In news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com, Mark Pippin being of bellicose mind posted:
> gawd what a POS!!!
> > Scott in Florida
>
>
> Read some over there - you're right! And if you happen to be stuck
> with a Focus and dare to report some evidence supporting the
> statement
> above, some guy named badraptor jumps all over your case and
> accuses
> you of shoddy driving and maintenance. LOL, sounds like a fun
> place...
>
> Regards,
> Mark Pippin
Oh... "badraptor" is a mythical master Ford mechanic. Just another damage control beast. I can't wait for him to set up a website of his own with Helpful Hints with Technical Service Bulletins. That project alone would require a support team. LOL
In news:- snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com, badraptor being of bellicose mind posted:
Funny! As a Toyota owning customer of theirs, I can (and have) walked into my Toyota dealer and asked for a TSB from the senior service writer and gotten it. Do you not do the same for Ford owners? I suppose RECALLs are for the public seeing as .... the Focus has so many of them. What's the ratio of Focus TSBs to RECALLs? 50:1? ;-)
I never met a Toyota, or any other rice machine, that had as much personality and charisma as this Focus I have.Sorry, but I just like it better all around. Besides I'm not a wuss who's afraid of driving something that might get dirt under my nails once an a while. C'mon, be a man, drive a Ford.
I almost lost my nails working on two of them. Certainly lost my bank account fixing them. Worst cars I ever owned. I had to admire the Service Manager's excuses as to why they didn't fix them properly (depending on who was the Service Manager that day). What'a POS engine. Complaining about their hourly labor rate (I'm amazed at how a $65/hr rate went to over $200/hr.). Plus, I just love how Ford secretly did away with their "We fix it once and you don't pay for it again" warranty that was even printed in their owner's manuals. What a joke product - and warranty!
03-20-02 a.. SUSPENSION - CREAKING, CRUNCHING, GRINDING OR RATTLE NOISE FROM FRONT SUSPENSION AT SLOW SPEEDS OVER BUMPS AND/OR WHILE TURNING b.. NOISE - CREAKING, CRUNCHING, GRINDING OR RATTLE NOISE FROM FRONT SUSPENSION AT SLOW SPEEDS OVER BUMPS AND/OR WHILE TURNING
03-18-02 a.. BODY - WATER LEAK - CLIMATE CONTROL - WATER IN HEATER BLOWER MOTOR CASE b.. ELECTRICAL - CLIMATE CONTROL - WATER IN HEATER BLOWER MOTOR CASE
To me imperfections are acceptable for a vehicle that costs thousands less than the others. I had already been to the dealer's website and had mulled over their used car inventory. I had also researched each on the internet forums and NGs. Every car I researched had endless complaimts from owners. Yes even Honda and Toyota. When I actually test drove them and got a feel for the cars, I instinctivly went for the Focus. The whole deal just felt better. Buying a car is always a financial loss as soon as you cut the deal. It is also a crap shoot as to build quality. Who was on the assembly line that day and were they having a bad day or not. I think that the supposed high-quality car makers simply have better quality conrol at the end of the line and let less cars get out to the public with problems, but not all are caught in time. John
"badraptor" wrote in message news:s8Sdnat-3Y snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...
It's interesting to note that the amount of rework Mercedes has to put into their cars at the end of the line has been creeping up and up over the last few years. You can choose to pay for the rework up front, or incrementally. You can also choose to pay for the rework out of your pocket, via a higher purchase price, or perhaps out of the manufacturer's pocket through the recalls. I'm not justifying recalls, but looking for a positive aspect.
I've owned three Toyotas and now my Focus wagon. The first thing I will say is that the Toyota is a very well screwed together car. They are also, without doubt, the most *boring* cars you can buy now. I gave up on Toyota when they stopped producing anything resembling a fun-yet-practical car. My previous Corolla GTIs had one of the best motors in the business, the Yamaha designed 4A-GE. This thing was a jewel of and engine which could scream up to 8000rpm, but still went 300'000km plus with no mechanical work (religious maintenance, though). The only comparable Focus motor would be the Yamaha-designed 1.6 Zetec-SE, but it still can't match that 4A-GE, which is now a 20-year old design. The current Corolla T-Sport 1.8 VVT has a nice party trick when the second cam profile kicks in, but it gets old after a day or so of playing F1-wannabe and *always* having to run it to 8000 with every shift to stay ahead of a modern turbodiesel. I thought the 4A-GE was a peaky peaky motor, but the current T-Sport motor is absolutely asthmatic below 6000, and out of its powerband a second later. But ultimately it's not the motor that's the big problem, it's the flaccid chassis. Honda backs up their 200hp Civic Type-R with a razor-sharp chassis. Toyota sends the T-Sport out the door with a slightly warmed-over but ultimately hopeless suspension design. But I digress... main point from the perspective of a Toyota fan who has "jumped ship": the current Toyotas are well built cars, but boring as hell (unless you only have two gloves to carry as baggage, in which case the MR Spider would be great, but I already have an MX-5 for cabrio fun, or unless you only carry short people for passengers - Celica).
So in my search for a new parctical-but-fun car, I tested the Focus and it was night and day. I think I don't need to preach to anyone in the Focus group that the Focus is the current hands-down champ in the FWD dynamics area. It sticks, it grips, it turns, it swallows big hits, it doesn't tramline even with the 16" tires, and it stops like it has thrown out the Queen Mary's double anchors. The steering seems to run in NASA-grade zero-play needle bearings. I will be the first to admit that I'm lucky that the boys in Cologne were wide awake the day they made mine, because apart from one dashboard rattle, solved with a folded parking ticket for now, it is solid. And the folded parking ticket is no big deal for me, because this thing is a grin-a-minute car. If they recall it, I'll just drive down to the local garage and get it serviced, then get right back out and hit the twisties... hard. No big deal.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.