Ford focus 1.5 Turbo

[bizader]

I am looking to buy a new car. I like the ford focus as it is a better drive, with good safety equipment and is value for money compared to the Civic RS. I have however heard a rumor that Ford Thailand will stop selling the fiesta and focus and sell only pick ups and suvs in Thai market, same as what Chevrolet did. Is anyone with reliable sources able to confirm this? Thanks

[transam]

The Honda Civic is one of the most reliable rides out there...You get what you pay for..

[Big Guns]

Yes Ford have confirmed that they will be concentrating on pickups & SUV's in the future it was confirmed in the Thai press a while back. We won't get the new 4th generation Focus available in Europe. They will of course continue to service & stock parts in Thailand

[JAS21]

MrsJ has the 10th generation Civic RS. She had always wanted a Mazda 3, to replace her Mazda Lantis.  Anyway she test drove one and was disappointed. She then drove the Focus which was on offer, if I recall correctly at just under 1Mthb. She liked that better but was not convinced. 

 

JoeW suggested that she try the Civic.  As the only model with a full set of air bags was the RS that is what she looked at.

 

Was impressed, waited to look at the hatchback. Decided the day it was announced that the 4-door was more suitable ...the boot is huge and takes two large golf bags plus quite a bit more.

 

The draw back as I see it is the reversing visibility and you have to park it yourself. I think that the ride, although 'firm' is softer than the other two options. Service is every six months except oil which she made last one year. It is quick!!

 

YMMV

 

 

 

 

[alfalfa19]

i wanted a small suv, and bought a ford escape because it was 6k dollars less than a honda or toyota.   i regret buying the ford.  admittedly, it's not a turbo, but has a 2.5 L engine, however, it is still gutless. 

[action]

I can't understand why anyone would buy an American car brand...  and I'm American!  
In Engineering school we were taught the lesson of U.S. car brands...  In the late 60's early 70's the American car makers figured out they could make a lot more money selling spare parts than they could cars.  So they intentionally made cars that would need more replacement parts.  Japanese brands on the other hand focused on making cars that work and last forever.  In the 80's American brands learned their place in the market and changed their focus (pun intended)  To this very day, America can't catch up. 

I have had Toyota's my whole life.  My wife drives a Honda.  I have had my truck for 12 years and I have never had a problem with ANYTHING.  over 400,000 km on that thing.  

 

A friend of mine has an 'American' made truck.  I remember when he bought it a few years ago.  I saw him for the first time in a couple years, got in his truck and he goes, "Oh,  the window's don't roll down,  if I turn on the air it's noisy and water drips all over,  the power door locks don't work,  the instrument panel doesn't work, the lights don't work....  on and on...  I was beside myself in laughter...  It couldn't have been written any better.  

 

Another friend bought an American car, had a problem the first day and took it back to the dealer.  They sent it to the factory to get fixed and wouldn't give him a different car.  He waited weeks and weeks for his new car to be repaired.  

 

We were also taught that the reason European brand cars are the best is because they had the best steel in the world.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[bizader]

Thanks for all the replies. Guess Focus is now out of the picture due to Ford’s decision to stop selling them here in the future. Its a shame - for 990k, it is a great buy! Also, I personally think that all cars made in Thailand are of the same standard - the japanese cars u get here are not of the same quality as you will get in Japan, Europe or US. I had 2 Fords in Thailand in the past 5 years - a Fiesta and the 2016 Everest. Never had any issues with them and loved how they drive drive and they felt solid on the road. I am now driving a Jazz, and while it is very spacious, i find it boring to drive. I guess I will have to look at other options - may be HRV or CHR?

[d4291797]

Make no mistake there is just nothing to touch the Focus for driving appeal.

Streets ahead of tinny ,boring , gutless Jappers!

This car is a rocket ship, with handling streets ahead of anything in its class.

To do better ,you would need to spend over double!

Sadly Ford dropped the ball , persevering with Fiesta and early model Focus , with powershift gearbox.

 

But they are market leaders with the Ranger, despite the Ford haters!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

[sencelebi]

I am an American and I stay away from American cars. I made that mistake twice in the past, Now I drive only German cars for last 21 years. Not everyone can afford German engineering but You can afford a Honda.

Japanese cars will cost you less than American cars repairs,maintenance,parts wise.

[transam]

1 hour ago, bizader said:

Thanks for all the replies. Guess Focus is now out of the picture due to Ford’s decision to stop selling them here in the future. Its a shame - for 990k, it is a great buy! Also, I personally think that all cars made in Thailand are of the same standard - the japanese cars u get here are not of the same quality as you will get in Japan, Europe or US. I had 2 Fords in Thailand in the past 5 years - a Fiesta and the 2016 Everest. Never had any issues with them and loved how they drive drive and they felt solid on the road. I am now driving a Jazz, and while it is very spacious, i find it boring to drive. I guess I will have to look at other options - may be HRV or CHR?

I would question your "Jap cars built in LOS are not the same standard". Perhaps you can tell me why...

We have a 2010 Honda Civic that is great, no problems at all except the shocks are stuffed. It sticks to the road like glue and the seating is perfect, especially for back seat passengers. 

[mogandave]

MrsJ has the 10th generation Civic RS. She had always wanted a Mazda 3, to replace her Mazda Lantis.  Anyway she test drove one and was disappointed. She then drove the Focus which was on offer, if I recall correctly at just under 1Mthb. She liked that better but was not convinced. 
 
JoeW suggested that she try the Civic.  As the only model with a full set of air bags was the RS that is what she looked at.
 
Was impressed, waited to look at the hatchback. Decided the day it was announced that the 4-door was more suitable ...the boot is huge and takes two large golf bags plus quite a bit more.
 
The draw back as I see it is the reversing visibility and you have to park it yourself. I think that the ride, although 'firm' is softer than the other two options. Service is every six months except oil which she made last one year. It is quick!!
 
YMMV
 
 
 
 

The sedan is much better looking as well...

[jossthaifarang]

Ford depreciate really fast in Thailand, for that reason alone your better of with Toyota or Honda...

[Thaidream]

I had a Ford Focus purchased in America and was driven for almost 500.000 miles with low maintenance and great gas mileage. It was standard transmission.  Then had a Ford Fiesta-problems with the 6 speed auto transmission from day 1-  it is one of the reasons Ford is not going to build the Focus and Fiesta anymore- they have lost billions on trying to replace this transmission.

 

During time in Thailand- myself and family have bought only Japanese cars/Trucks- never any problems- great resale. Would always go with Toyota and then Honda. However, the Ford Ranger truck is on a par with the Japanese Trucks.

 

[transam]

16 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

I had a Ford Focus purchased in America and was driven for almost 500.000 miles with low maintenance and great gas mileage. It was standard transmission.  Then had a Ford Fiesta-problems with the 6 speed auto transmission from day 1-  it is one of the reasons Ford is not going to build the Focus and Fiesta anymore- they have lost billions on trying to replace this transmission.

 

During time in Thailand- myself and family have bought only Japanese cars/Trucks- never any problems- great resale. Would always go with Toyota and then Honda. However, the Ford Ranger truck is on a par with the Japanese Trucks.

 

But the Ranger is still Ford engineering...?

[Mansell]

A motor scooter guy rear ended our Mazda at a traffic light. While it was being fixed we borrowed the sisters car a Suzuki Ciaz.....what a very solid feeling car with plenty of oomph, comfortable and roomy with a big trunk. I would go and drive one before you make up your mind. I wish I had before I bought the Toyota Altis at 850,000 baht my ex-wife got.....I would have had a great car at half the price.

[DavisH]

5 hours ago, d4291797 said:

Make no mistake there is just nothing to touch the Focus for driving appeal.

Streets ahead of tinny ,boring , gutless Jappers!

This car is a rocket ship, with handling streets ahead of anything in its class.

To do better ,you would need to spend over double!

Sadly Ford dropped the ball , persevering with Fiesta and early model Focus , with powershift gearbox.

 

But they are market leaders with the Ranger, despite the Ford haters!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

You do know the civic turbo is actually faster than the focus turbo?

[Lacessit]

It's quite ironic Japanese vehicles have their reputation for reliability derived from the teachings of an American, W. Edwards Deming. No-one in US industry would listen to him, quite content with the status quo. Invited to Japan, the Japanese very quickly caught on to his statistical quality control concepts, and within a decade had gone from Jap crap to a sought-after product. The Toyota Landcruiser in its various forms became the vehicle of choice for farmers and miners. By the time US industry woke up to what was happening, it was too late.

[xylophone]

15 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

It's quite ironic Japanese vehicles have their reputation for reliability derived from the teachings of an American, W. Edwards Deming. No-one in US industry would listen to him, quite content with the status quo. Invited to Japan, the Japanese very quickly caught on to his statistical quality control concepts, and within a decade had gone from Jap crap to a sought-after product. The Toyota Landcruiser in its various forms became the vehicle of choice for farmers and miners. By the time US industry woke up to what was happening, it was too late.

Yes, very true and he was responsible for initiating such things as "quality circles" which the Japanese caught on to very quickly or adapted to their own style.

 

I was designated to take up that particular role for Rank Xerox many years ago, mainly because they were having huge problems with quality control, however they just couldn't seem to follow its key principles.

 

They stuck to the old western way of managing production where the production manager was "god" and what he said went and you never argued. Consequently ways of being able to improve the quality of the product and the speed of production were completely lost on them, and trying to explain how improvements might be made were liable to get you offside with the foreman.
 

[JAS21]

On 9/15/2018 at 12:06 PM, transam said:

I would question your "Jap cars built in LOS are not the same standard". Perhaps you can tell me why...

We have a 2010 Honda Civic that is great, no problems at all except the shocks are stuffed. It sticks to the road like glue and the seating is perfect, especially for back seat passengers. 

Honda dropped the ball with the 9th generation

[Wiggy]

I bought a 2.0 Focus in 2013. Great car. I loved driving it. It had all the extras I wanted plus some. It had one major downfall - a PowerShift gearbox. It wasn't as bad as some I've read about, but with a feeling it was going to fail (as many did) and with Ford not seeming to give a damn I sold it after three years, taking a loss of 540,000 baht. Ouch. I realise the new Focus has a 1.5 Turbo and a conventional automatic gearbox, but once bitten, twice shy. So, I chose the Civic RS. Absolutely no regrets. It's superb - and as already said here - it's very quick. Probably my best car ever, and I've had many.

[maake55555]

I purchases a used 2010 ford fiesta about three years ago and the transmission went out in about a month.  I took it to ford and they said it would cost a ton of money to get fixed, but they kept it as I could not drive it without a Trans that worked.  Two days after this they called and told me that ford had extended the warranty on the car and the new trans would only cost me installation fee.  They replaced it and to this day I have not had a problem with it, I go on many long journeys in Thailand and the engine is great.  One other problem cropped with the a/c and they fixed that problem and I am still happy with this almost trouble free great little American car.  It is fast off the line and has more than enough speed out on the road. +The 1.6L engine is wonderful.  

[mogandave]

Uh-oh...hear it comes

[transam]

13 hours ago, maake55555 said:

I purchases a used 2010 ford fiesta about three years ago and the transmission went out in about a month.  I took it to ford and they said it would cost a ton of money to get fixed, but they kept it as I could not drive it without a Trans that worked.  Two days after this they called and told me that ford had extended the warranty on the car and the new trans would only cost me installation fee.  They replaced it and to this day I have not had a problem with it, I go on many long journeys in Thailand and the engine is great.  One other problem cropped with the a/c and they fixed that problem and I am still happy with this almost trouble free great little American car.  It is fast off the line and has more than enough speed out on the road. +The 1.6L engine is wonderful.  

So you are happy with a ploblem ride ....Cos they fix it...For me it is a ride that they don't have to fix...

[mogandave]

Told you.

[HAKAPALITA]

12 minutes ago, transam said:

So you are happy with a ploblem ride ....Cos they fix it...For me it is a ride that they don't have to fix...

Never realised they did a 1.5 turbo here. Funny i missed cause i like blowing up Turbo Benzines. What BHP.?was it. 175/80.

[mogandave]

Buy a Toyota. Never in the history of the world has anyone ever had an issue with *one...




*A least not one that was covered under warranty...

[VocalNeal]

13 hours ago, maake55555 said:

I am still happy with this almost trouble free great little American car.

Funny because I thought Focus is a European Ford?

 

Quote

The original Focus was primarily designed by Ford of Europe's German and British teams.^[1]

Probably successful so now claimed as American.

 

[mogandave]

Probably successful so now claimed as American.
 

Much like the Toyota’s, Hondas, Mercedes, Volvo’s sold here are all Thai brands.