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"Tipping Points" Towards My '09 Focus Purchase

by micweb on Thu Dec 04 11:34:14 PST 2008

I've owned 5 or 6 - or maybe more (you lose track when you trade in two cars twice a year) - Focuses since 2000. But I haven't owned one (up until two weeks ago) since I purchased an '05 ZX3. Why? Well, first and foremost I made a shift towards purchasing cars with side curtain airbags (the most important kind for survivability per the IIHS.org), and Ford was slow on adopting them. They DID offer a combination torso/head airbag, coming out of the seat, for the front occupants only, but I have kids now and wanted front and rear head coverage, plus the combo bags were hard to find. I was fortunate that my '05 ZX3 came with them, although otherwise lightly optioned (as I like my cars). Second, I didn't like the fact that for some reason Ford didn't offer rear seat headrests on any Focus until '09. I didn't feel right about offering to drive co-workers to lunch, in the rear seat of a car that didn't think whip-lash protection via head rests is important. Third, I had gotten used to lot quieter cars. Other economy cars got a lot quieter, but the Focus didn't, until 2008 when they added better sound proofing and a special, thicker windshield (an upgrade made to the Escape that year, too). I thought this was a minor difference, until I went driving earlier in the year in a left-over '07 ZX3 (yes, I loved the Hatchback Focus) and realized that while the engine and road noise were moderate, the wind rush was horrific. Thankfully, starting in 2008 Ford redesigned the Focus to be much quieter (but watch out for the Coupe which has a noisier muffler, which is actually deliberate on Ford's part), and my '09 Focus is comparable in sound levels to the two quietest vehicles I've owned, an '06 Impala and my wife's '07 Honda Odyssey. That's saying a lot. Fourth, the hatchback disappeared! I love hatchbacks, they are smaller than a sedan for easy city parking, but when you flop the rear seats down, they turn into really effective "haulers." I sure hope they bring the hatchback back! So those were the negatives, most of which got solved (Focii come with curtain air bags standard, they are quiet, they have rear headrests). So which was the tipping point for me? Well, if the Focus this year had still been stuck with those goofy fake air vents on the fenders, I wouldn't have even test drove this year's much improved, very satisfying model. I could probably have lived without rear headrests (my kids are short and co-workers can ride in their own cars!) but I definitely couldn't have lived with those cheesy fake vents. It doesn't hurt that the front air dam area got cleaned up. Although initially I thought the Focus interior was cheap looking compared to my recent Fit and Versa experiences, I have actually come around to liking it a lot. It is less "busy" than the Fit, which was way over designed, and I like Ford's use of pebbling, micropebbling, and "sticky" or "grippy" overlays (on the arm rest). Now that I have 1,000 miles on the car, I see the interior as cleverly minamalist, in that way I used to like VW's (until they started getting all Lexus'd out). A lot of thought when into surfaces, seat fabrics, lighting under switchgear, the center arm rest, the controls, the rubber lining in the console cupholders, etc. The only thing I miss are hand grabs, not because I use them to get in and out, but because I like to grab them while on interstate drives to stretch out a little. If you like your Focus, as I do, please share your thoughts with your friends, relatives, and coworkers. This is a very difficult time for the American manufacturers. I have watched them for the past 8 years, and they have been diligent about reducing so-called "legacy" costs while upgrading their products to reduce warranty costs and quality control issues. Ford, imho, has done the best job - the Focus is still in the hunt compared with Corollas and Sentras and maybe even Civics, if you give it points for its Euro-centric driving experience - the Fusion is a hit - the Taurus models may be boring, but they are rock solid derivatives of Volvos - the Edge is sweet, the Escape is sensibly (finally) upgraded with a great new engine, and the Flex is way too far out to come from an American company. They both need and deserve our support in these very difficult economic times.

Wall Street's Opinion

by kernick on Thu Dec 04 09:51:26 PST 2008

"It's a relationship that strained as the big automakers, Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. became bigger credit risks. It then became tougher and more expensive to sell car-maker debt, even amid the orgy of lending that marked the last few years before the credit crisis shut down the party." "Now, of course, the Big Three can't get any financing. And their suppliers, if they can get it, are paying through the teeth. Lending to the industry is down 70%. It doesn't take an engineer to figure out why: Wall Street thinks Detroit is dead." http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Wall-Street-Detroits-messy-divorce/story.a- - spx?guid=%7B46D387BC%2D76DC%2D41F9%2DBF20%2D6EDFCD14F0B9%7D

Congressional Democrats say let George do it

by gagrice on Thu Dec 04 05:21:48 PST 2008

Here is what all the UAW supported Congressional folks think. They don't want to have this bailout on their watch. Two weeks after a botched attempt on Capitol Hill, repentant leaders of General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Chrysler LLC were appealing to the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday with three separate survival plans that include massive restructuring, the ditching of corporate jets and vows by CEOs to work for $1 a year. But they could expect a chilly reception on Capitol Hill. Even a top Democrat in charge of evaluating their aid requests made it clear he was eager to avoid voting on a bailout. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday asking the central bank chief whether there was anything stopping him from using his considerable lending authority to help the automakers. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said it was up to the Bush administration to unilaterally rescue the Big Three with loans drawn from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue fund, since Congress was still unwilling to do so. "I just don't think we have the votes to do that now," he told The Associated Press. Congressional Democrats know they can kiss their big gains goodbye in 2010 if the make a mess of the auto industry. It is easier to pass the buck. Reid, Pelosi and Dodd know that $700 billion is already earmarked along with another $500 billion. So it is easy to try and make Bush and Bernanke look stingy with money they do not have to handout to the beggars from Detroit. I say let the Big 3 rot in hell for destroying our auto industry over the last 40 years. The truth is and Congress knows it. NO amount of money will put them on the road to sustainable profitability with their antiquated systems.

I have a crazy idea and i need some help!

by 92ford_rodeo on Wed Dec 03 18:12:38 PST 2008

so i have a 92 rodeo 4x4 and i saw today that it has a borg warner t5 transmission, which i know for a fact is a ford mustang transmission. i was talking to a master certified mechanic today and he thinks that with some fire wall modification and some electrical work i can squeeze a 4.6l out of a 96-98 mustang gt into my rodeo. i have the knowledge and tools i just need to know if anyone has ever done it or seen it done ( not necessarily a ford v8 but any v8) i mentioned that i wanted to do this swap to a co worker/hard core mudder and he said that a trooper suspension will bolt up to my rodeo and give me 2-3 inches of lift. and advise or input is appreciated

Re: End of Lease inspection [tenstepn]

by goody59 on Wed Dec 03 11:30:37 PST 2008

My Accord that I just turned in had $525 (as per Insurance Co.) worth of damage to the front end from an accident in mid 2008. As my deductible was $500, I decided to roll the dice and not fix it. Just got my report from the leasing company and they are charging me $0 for the damage.

Nissan news

by pf_flyer on Wed Dec 03 09:04:51 PST 2008

Nissan Motor Co.'s finance unit raised $600 million selling asset-backed securities in the first sign of demand for auto loans since U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled a plan last month to support consumer debt. Nissan boosted the size of the sale from $500 million. A top-rated portion of the Nissan issue will mature in July 2012 and is priced to yield 400 basis points more than benchmark interest rates, a person familiar with the sale, who declined to be identified because terms aren't public, said Tuesday. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The sale by Tokyo-based Nissan may indicate that Paulson's plan to unlock a freeze in consumer-related credit markets is working. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081203/AUTO01/812030333