Thought I'd make a post and hope *someone* will make it a sticky :)
Honest opinion(s) is/are wanted on the 2005 Focus -- from styling, powertrain, etc. (basically the two most things of concern). I am currently going through the board trying to find all the related posts and compiling them.
Although we are *slightly* biased, we're part of the target that Ford wants to hit.
I think you should read the post of when the car pics were first released. That will give you everyones oppinion.
Biased I dont think so the car blows thats as blatantly as I can put it, 5 years and the car should go through a redesign. All Euro and Asian companies do it why cant Ford? Why not just improve the rest of the car and leave what people really love. Except they just changed some minor crap and basically left the car the same. My next new car will not be a focus that you can gaurantee!!
dumb shits should just release some of the euro stuff....like say ,I dunno....an RS
I dunno...I think I'm the only one who doesnt mind it!! ;) I like the changes they've made, although not evrything..
Its ugly .. Interior has lost its style and now looks alot cheaper... The outside is just taken from the mondeo in europe and played off to be a new design ... The engine choices are bad ...
EIW... When people said the focus was going to live the life of the escort till it died .. i dont think they were that far off.
The Front Bumper, Fog Lights, Hood, Grill, And Headlights Look A little Better, As For Interior, Fords New Interior Looks Like s**t. The New Rear End Is That New Trend Of Black By The Exhaust And I Dont Like That. As For Painted Mirrors, Door Handles, Thats A Plus.
anyone gotta pick of the hatchback?
I somehow doubt that the target market for the new 2005 focus is for people like us.
Sure they improved some of the engine choices, and I'm sure the handling and whatnot will be similar to what we already have, which leaves the body styling as the one big redesign.
And on that front, they've completely succeeded in making the car look like everything else that's out there. It's an Altima, Civic, Camry wannabe.
They made a car that will appeal to poverty stricken baby boomers who can't afford their mid life crisis luxo-mobiles, and rental companies who enjoy the blatant interchangeability of parts a fleet of cars with square interior pieces offers.
I'm sure they will win over their share of cavalier owners looking for a boxier, less sporty looking car.
I personally will never buy one... I'll just drive what I have until it's time to get something wholy better or I die and have it burried with me.
I dunno man, I have to disagree with most of you. If ford kept it the same design, you guys bitch at ford, if ford re-designs it, you guys still bitch and complain. You guys have to stop falling inlove with the euro focus, no matter how nice they are, ie: st170, RS, they will never come here. we have to live with what we got, thats the price we pay for living in north america. I for one, think the 2005 Focus re-design is good, the focus has always been either you hate it or you like it look. I want to see what they change on the ZX3/5 bodystyle.
paolo,Jan 6 2004, 04:35 PM Wrote:I dunno man, I have to disagree with most of you. If ford kept it the same design, you guys bitch at ford, if ford re-designs it, you guys still bitch and complain. You guys have to stop falling inlove with the euro focus, no matter how nice they are, ie: st170, RS, they will never come here. we have to live with what we got, thats the price we pay for living in north america. I for one, think the 2005 Focus re-design is good, the focus has always been either you hate it or you like it look. I want to see what they change on the ZX3/5 bodystyle.
The car has not changed man its the same car its been for 5 years now. The focus people hate it cause all the rivals have more power and have been getting redesigned for the better and then when it was fords turn they tried to introduce this "New" focus which isnt redesigned, they been basterdised!. The current car we have right now looks classy and has a feel good taste to it but the new one has a cheap look to it. Just look at the mazda 3 same price as the focus but it actually looks like a $20,000 car and the new focus looks like a $15,000.
Im just saying that in a couple of years when Its time for my new car and what I see is this 2005 focus for sale I wont pick it cause I know that theres no significant change and it wont be worth my cash, also I dont want to drive the same damn car for 9 years if I did then I would have have bought the car instead of leasing it.
Well, not to disagree with you, but I bought my focus 2 years ago, what other car could I buy in the same class, same price range, and same target group? not many, the Focus appealed to me cus it was hands down cheaper and on par performance wise with the rest of them out there. You are partially right that in 2005 the focus is behind in the competition. but I predict a cycle going to happen, Ford will get to where we want them to be, but I dont see this happening right away in 2005, perhaps a year later.
I love the Mondeo front end! I agree with T-dot about the interior though.....just looks cheap. One thing people would comment on when they got in my focus was the interior and how it looked "Sporty/Rich" :lol:
With that said, I would have loved for ford to give us more powertrain options. It would be nice to have the duratec in the hatches, a V6 (225Hp+) option would be cool, turbo diesel would be the bomb!! AWD would be saweet. I'm dreaming, I know! :P
Hanlding wise, I'm very happy with what I'm driving now, if they could improve on that without making any sacrifices to ride quality then I would say go for that to.
The 05 redesign for the focus looks more conservative than the outgoing model, which i guess is Ford's intention since they want to appeal to broader customer base to attract civic, corolla, cavalier buyers. I'd have to agree with what most people have said and that the interior is very bland, but then again, it's the whole conservative issue to attract more buyers.
Will this work? I think so, remember the Jelly bean Taurus (96-99), it turned off a lot of buyers then Ford reverted to a more conservative look now, which seems to be working since they are selling more 00-03 models. I don't have the numbers handy but i remember during the 96-99 model year the Taurus dropped to #8-#10 from the best selling car in North America from the previous generation. Sales habve jumped back up to #6 from a newspaper article i read over the holidays. So if Ford's intention is to sell more cars (which, every manufacturer wants) i think they'll do just fine.
Here's a little side note on new Ford models coming up in 2004 from Ford's site:
2005 New Ford Models
paolo,Jan 6 2004, 06:47 PM Wrote:I predict a cycle going to happen, Ford will get to where we want them to be, but I dont see this happening right away in 2005, perhaps a year later.
Not a chance. Your dead wrong.
Flofocus,Jan 7 2004, 02:22 PM Wrote:Hanlding wise, I'm very happy with what I'm driving now, if they could improve on that without making any sacrifices to ride quality then I would say go for that to.
You should be .. No 20,000 dollar car out there handles like the focus does ....
In the 2005, there going to use the dampers from the models in europe which is a plus... I think .. I dont have much tech on them ... but im pretty sure they had the better suspension setup in europe.
tdot-zx3,Jan 9 2004, 03:44 AM Wrote:Flofocus,Jan 7 2004, 02:22 PM Wrote:Hanlding wise, I'm very happy with what I'm driving now, if they could improve on that without making any sacrifices to ride quality then I would say go for that to.
You should be .. No 20,000 dollar car out there handles like the focus does ....
In the 2005, there going to use the dampers from the models in europe which is a plus... I think .. I dont have much tech on them ... but im pretty sure they had the better suspension setup in europe.
isnt that what the S2 focus was the euro suspension?
Seeing the launch of the Focus was such a screw up they just can't afford to bring the European versions here. That is the reality. Everyone in the industry and press in 1999 said "the Focus could be Ford's most important car since the Model T" but Ford (NA) didn't listen/care. Rather than treat it as an Escort replacement they could have done something really special.
The Front Bumper, Fog Lights: Better projector fogs are definately more modern looking. WRX's went that way for 2004 as well.
Hood, Grill, And Headlights: They could have just done something similar to what I and many others have already done with HID's or the many incandescent European lights available. The biggest problem was the turn signals in the grill which just looked awful.
Tailights: Still no amber turn signals? That should almost be a legal requirement, they are safer.
Interior: It didn't mind current interior but on the whole interior is not a big priority of mine to begin with.
Black By The Exhaust: I do like this.
Painted Mirrors, Door Handles: Does alot to make car look less cheap. Finally folding mirrors too!
Engines: I understand the need for a utilitarian engine to satssfy 95% of sales but if you are going to offer a "perfomance version" of the same car you have to do better than 150HP. Really you should be in the 200+ club these days. To me the current "performance sedan" is as meaningless as a Windstar with a sport package, just stickers and badges.
Conclusions:
With the changes I have made my current Focus is, in my mind, already better than the 2005 offering. My changes have been very slow but adding those I have in mind over the next year 95% of the general public would prefer mine over what they offer in 2005 as well. It is costing me a good amount as I'm paying retail single unit prices but Ford could do it for very inexpensively, probably less than retooling the parts they did. Of course what it comes down to is looks were not the problem with the Focus it was the high amount of unscheduled maintenance.
Since this is going to be read by Ford here are the answers to the usual questions:
Me: 36, "manager", B.Sc, $65,000
Wife: 34, "nurse" Master's Nursing, $60,000
Child: boy 3-1/2
Location: Toronto, downtown
Vehicles in household: 2001 ZTS, 2004 WRX wagon
Next vehicle: Dodge Sprinter van.
Notes: Living downtown I will always have a need for one of the two cars to be an smaller economy model regardless of family size or income so what happens to the Focus is relevent to our situation.
While I have their ear, for the love of god do something about your dealer service. The people who buy a Focus today (or yesterday), especially the yonger ones could be (could have been) your customers for life. If you treat me the way you do I can't imagine how god awful it must be for younger owners.
To this day, 3-1/2 years of Ford ownership, I refuse to let my wife even go to Ford for an simple oil change as I know they will suggest all sorts of unecessary work and charges. I guess a certain muber of people will always buy Fords because "dad was a Ford guy" and this makes you collectively happy but you aren't gaining anyone new with current practices.
For the record I will not be a Ford customer again. Maintence costs has actually been zero dollars due to warranty but frequency and pain of maintence has just been too much with no signs of lessening. You've been building cars for 100 years, owning a new 2001 should not be as much work as this.
I was over at [fj] and found this pic of what I believe would be the new ass for the 2005 hatchbacks..
<a href='http://www.forddesktops.com/images/ae_cos_2.jpg'>
![[Image: ae_cos_2.jpg]](http://www.forddesktops.com/images/ae_cos_2.jpg)
</a>
if this is the case, the new ass looks like ass....
I dont think it looks super bad but 225hp AWD I'd take that car!!!