This a practical car to own but not to my taste. Give me a Golf or an Astra any time.

This is absolutely the best car I have ever owned! I purchased it in Nov. 2002 in Oracle, AZ. In the past year and a half I have put 62k on it. Never get less than 25mpg in town driving. 32-34mpg on hiway driving.
Auto transmission...Cruise...Air...all work fine. This is not a ricky racer car! Any car will have problems like worn tires and brakes if you hotfoot it! Treat it well and it will take care of you!
I use Mobil 1 oil..change it every 10k...never uses oil in between as I change oil filter every 5k or so. Just put in a K&N filter and changed the transmission fluid for the 2nd time since I have had this car. Next time, I will get the station wagon...as a second car!
It has never been back to the dealership! I read all the reviews about it and drove it off the lot without ever test driving it! Ford has a winner in this car.
I suspect abuse has caused most of the failures reported in this column! Keep it maintained. I just put new Bosch platinum spark plugs in it at 45k. The car runs super! Don't forget to have your tech put QMI in the tranny and I plan to put QMI in the next filter change!
Good luck to all you FOCI owners out there!
We love ours and don't mind the payment at all!

To sum up the Ford Focus I am sorry to say I would have to use "appauling". I previously owned a 94 Ford Escort for many years and found it a super car, so with all the great reviews of the Ford Focus it was the obvious choice. I purchased an 02 1.6 LX, 1 owner with 15,000 miles. What a big mistake I made. Handling and performance is the worst I have ever driven, it is very noisy at speed with the wind blowing against it. The interior is cheap and falling apart by the day. Electrics are dodgy with the horn and dashboards lights working Intermittently, even had problems starting it on occasions. With a 1.6 16v engine, you would expect at least some pop, but there is nothing. I have driven 1.3's with a lot more life. Having owned a number of simiar cars inlcuding 1.6 Megane, 1.6 Astra, 1.6 Alfa Rome 156, the Ford Focus is a long way behind, not even in the same league. I cannot wait to get rid of it and people should really think long and hard and thoroughly test drive one before purchasing.

The Ford Focus 1.6 LX 5dr is a very good car. This is what you can call real value for money. Lots of space, reliable, comfortable. The only trouble is that due to the a bit oldfashioned technology this car drinks a lot.

I've been generally happy with my Ford Focus 1.6LX. I love the handling, and am reasonably satisfied with the fuel consumption. I find it hard to be critical of the Focus as it seems to be great value for money, certainly when picked up second hand. Reviews by car mags would seem to bear this out, as the Focus is frequently voted a "best buy" or "best in class" whether new or used.