I currently own three Fords: I drive a 95 Aspire as my daily commuter, my wife has an 03 Taurus, and my son has a 95 Escort Wagon. I've had pretty good luck with all three so far.
I'm looking to replace my Aspire later this year. I will use it as a daily commuter, so I'm looking for good gas mileage. My wife will drive it on occasion, so a stick is out and an auto trans is required. I need A/C, as well as power locks/windows, keyless, a CD player, etc. And I want a hatchback because I use it occasionally for hauling stuff.
My list are the Focus ZX3 & ZX5 SE, the Scion xA & xB, the Hyundai Elantra 5 dr., the Kia Spectra5 and the Suzuki Aerio SX & Reno.
The strength of the Focus is that I have a lot of Ford experience, and except for my 84 Tempo, most of it has been good. However, I know the Focus was plagued with problems early on and I'm not sure they've fully squashed those problems.
The Scions are value & reliability leaders, but quite gutless, especially with the AT. The Hyundai & Kia are good values as well, but not quite up to Toyota reliability levels. The Suzukis (both the funky Aerio SX mini-wagon and the more conventional Reno hatchback) concern me as far as long-term dealer support and reliability goes, and they don't get the best mileage, but dang it, I really *like* the both of them drive. The Reno is almost like a pocket Lexus- very refined car in a small package.
So compared to those other models, is the Focus a good value? Have they worked out the bugs?
I'm looking to replace my Aspire later this year. I will use it as a daily commuter, so I'm looking for good gas mileage. My wife will drive it on occasion, so a stick is out and an auto trans is required. I need A/C, as well as power locks/windows, keyless, a CD player, etc. And I want a hatchback because I use it occasionally for hauling stuff.
My list are the Focus ZX3 & ZX5 SE, the Scion xA & xB, the Hyundai Elantra 5 dr., the Kia Spectra5 and the Suzuki Aerio SX & Reno.
The strength of the Focus is that I have a lot of Ford experience, and except for my 84 Tempo, most of it has been good. However, I know the Focus was plagued with problems early on and I'm not sure they've fully squashed those problems.
The Scions are value & reliability leaders, but quite gutless, especially with the AT. The Hyundai & Kia are good values as well, but not quite up to Toyota reliability levels. The Suzukis (both the funky Aerio SX mini-wagon and the more conventional Reno hatchback) concern me as far as long-term dealer support and reliability goes, and they don't get the best mileage, but dang it, I really *like* the both of them drive. The Reno is almost like a pocket Lexus- very refined car in a small package.
So compared to those other models, is the Focus a good value? Have they worked out the bugs?
