THe Focus had 8 major recalls. That call is a mess. Ralph Nader want Ford to pull it off the market. The Cav has been around forever. Have you thought about OLDS Alero? It comes with a 5 year warrenty.
Focus/Cavalier.
>
> As a die-hard Chevy guy, goet the FOCUS. The Cav is a terrible car. I have one!
> It's basically unchanged since '96. Mine has an appetite for tires, alternator
> at 50k, bad struts at 50K, bad rear struts at 55k, 2 rear wheel bearings at
> 25k, valves started tapping at 35k and can be heard from 30 feet away ( can't
> be fixed without machining the head due to non-adjustable rocker arms.). Oil
> filter is located on the BACK of the block half way up-so you unscrew it and a
> half-qt of oil runs all over the engine. Valve cover leaks ( 3 gaskets later it
> still leaks) at 25k miles, bad heater controls at 40k, rear seat-back rattles.
> The list goes on. The engine is a throw-back to 20 yr old technology with
> pushrods etc...The car is a sub 10k car and it shows. For 10g's I guess you
> can't expect too much. I used mine up in 3 years.