Updating review 10 years later! I've owned my Focus nearly 13 years now and can't complain. Huge trunk great for travel.I love this car! The back seat is roomier than I expected and the front is very comfortable. The original Firestone tires were.well, junk, and after lots effort on the dealership's part, I gave up and replaced them with Pirelli tires at 8000 miles. I have the Zetec engine, it has lots of pep and I get 25 mpg overall and that's with over 20 stop lights between home and work. I bought this car new and it is just as much fun to drive over 3 years later. Some people, I am certain, will think I am certifiably insane. In fact, I like the wagon so much so, I am willing to repair my oil leak not by fixing the leak itself ($2k) and leaving the old engine and transmission in place, but by pro-actively installing a brand new OEM engine, remanufactured transmission, cross-members, struts, hub assemblies, alternator, water pump, power steering pump, radiator, new wires, and a few other items for $12K - rather than scrap the car and buy someone else's problem. But this is an economy car, not an F-18 fighter jet, and while I may yet wish for many gauges and a Heads-Up-Display with Infrared to see through snow, I am aware of the reality that you get what you pay for with that in mind, I like my Focus. Also, it's acceleration is not as quick as I would like, but for a vehicle in its class, I think it does well enough. To be honest, there are some things about this car I do not like, chiefly poor fuel economy (compared to yesteryear's Japanese imports), poor sound insulation from road noise, the front-end turn signal lights are too much in the center, and an instrumentation cluster that does not provide any useful and preventative information concerning the vehicles day-by-day condition. Having previously lived in a climate with extremes of cold and hot temps, I am not surprised that the motor mounts have begun to crack, increasing engine vibration. The original engine and transmission have served well over the last 7 years, though at 180K the engine has sprung a leak. Other than regular oil changes, fuel filters, air filter, struts and an alternator - all normal wear and tear items - I have experienced no unexpected hard part failures. I don't know what the previous owner did to the vehicle I bought it as-is and immediately had necessary but normal maintenance items performed. Where I live, everything is a long-distance commute. In less than 2-1/2 years I added another 60K, or a little over 26K per year. For example, in October 2015, I changed the timing belt at just under 120K. Given my propensity for clocking what many would call excessive miles per year, it is only understandable I have had a higher maintenance cost. In the 7 years I have owned the car I have added 120,000 miles for a total of just over 180,000 miles on the original equipment. I purchased my 2003 Focus Wagon used with just over 60,000 miles in June 2011 when the car was about 8 years old.
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