Test drive Ford Focus 4 doors 2001 - 2005 Sedan

Warranty case

Sparks and sprinkled from the eyes from the blow to the fifth door. Rubbing a bruised back of his head, he remembered that such a lesson had recently received from Vazovskaya twelfth. There is only one difference - the domestic top model has a harder lid than the focus, but the rest of the symptoms are similar. It is worth getting colder up to minus 10C, as the gas -filled stops of the fifth door stop working. It is sad, but the fact: in the frost, the owners of the Fords with the Hatchback body also need to be careful, diving into the trunk - there are a lot of cars in the world, and there is only one head ...
By the way, at the warranty station, the unworthy behavior of stops was not recognized as a defect: there, in warm boxing, they worked properly. The masters only advised (this is always easier than doing) to open the fifth door wider and, as it were, cheerfully fix it in the upper position. They would drink honey with lips - it was worth it to drive out a focus on a cool street, the stops were scattered again. Okay, summer on the nose. So far, we will survive, and by the next winter we again attack the warranty station.
From the stern we will move to the bow of our Ford. There is also a small problem, but the matter is by no means as an assembly. That is, the claim is not addressed to the plant in Vsevolozhsk, but, so to speak, to the head office. So, the corporate method of unlocking the hood in our conditions does not cause positive emotions. To access the motor compartment, you need to move the emblem, thereby exposing the lock, and then turn the key first in one, then in the other direction. In winter, this simple operation requires additional efforts. At first delicately, so as not to damage the fragile plastic with the blue oval, we carefully shake the ice from it. Then we shift the emblem, pour the defrostr into the castle (it happens that moisture still gets into it) and only then we begin to manipulate the key. It is not possible to do all this without smearing their hands and clothes thoroughly. Alas, it is necessary to climb under the hood not only for the valve of the washing liquid: our Ford Focus sometimes demonstrates a completely non -foreign character.
I will allow myself a short lyrical digression. The owner of the domestic car knows very well what he is going. He receives a lot of iron for relatively little money. Therefore, I am ready to forgive a lot of your vehicle, and sometimes twist nuts. From the new foreign car, buyers have the right to demand more. Yes, Ford Focus is not a Mercedes, not BMW or Lexus. But a person who parted with an amount of $ 12-13 thousand is focused on other standards of comfort, service and reliability. In the end, not for that, he moved to a foreign car in order to leave for a warranty station every week. Now back to the specific problems of our focus.
With the comfort and quality of maintenance, he is all right. But reliability and trouble -freeness still cannot boast. In frost, the engine came to life with a fourth or fifth attempt, and the first seconds after the start were accompanied by an unpleasant rattle. Heating of the motor to operating temperature was too long, and fuel consumption for modest 1,600 cubes of volume is directly exorbitant-12-13 liters per hundred in the city and 8.9-9 on the highway. But the most unpleasant surprise, the car threw the car in Ulyanovsk along the course of a business trip: on the exit from Moscow, the engine suddenly stalled! Indirect features indicated a malfunction of the power system. The arrow of the fuel level showed a quarter of the tank, but a cut ration of gasoline came to the nozzles. With sneezing and twitching, they crawled to the nearest column (only about 200 meters), tucked a full tank, and the defect disappeared. Then they drove and added fuel, without waiting for the indicator arrow again to the fatal division. Alas, it was necessary to adhere to the mark in half a bacon. On the way back near Nizhny Novgorod, the car stalled again. Thirty kilometers to the nearest column had to drive on a towing cable. Along the way, we defeated another trifle.
Imagine that your foreign car stands as if dug, away from the house, and even in the dark. The situation is abnormal, the driver is nervous. With difficulty, a voluntary assistant was found - it remains to hook the sufferer with a cable and on the road. It is then that it is found: Ford's towing eyelessness does not want to screw into place. Two experienced Zarulevites guessed quite quickly, what was the matter, but what is the newcomer? Well, how does he know that on the eye is left -handed! An illogical technical solution, frankly.
Upon returning to the capital, of course, they visited the service station. Away small nit -picking - a branded guarantee worked out clearly. They promptly diagnosed, replaced the faulty roller of the drive belt (it was gnashed during launch), laying the gas pump, the pump itself, along with the fuel level sensor, and the engine control controller was reprogrammed. What it did, if there weren’t a car at warranty - you can find out from the table, but for now, spare parts and efforts to replace them are free.
What has changed after repair? The engine began to start better in the frost, extraneous noise disappeared, the fuel level indicator now works for sure, and the car no longer stalls on the go. The consumption of gasoline has noticeably decreased, although, in our opinion, for an eight -valve engine of 1.6 liters, it is still too large - according to this indicator, Ford loses Vazovskaya ten. However, do not rush to the conclusions - the exact numbers will appear when we can take measurements on the dry roads of the landfill. There is a meeting with Ford specialists - I would like a number of comments to appear on the pages of the magazine with the comments of the manufacturer.
And now I will answer the most important question: focus is a good car or not? There are no ideal cars. Another thing is whether we are ready to forgive them shortcomings. Personally, I really like Ford Focus, regardless of which plant is assembled at. Yes, yes, regardless of the comments presented above. The car has a cozy modern salon, excellent handling, a fairly energy -intensive suspension, a very pleasant and nimble engine, a clear gearbox. Remember the lyrical digression? The conclusion follows from it. I am ready to forgive the focus of shortcomings and regularly visit a good branded guarantee if the car is noticeably cheaper.
At the current price, I want the focus to give less reasons to visit it. I think this task is quite possible for Ford. I hope that the reason for the next visit to the maintenance station will be a routine planned one.

Ford Focus
Manufacturer: Ford
Year of release: 2002
In operation driving: since January 2003
Mileage at the time of the report: 5600 km
Previous publications in the journal:
2003, № 3

A 1.6 liter engine cannot boast of a low fuel consumption: 8.9-9 l/100 km when moving along the highway.

This method of opening the hood is pleasure only when the car is perfectly clean.
Vadim Kryuchkov

Source: The magazine "Driving"