Better than a sharp stick in the eye...
Pros:
Nice handling. Excellent standard equipment sound system. High driver's position due to seat design.
Cons:
Mediocre mileage for vehicle class. Poor fit and function. Brakes squeal even when new.
The Bottom Line:
If you have an opportunity to buy this vehicle used, I think it's OK if your expectations are not too high. I wouldn't pay book for it though.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I bought a 2004 Focus Wagon in April of '04. I had long been a devotee of the Subaru wagons and when they gussied them up out of my price range, I bought a 1998 Saturn SW1, an excellent car which the geniuses at GM discontinued. So when it came time to buy again in 04, the Focus was really my only alternative in a small, relatively economical wagon. I have been moderately pleased with the car, but not overly so. Sort of like eating a bowl of tapioca pudding. Even when it's really good tapioca pudding, it's still just tapioca pudding... So it is with the Focus. Even at its best, it's still a Focus.
The Focus is eager to please, it has snappy handling and the 2-liter Z-Tec is pretty peppy. At 61K, all I've really done to the car is appease its ravenous appetite for front brake pads. I've replaced them twice already and the 3rd time probably isn't that far off.
Still, sad to say, it's an American car and it acts like one. Fit and function are mediocre at best. The rear liftgate only latches every other time you close it. Otherwise it bounces back up in the air. For the engine size, fuel economy is mildly disappointing. Even newly tuned up, I get maybe 22 in town and 27-28 on the open road. My wife's Accord gets better mileage.
But all in all, it's not bad for an American car.
