Why do Corollas seem to hold their value better than Focuses . . .
@redcardinal For what it’s worth, my wife’s new car is a “velocity red” Mazda3 hatchback. It’s very versatile and at age 72 she gets a lot of looks!! It will hold skis and with the seats down you can carry your bike insde. Try one, and you’ll find it handles like a sports car without the discomfort.
Unless you’re attempting to become intamitely familiar with your dealers service manager by all means avoid the Ford Focus. Their drivetrains are lousy and it helps explain why they sell for really cheap on the used market. You’ve grown accustomed to Toyota reliability so a new Corolla or Matrix seems ideal.
I just logged onto Consumer Reports and looked up the 2012 Focus hatchback. I quote . . .
“Based on the latest survey, we expect reliability of new models will be 169% below average.”
The sedan, however seems to be a “winner”
“Based on the latest survey, we expect reliability of new models will be 62% below average.”
Now as for that Corolla, which nobody seems to be buying, because everybody’s defecting to the Ford Focus . . .
“Based on the latest survey, we expect reliability of new models will be 45% above average.”
Consumer Reports has been hard on Ford products the last couple of years, but many of the problem areas aren’t that serious. The infotainment systems are a disaster. And the transmissions have generated a lot of complaints and dealer visits because of hard shifts at low speeds. That’s a common complaint about double clutch autos, but it’s due to poor shift programming, not something broken. I don’t think the Focus will last as well as any Asian competitor, but all cars are much improved. Even CR admits they rarely see patterns of premature engine failure. It’s all the electrical accessories that break, and most of those are just annoyances.
Anyway, it’s not as if the other American makes are doing better. I cringe every time the Chevy Cruze is recommended as a good car. Consumer Reports would strongly disagree. I tend to think the word ‘plasticky’ is overused when criticizing car interiors. Of course they’re mostly plastic, and they look like honest plastic. It’s what they’re mostly made of, except for the upholstered bits.
However, there are exceptions. The interior of the Dodge Dart is plasticky. It has all the charm of a recycled soda bottle. The shapes are bulbous and the parts don’t even try to fit together, they just end up near each other. It’s weirdly reminiscent of an American car of 20 years ago. One reviewer called ‘Pontiac Grand Am’, and they were right on. A Focus Titanium or one of the nicer Cruzes are pleasant. There is quite a big difference in interiors between the base models and the fancy versions in those cars. In price, too. Asian economy cars don’t vary as much, all being fairly nice, but basically pretty simple. Probably why so little breaks.
If a Focus trans has generated a lot of complaints, that should be enough to stand clear regardless of why the annoyance. Life is too short to buy a car you know will annoy you. I don 't understand giving an annoying car a free pass for what ever reasons.
Corolla proves that simple, boring and reliable but not annoying, sells pretty darn well. The archaic 4 speed auto they used for years was pretty simple but smooth and annoyed few. .
The public has spoken. Many times over. You may not make a truly great car, just make it reliable and one that doesn 't make you upset for whatever reason. Until Ford gets it, the Focus won 't sell like a Corolla long term.
I know next to the word boring in the dictionary is a picture of a Corolla. But, next to one of the ‘biggest selling’ name plates of all times, is the same picture.