Ford Focus versus Toyota Corolla - my experience Focus = HASSLES

[Tomcat]

hi all,

just thought I'd post a little story seeing as Ford have gone and started trying to compare their Focus to the Corolla in TV recently.

For the past 6 years roughly I have driven Ford Focus cars. I owned 2 which I bought brand new.

The first was a Zetec which I only kept for a year and then a ST170 (now called XR-5) which I kept for around 5 years.

They were both great cars to drive and I did enjoy owning them for a while.

The reason I have recently bought a new Toyota Corolla and given Ford away (for good) is mainly due to reliability and their servicing department.

The Focuses never broke down or anything but it was a constant issue just keeping them 100% operational.

The numbers of issues I had to deal with was just ridiculous and I just got sick and tired of spending my days off dropping the damned thing off to Ford and then awaiting the inevitable phone call to be informed of the extreme amount of cash I would have to be coughing up to fix the hunk of crap.

As an example, on the Focus Mk1 (and probably the newer mk2, which I never bought because it looks like a 90s Laser) the thermostat housing is made from plastic and is poorly designed.

After 60000 kms or 2 years it would always crack and begin to leak coolant.

All Ford Focus will do this in roughly that time. The only way to know is if you park over a sealed floor because in the morning there will be a nice little puddle of coolant to greet you.

I had to replace two thermostat housings on my second Focus. The second one I paid for and it cost about $300 to get it done.

The second time it started leaking I called Ford to tell them that the housing had started to leak again and I asked them to arrange the parts and booked it in to get it done the following week.

DAY ONE: I dropped the car off for the repair. I went back later that day to be told that a 'mechanic' had found the leak and it was a cracked thermostat housing (I know I told you that last week) and that they had RUN OUT OF STOCK and that I would have to bring it back in a few days. I wasn't that happy.

DAY TWO: I took it back and they replaced the housing.

I asked if it would be covered seeing as I only had it fixed a while ago. I seem to remember Ford having a lifetime warranty on replacement parts on my old Falcon but that has been changed to 12 months now so I had to pay for the thing.

DAY THREE: I took it home and the next morning was greeted with a fresh puddle of coolant leaking from the brand new housing. I booked it in yet again for Ford to fix and found out that when Ford changed the housing they had re-used a a plug AND AN OLD O-RING and fitted them to my brand new housing. The plug cost $30 and they didn't have it in stock so I would have to bring the car in again.

DAY FOUR: So, I had to take the Focus in for day number 4 to repair a problem I told them about from the very beginning. This time they fixed it and it didn't leak again.

This is not peculiar to my car, it happens to all the focuses.

This is not the only problem the car has but it should serve to illustrate to you that the Focus is not what i would call a solid dependable car and when something does go wrong you are waiting days for parts and they are expensive.

I had many many more occasions like the one I described above with Focus. They are a real hassle to own.

Focus is a hunk of crap but it did me a favour by breaking my loyalty to Ford and driving me into the arms of a nice new Toyota.

I have only had my Corolla a week but already I love it way more than a Focus. It's quiet, drives great and I have this warm fuzzy feeling that it's not going to be a pain in the neck to maintain.

Corolla also just overtook Focus in the USA as most sold car:

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articl...9_N05179751.htm

Edited August 7, 2009 by Tomcat

[crinkles]

while i hear you about the ford issues and service , i can assure you every car company does the same. i've had occasions where toyota has treated me with contempt, but have not had any mechanical issues with my car.

The corolla is certainly EXCELLENT value for money and I suspect this is the reason it does so well. for 99% of the population, it is all about VALUE with takes in all the aspects of reliability, customer service, etc.

If hyundai got their fuel consumption issues sorted out - they would compete 1:1 with toyota. but despte quoted fuel consumptions EVERYONE i know who drives hyundais complain about fuel efficiency.

Oh, and i think ford is pathetic with what it's doing in comparing a DIESEL car that costs what, $9k more than a corolla, with a petrol car. They must think people are really stupid. How long does it take to recoup diesel fuel savings when you pay 9k extra up front? FOREVER!!

Edited August 6, 2009 by crinkles

[lateralus]

i think ford is really trying too hard to get sales up. comparing a diesel to a petrol driven engine is like comparing apples to oranges. of course the diesel will get better economy!

i think toyota should develop a diesel driven corolla and see what ford says then. should shut em up.

[crinkles]

i think ford is really trying too hard to get sales up. comparing a diesel to a petrol driven engine is like comparing apples to oranges. of course the diesel will get better economy!

i think toyota should develop a diesel driven corolla and see what ford says then. should shut em up.

i believe it is already on sale. Toyota south africa sells a 2.0 D4-D corolla. http://www.toyota.co.za/VehicleHighlights....ehicleModelId=9

fuel consumption 5.3 l combined / 100km, similar to VW 2L TDI.

Edited August 6, 2009 by crinkles

[Tomcat]

Oh, and i think ford is pathetic with what it's doing in comparing a DIESEL car that costs what, $9k more than a corolla, with a petrol car. They must think people are really stupid. How long does it take to recoup diesel fuel savings when you pay 9k extra up front? FOREVER!!

Yeah i understand all cars have some problems but my Ford Falcon never caused me this much grief and it had done over 400 000 kms.

You would need the extra fuel efficiency of the diesel Focus because you'll be driving it back and forth to the service department a lot.

[azzman372]

Haha i loled when I read this cause my other half drives a 06 focus and my god all the problems she has had.

- Her bro reversed into a fence took 2 weeks to get the car back

- Battery died

- Turned out due to a dead alternator.

- Brakes worn out (pretty normal) but ford put them in badly and there was a knocking sound and they had to fix it under warranty

- Head lights blew

- exhaust needed to be fixed (not too sure what was wrong)

- and the hubcap fell off today and they are going to get new rims and tyres. About time to change them

Just waiting for that 60k failure of the leaky coolant

[CHA54]

while i hear you about the ford issues and service , i can assure you every car company does the same. i've had occasions where toyota has treated me with contempt, but have not had any mechanical issues with my car.

The corolla is certainly EXCELLENT value for money and I suspect this is the reason it does so well. for 99% of the population, it is all about VALUE with takes in all the aspects of reliability, customer service, etc.

If hyundai got their fuel consumption issues sorted out - they would compete 1:1 with toyota. but despte quoted fuel consumptions EVERYONE i know who drives hyundais complain about fuel efficiency.

Oh, and i think ford is pathetic with what it's doing in comparing a DIESEL car that costs what, $9k more than a corolla, with a petrol car. They must think people are really stupid. How long does it take to recoup diesel fuel savings when you pay 9k extra up front? FOREVER!!

Hyundai's build quality and reliability is pathetic in comparison to toyota... then when it comes to resale, hyundai isn't worth wasting your money on. It's always interesting to see the 95 onwards excel's and sonata's sitting in traffic blowing oil smoke at idle.

[1rocky]

When in the market for a new car test drove the focus and the corolla

Of course the corolla one out .

For startes the build quiality and the price difference

Base model focus quoted $28500

Corolla paid $21000 drive away

These prices where in 2005. Glad i made the choice of corolla never a problem. :toast: :toast:

[whitestivo]

agree with the above

at least ford still has a performance motor, the xr5

toyota has lost the plot completely

whitestivo

Edited August 6, 2009 by whitestivo

[T.J]

lets face it the tradeoff of the corolla becomming very reliable is keeping it simple and......bland really its got the styling there to be a really good looking car it just needs to get on the roids.

the focus is **** always has been **** only thing going for it is that hot orange and the roar it makes as you give it some hell but the motor is out of a volvo t5 so itll last about 2 years of hard thrashing as most euro stuff does.

the tdi golf has some serious go for a diesel i used to service a few of them under contract if it wasnt for the noise youd swear it was a turbo petrol motor but even they have some serious issues i can forsee as ive had to refer a few of them back to vw mainly for eccessive oil consumption.

i dont know about those astra vxr's the astra has never had a rep as a well built car all theyve done is shove a warmed 2l turbo up its nose poor effort

[Suprathai]

We have a Ford falcon station wagon as a work car and its absolute rubbish. Its the newest car on the field but we are already facing alot of dramas, makes the old toyota hilux look so much better (given that is probably 15 years older)!! We also have an older falcon wagon, but I'm happy to push it into a creek if I wouldnt' get in trouble with it...lol

[T.J]

We have a Ford falcon station wagon as a work car and its absolute rubbish. Its the newest car on the field but we are already facing alot of dramas, makes the old toyota hilux look so much better (given that is probably 15 years older)!! We also have an older falcon wagon, but I'm happy to push it into a creek if I wouldnt' get in trouble with it...lol

yeah the new series falcons arent that great really but they all end up old dunger ex taxi's anyway

[Rusty Bucket]

Yeah, im really happy with my Rolla. Many years ago, my second car was a Ford Laser and it was a great little car. Never had any dramas out of it and I gave it a hard time for years. I could still slide into an XR6T anytime..

[Tomcat]

Just waiting for that 60k failure of the leaky coolant

With any luck the later Mark 2 Focus (05 on?) have a different part fitted and they might not leak. All of the first Focus with Zetec and Duratec engines will definetley have a cracked thermostat housing every couple of years.

Only way to notice it is to park it overnight on a sealed floor. As the crack worsens you will notice a burning coolant smell and see coolant dripping from the housing when the engine is cold. When it heats up the leak tends to seal a bit better. I never let it go long enough to see what would happen.

My wife bought a Suzuki hatch around the same time I bought my Focus.

It cost HALF of what the Focus cost.

In the 5 years they sat side by side in the garage she has never had a problem whereas as mine has been in to Ford service so much I have honestly lost count of the days.

On another note one day the engine management light came on. The car was running fine but I took it in to Ford only to find it required a $1200 repair to replace a dodgy sensor. The car was just out of warranty and I had to pay for the thing. :(

This is also a common fault for that model.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Tomcat

[Ingres]

We have a Ford falcon station wagon as a work car and its absolute rubbish. Its the newest car on the field but we are already facing alot of dramas, makes the old toyota hilux look so much better (given that is probably 15 years older)!! We also have an older falcon wagon, but I'm happy to push it into a creek if I wouldnt' get in trouble with it...lol

Hahaha thats a good one.. pushing it into a creek.. :)

[lukemc]

I have been told by a ford service manager that everytime you replace the brake pads in a focus you need to replace the front rotors too as they only get about 25-30 thou before they are shot.......

U dont see that advertisement up do you.

And yes, i too laughed out loud when i saw the deisel focus that gets better fuel economy than the petrol corolla advertised!!!

We have a Ford falcon station wagon as a work car and its absolute rubbish. Its the newest car on the field but we are already facing alot of dramas, makes the old toyota hilux look so much better (given that is probably 15 years older)!! We also have an older falcon wagon, but I'm happy to push it into a creek if I wouldnt' get in trouble with it...lol

Hahaha thats a good one.. pushing it into a creek.. :)

[KHIEM]

This is what i got after putting "world's most sold car" into google, and clicking at the first link:

http://www.automotoportal.com/article/Top_...ssful_Cars_Ever