My fiance bought one of these brand new in April.
We are going back to the dealers [again] tomorrow, to reinforce our views on a few points. I have listed our gripes below, and would be interested to know of anyone else's views on these cars.
- paintwork had numerous glitches where it looks like dust is between layers of paint.
- when idling, the car vibrates at a fairly low frequency. It rumbles through your backside, and to be honest, makes both of us feel sick. It's a little like the feeling of being really nervous, and feeling like waves of anxiety go through your lower half - hence the term "ing yourself".
- when slowing down to go over a speed ramp, and then bringing the clutch back up in second gear, the gearstick shudders, and the car really does struggle. I don't often do it, but it refuses to allow the clutch to be slipped easily in second gear.
- when taking your foot off from being lightly depressed onto the accelerator in fourth gear, the car lurches forwards. I can understand this in first, second or maybe third gear, but surely the drive should be smoother in fourth.
I realise that some of these faults are probably "characteristics" of the car, like the dealer has said - but surely not all of them. I could have accepted that the tiny pedal space was a characteristic, causing an issue for big-footed people.
When I got back into my Focus, after driving hers, it felt like the smoothest car on the planet.