How's your Ford Focus?

carringb wrote:
The Focus is a great car, other than the Dual-Clutch "automatic" transmission. The newest ones seem to be lasting longer, and the failure mode isn't as catastrophic. But basically some driving conditions and/or style can cause friction material deposits on the clutch(es) which will cause shudder if that happens. I have one friend who can't get more than 30,000 miles before this happens. Avoiding driving it like a traditional auto helps a lot, i.e. don't creep at lights (this is slipping the clutch) or powerbrake. Hard driving however makes this much less likely, and few good hard 0-80 launches can even scrub the clutches and fix mild shudder. Some of the prior problems, such as input shaft seals leaking and causing more serious transmission failures, seem long gone.

My Focus has the 6-speed manual. Mine is a 2.0L turbo. My brother has the 1.0L turbo, also with the same M/T. Both have been trouble free. My coworker has a 2014 with the 5-speed manual non-turbo, and is at 300,000 with zero problems.

The new Corrolla is OK, but the driving dynamics sill fall short of the Focus. The new Civic has comparable driving dynamics, and a nice 1.5L turbo. But it's butt is wayyy too big IMO. And also can't be flat towed.

If you like the Focus, a Ford C-Max would make a great toad. It's the same car, just taller. And the hybrid transmission can also be flat-towed, and is very reliable. Plus, it gets 45 MPG in town.

My father has a 2014/15? or so Focus. He opted for the manual as well, because the automatic sucked. Has been a great car, and while he is a gentile driver, the dash display shows 39 to 42 MPG everytime I get behind the wheel to drive.