First time Fous owner questions

"specom" wrote

195/60 15s were offered as a factory option in some years on Foci with standard 14s, so obviously the company thinks it's fine. 205/50 16s will certainly fit, but I doubt that it's that good an idea on cars with the standard suspension. You'll have to go to alloy wheels, and they are prone to breaking in potholes.

If you do want to put on 15s, steel wheels are available and cheap.

There are different settings on the switch above the windshield.

Wal-Mart sell 15 inch metal rims for the Ford Focus. I believe that they are about $39.00 each. The selection of 195/60/15 tires in the market place is quite extensive. Ford have discontinued putting 14 inch tires on the 2005 model focus and now put on 15 inch as standard and 16 inch on higher end models.

Yes the headlamps do go off with the ignition, this has been a standard feature on Volkswagens and some Korean cars for years..Its could be looked at as an advantage, that headlamps are not left on inadvertently to the drain the battery. The interior light delay is call illuminated entry if it bothers you just turn the interior light off.

Gas mileage is somewhat subjected, around town you should get about 28- 30 mpg on the highway about 40 mpg.

That's the way I see it.

1. I really don't like the tiny 14 inch standard wheels. Can I just go out and buy 15 or 16 inch wheels and slap them on? Willl it affect the handling and for better or worse? any recommendations for manufacturers beside Ford?

1. The headlights go out when I turn off the engine. Are they supposed to do that? It's the first time I've ever had a car that did that and it's as annoying as the way the interior lights come on when you shut the car off. I have to keep the key in and turn on the acc to use them if the engine is off.

2. Has anyone ever bought a Focus from one of the rental companies and had a problem? How was it dealt with?

1. What have you guys averaged in terms of mileage? I seem to filling up more than I did with my 91 Thunderbird, but it had a bigger tank. I keep reading 26 mpg highway, but I seriously dout that's what I'm getting.

Yes they are supposed to do that. I had a Subra Outback that did the same thing. As to the interior lights come on when you shut the car off you can control that from the switch next to the light. I have mine turned off all the time. I turn it on when I need them.

From my experience with renting Enterprise Rent a Cars I have noticed they tend to let regular schedule maintenance like oil changes, front end alignments, tire rotations and break repairs run beyond what would be allowed for the type of service condition the vehicles see.

My 2003 Mexican built 5 speed manual ZX3 with over 148,000 miles on it gets about 35 MPG. Mind you about 90% of the miles I drive are at highway speed.