2011 Ford Focus Runout - 2.0L Tdci For Just 999,000 Baht

[katabeachbum]

And to finish off, here's a video of a stock-standard 2.0 TDCi being autocrossed here in LOS

Add a chip, suspension, tires and someone who knows how to recover from a handbrake slide, and it'd be one fun little car

not even sure its the driver pulling the handbrake here, as recovery seems not planned at all

anyway, fun little car, powerfull, and capable of long hauls in acceptable comfort as well

[MoonRiverOasis]

we did some major testing when sierra sedan came out in the 80s.

.... ford has come a long way since

Bah! name one non-German make you can say made 'good cars' in the early-mid 80's, heh

[MoonRiverOasis]

not even sure its the driver pulling the handbrake here, as recovery seems not planned at all

anyway, fun little car, powerfull, and capable of long hauls in acceptable comfort as well

You could be right - on 2nd viewing it does look like a couple of turns are a panicked recovery - videographer agrees too I think

Nothing like a FWD that tends towards overtseer I say.. You can keep the one's that understeer

Edited November 26, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[caphant]

That diesel hatch twin pipe sounds great, i dont mind the idle sound of oilers, would be nice to know with windows up that the cabin is isolated from the sound however even at lower speeds.

Edited November 26, 2011 by caphant

[WarpSpeed]

And to finish off, here's a video of a stock-standard 2.0 TDCi being autocrossed here in LOS

Add a chip, suspension, tires and someone who knows how to recover from a handbrake slide, and it'd be one fun little car

IMO he shouldn't even be doing any hand brake sliding and minimal tire screeching. Smooth application of power while braking slightly through the corner when required to minimize push, pitch, roll, weight transfer and eliminate turbo lag by using the brake as a throttle, the FWD will pull him through corners like a frog through an owl, while he's sliding sideways I'd already be well out of the turn.

He's loosing about 1 to 2 seconds on that small course doing all that show driving and tire skidding and that's coming from a 4 time regional champ and instructor at that form of competition.. JFYI those Championships were also won in a FWD turbo engined car with about half the torque available as that Focus..

The style that wins is boring though, until you see the times..

Edited November 26, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[WarpSpeed]

we did some major testing when sierra sedan came out in the 80s.

.... ford has come a long way since

Bah! name one non-German make you can say made 'good cars' in the early-mid 80's, heh

Mazda and Datsun..

[WarpSpeed]

not even sure its the driver pulling the handbrake here, as recovery seems not planned at all

anyway, fun little car, powerfull, and capable of long hauls in acceptable comfort as well

You could be right - on 2nd viewing it does look like a couple of turns are a panicked recovery - videographer agrees too I think

Nothing like a FWD that tends towards overtseer I say.. You can keep the one's that understeer

They don't oversteer unless set up that way. Unfortunately factory set up is to understeer because they'd rather have an amateur driver go in head on and slow down to maintain control rather then ass first and loose it as that requires more advanced skills to control. He's also jerking the wheel to make it over steer as it wants to push and he doesn't know how to get it to turn in, but the secret is power and he's too busy sliding as he goes into the corners too fast and spends the rest of his time recovering when he should be powering through the corner at nearly full throttle..

He should brake hard once earlier, and more smoothly, then move his left foot to the brake and right foot to the throttle provide plenty of throttle while slowly lifting the brake to control push while turning in and once the car reaches it's apex he should be at full throttle already, whereas now he's nearly completely off the throttle and sideways.

Edited November 26, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[katabeachbum]

not even sure its the driver pulling the handbrake here, as recovery seems not planned at all

anyway, fun little car, powerfull, and capable of long hauls in acceptable comfort as well

You could be right - on 2nd viewing it does look like a couple of turns are a panicked recovery - videographer agrees too I think

Nothing like a FWD that tends towards overtseer I say.. You can keep the one's that understeer

They don't oversteer unless set up that way. Unfortunately factory set up is to understeer because they'd rather have an amateur driver go in head on and slow down to maintain control rather then ass first and loose it as that requires more advanced skills to control. He's also jerking the wheel to make it over steer as it wants to push and he doesn't know how to get it to turn in, but the secret is power and he's too busy sliding as he goes into the corners too fast and spends the rest of his time recovering when he should be powering through the corner at nearly full throttle..

He should brake hard once earlier, and more smoothly, then move his left foot to the brake and right foot to the throttle provide plenty of throttle while slowly lifting the brake to control push while turning in and once the car reaches it's apex he should be at full throttle already, whereas now he's nearly completely off the throttle and sideways.

actually both focus and mondeo oversteers more easily than most fwd, especially with tourqy diesel and dsg or manual. Step off acc for a brief splitsecond while entering curve and you are in beautiful balance due to the small turbo, it does not lose pressure for this split second as long as you are above 2000rpm

two of the best mass market cheap cars to drive

but with heavy load they are both very much in need of airsupported rear shocks, as they get rather flimsy, especially the estates with longer rear end

in my homecountry, volvo v70/mondeo estates (same suspension for a few years while ford owned volvo) are very common as police cars, and all units without rear airsupport where grounded until modified with rear airsupport. loaded they blew off the road due to extreme fast change from understeer to oversteer. very similar handling as first gen bmw 3series, 1976-1984?

rearsuspension adapting to load, focus/mondeo in beautiful balance again

for the short focus hatch with normal load, no worries tho

[MoonRiverOasis]

IMO he shouldn't even be doing any hand brake sliding and minimal tire screeching. Smooth application of power while braking slightly through the corner when required to minimize push, pitch, roll, weight transfer and eliminate turbo lag by using the brake as a throttle, the FWD will pull him through corners like a frog through an owl, while he's sliding sideways I'd already be well out of the turn.

He's loosing about 1 to 2 seconds on that small course doing all that show driving and tire skidding and that's coming from a 4 time regional champ and instructor at that form of competition.. JFYI those Championships were also won in a FWD turbo engined car with about half the torque available as that Focus..

The style that wins is boring though, until you see the times..

All valid, but as an autocrosser you gotta admit that it's impressively rapid and composed for bog-stock run-of-the-mill compact hatchback, driver not withstanding

Edited November 27, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[WarpSpeed]

IMO he shouldn't even be doing any hand brake sliding and minimal tire screeching. Smooth application of power while braking slightly through the corner when required to minimize push, pitch, roll, weight transfer and eliminate turbo lag by using the brake as a throttle, the FWD will pull him through corners like a frog through an owl, while he's sliding sideways I'd already be well out of the turn.

He's loosing about 1 to 2 seconds on that small course doing all that show driving and tire skidding and that's coming from a 4 time regional champ and instructor at that form of competition.. JFYI those Championships were also won in a FWD turbo engined car with about half the torque available as that Focus..

The style that wins is boring though, until you see the times..

All valid, but as an autocrosser you gotta admit that it's impressively rapid and composed for bog-stock run-of-the-mill compact hatchback, driver not withstanding

No argument! As I said and you mentioned too the cars potential is not even being tapped as the driver is not up to the task of finding it's limits smoothly even before any upgrades are made..

Edited November 27, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[DJH77]

As i said in an earlier post, i tried to get a TEST drive in a Focus TDCI some 2 years ago and got nowhere. I sent E-mail's to Ford and never got a reply to any. It seems that nothing has changed in 2 years as i have gotten no reply to E-mails this time. So i called the Ford HOTLINE and asked where i could see and Test Drive this car now as you have a Special Runout Promotion sale on and they said they would Check the Dealers and call me back. Amazingly they did call me back but the answer was THERE ARE NO TDCI's ANYWHERE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO TEST DRIVE. WHAT A BLOODY JOKE. I asked for the Name and Number of Highly Positioned Foreigner within Ford that i could speak with and was given Nothing. So Unfortunately it seems the cars are on a promotion but you cannot even see one let alone Test Drive it. I was told i could test drive a Petrol engine car in Mukdahan so i tried to explain that there is NO conparison, the cars are completely different and i have actually never even seen a TDCI in the flesh, only photo's, so i want to know where i can actually go to at least look over the car, but no reply to that either as yet. If anybody out there can enlighten me about any of this it would be appreciated.

[MoonRiverOasis]

As i said in an earlier post, i tried to get a TEST drive in a Focus TDCI some 2 years ago and got nowhere. I sent E-mail's to Ford and never got a reply to any. It seems that nothing has changed in 2 years as i have gotten no reply to E-mails this time. So i called the Ford HOTLINE and asked where i could see and Test Drive this car now as you have a Special Runout Promotion sale on and they said they would Check the Dealers and call me back. Amazingly they did call me back but the answer was THERE ARE NO TDCI's ANYWHERE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO TEST DRIVE. WHAT A BLOODY JOKE. I asked for the Name and Number of Highly Positioned Foreigner within Ford that i could speak with and was given Nothing. So Unfortunately it seems the cars are on a promotion but you cannot even see one let alone Test Drive it. I was told i could test drive a Petrol engine car in Mukdahan so i tried to explain that there is NO conparison, the cars are completely different and i have actually never even seen a TDCI in the flesh, only photo's, so i want to know where i can actually go to at least look over the car, but no reply to that either as yet. If anybody out there can enlighten me about any of this it would be appreciated.

Forget email, when dealing with Thai's you have to pick up the phone - but it appears you got that

Also, forget the call center girl that's trained how to help people with flat batteries and tires. Go find the phone numbers for dealerships nearby yourself, then speak to the people who really do want to sell you a car (i.e. salespeople)..

Good luck!

[Haooo]

The thing concerns me most is the availability and price of spare parts.

I don't want end up with waiting two months for a timing belt worth 5,000 baht.

Does anyone have experience with spare parts of TDCi?

[MoonRiverOasis]

The thing concerns me most is the availability and price of spare parts.

I don't want end up with waiting two months for a timing belt worth 5,000 baht.

Does anyone have experience with spare parts of TDCi?

Ford TH offer a 24-hour guarantee on common parts like that (or it's free). Their PANDA parts handling system is arguably the best in the business.

[DJH77]

As i said in an earlier post, i tried to get a TEST drive in a Focus TDCI some 2 years ago and got nowhere. I sent E-mail's to Ford and never got a reply to any. It seems that nothing has changed in 2 years as i have gotten no reply to E-mails this time. So i called the Ford HOTLINE and asked where i could see and Test Drive this car now as you have a Special Runout Promotion sale on and they said they would Check the Dealers and call me back. Amazingly they did call me back but the answer was THERE ARE NO TDCI's ANYWHERE AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO TEST DRIVE. WHAT A BLOODY JOKE. I asked for the Name and Number of Highly Positioned Foreigner within Ford that i could speak with and was given Nothing. So Unfortunately it seems the cars are on a promotion but you cannot even see one let alone Test Drive it. I was told i could test drive a Petrol engine car in Mukdahan so i tried to explain that there is NO conparison, the cars are completely different and i have actually never even seen a TDCI in the flesh, only photo's, so i want to know where i can actually go to at least look over the car, but no reply to that either as yet. If anybody out there can enlighten me about any of this it would be appreciated.

Forget email, when dealing with Thai's you have to pick up the phone - but it appears you got that

Also, forget the call center girl that's trained how to help people with flat batteries and tires. Go find the phone numbers for dealerships nearby yourself, then speak to the people who really do want to sell you a car (i.e. salespeople)..

Good luck!

Well MRO, 2 years ago i tried that and the only dealer with a car was in Udon Thani, 300kl from here. They were happy for me to drive there to look at the car but NO test drive. 600k's to look at the car, bullshit. Mitsubishi drove me to Khon Kaene to look and test drive the 3.2 Pajero and then i drove it back to Mukdahan and bought it. And of course their after service has been excellent to the point where they sent 1 of their Technical guys from Bangkok to supervise the installation of the 3rd differential to cure the whine and he had a 4th diff with him in case number 3 wasn't a success, all very good so i really wonder about Ford. The last one i owned in Oz was a 1975, 351 Cu Inch cleveland engined, Landau and it was a great car but that is in another world compared to here.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Well MRO, 2 years ago i tried that and the only dealer with a car was in Udon Thani, 300kl from here. They were happy for me to drive there to look at the car but NO test drive. 600k's to look at the car, bullshit. Mitsubishi drove me to Khon Kaene to look and test drive the 3.2 Pajero and then i drove it back to Mukdahan and bought it. And of course their after service has been excellent to the point where they sent 1 of their Technical guys from Bangkok to supervise the installation of the 3rd differential to cure the whine and he had a 4th diff with him in case number 3 wasn't a success, all very good so i really wonder about Ford. The last one i owned in Oz was a 1975, 351 Cu Inch cleveland engined, Landau and it was a great car but that is in another world compared to here.

There's a Ford dealer in Mukdahan - no good?

If not, there's plenty of others closer than Khon Kaen (in order):

Amnat Charoen

Nakon Phanom

Yasothon

Roi Et

Sakorn Nakorn

Mahasarakham

Ubon

Sisaket

Worth a few phone calls maybe?

I always like buying out of province, then you don't have to make up so many silly excuses just to have a decent drive in your new car :D

Edited November 28, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[MoonRiverOasis]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

I totally missed this post, so a belated congrats!

Make sure you post back here with all the fun you're having so us fence-sitters can all grumble about how we missed out

[caphant]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

Well done , its a good car and has a fantastic transmission, I was thinking about getting it even before the price slashing! As MRO suggested there is a lot of people sitting on the fence because the car has fantastic handling and for me the added bonus is the spaciousness, at over 190cm im a bit lost in los for cars which fit me. what color did you get, I think black and cream like the video look nicest.

I totally missed this post, so a belated congrats!

Make sure you post back here with all the fun you're having so us fence-sitters can all grumble about how we missed out

Agreed, id be tossing and turning over whether to wait for the new one or go with the great deal. I havent looked at docs but im assuming the powerplant and 6spd tranny are a carryover from the 2011 to the 2012. Other benefit is the 2011 has been out so all those new platform wrinkles have long since been ironed out and improved upon. Ive decided to wait 2 years and check to see what the diesel market looks like at that point, If i like the new ford everest and read good things from people on here ill consider trading my escape for one, in short-term im looking to buy a preowned civic 2.0 EL, tested it and the 2003-2006 accord v6, accord didnt have as much space for me as the slanted window gives me great visibility and illusion of roominess for a c seg. Tron looking dash interior has finally grown on me somewhat.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Agreed, id be tossing and turning over whether to wait for the new one or go with the great deal. I havent looked at docs but im assuming the powerplant and 6spd tranny are a carryover from the 2011 to the 2012. Other benefit is the 2011 has been out so all those new platform wrinkles have long since been ironed out and improved upon.

The 2012 is bigger, heavier, softer, understeers, and is just less engaging to drive. But it's bigger and softer - which might float your boat

And you're right - the 2.0L TDCi carries over to the 2012, but it will make a few more ponies. Nothing a plug-in piggyback can't compensate for though

[WarpSpeed]

not even sure its the driver pulling the handbrake here, as recovery seems not planned at all

anyway, fun little car, powerfull, and capable of long hauls in acceptable comfort as well

You could be right - on 2nd viewing it does look like a couple of turns are a panicked recovery - videographer agrees too I think

Nothing like a FWD that tends towards overtseer I say.. You can keep the one's that understeer

They don't oversteer unless set up that way. Unfortunately factory set up is to understeer because they'd rather have an amateur driver go in head on and slow down to maintain control rather then ass first and loose it as that requires more advanced skills to control. He's also jerking the wheel to make it over steer as it wants to push and he doesn't know how to get it to turn in, but the secret is power and he's too busy sliding as he goes into the corners too fast and spends the rest of his time recovering when he should be powering through the corner at nearly full throttle..

He should brake hard once earlier, and more smoothly, then move his left foot to the brake and right foot to the throttle provide plenty of throttle while slowly lifting the brake to control push while turning in and once the car reaches it's apex he should be at full throttle already, whereas now he's nearly completely off the throttle and sideways.

actually both focus and mondeo oversteers more easily than most fwd, especially with tourqy diesel and dsg or manual. Step off acc for a brief splitsecond while entering curve and you are in beautiful balance due to the small turbo, it does not lose pressure for this split second as long as you are above 2000rpm

two of the best mass market cheap cars to drive

but with heavy load they are both very much in need of airsupported rear shocks, as they get rather flimsy, especially the estates with longer rear end

in my homecountry, volvo v70/mondeo estates (same suspension for a few years while ford owned volvo) are very common as police cars, and all units without rear airsupport where grounded until modified with rear airsupport. loaded they blew off the road due to extreme fast change from understeer to oversteer. very similar handling as first gen bmw 3series, 1976-1984?

rearsuspension adapting to load, focus/mondeo in beautiful balance again

for the short focus hatch with normal load, no worries tho

In your home country as with Europe I tend to agree, as I said oversteer is for more sophisticated drivers and there's no argument that European every day drivers are more advanced with Europe generally being a bit more liberal in terms of vehicle performance and choices and with respectable roads and with countries like Germany having the autobahn with access from all countries the cars tend to be set up accordingly. But here in Thailand and in the US for example where the driving and stock performance is more restricted then a more liberal Europe and they even offer, as you said, a choice of suspension applications unlike here. The cars in these environs are not set up for oversteer..

Echoing you, here they have longer softer springs not known for being conducive to oversteer.

As for the Focus we'll be going by our local dealer tomorrow and they have a TDCI there I already looked at it but it's in the showroom and not the one I'll be buying unless it comes with even more discount as it looks second hand already, but I plan to test drive or I'll be out the door onto another dealer in short order.

Edited November 28, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[MoonRiverOasis]

Ive decided to wait 2 years and check to see what the diesel market looks like at that point

My crystal ball says:

2011 Craptiva and Cruze minor change, 2.0L diesels making 163HP

2012 New Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi with 170HP

2012 New Escape with 180HP 1.6L ecoboost and 2.0L TDCi 170HP options

2012 New Chevy Trailblazer with 180HP

2012-3 Fortuner minor change (or perhaps major - times are changing fast) with 190HP

2013 New Ford Everest with 200HP

2013 New model Craptiva with carryover 2.0L diesel now pushed into making 180'ish HP, but not a very pretty torque curve.

2014 Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi minor change, still making 170HP because recipe is already right.

2014 Chevy Cruze 2.0L diesel on it's 2nd minor change, now with uprated Craptiva donk.

Well, that's mainstream. More activity will be going on in the 2.5M+ range....

I'm hanging to get some juice on the next-gen of big Audi/VW TDi's - the 2013 V8 TDi Q7 is a bit of a hot prospect to replace my hybrid chili pepper

[MoonRiverOasis]

Ive decided to wait 2 years and check to see what the diesel market looks like at that point

My crystal ball says:

2011 Craptiva and Cruze minor change, 2.0L diesels making 163HP

2012 New Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi with 170HP

2012 New Escape with 180HP 1.6L ecoboost and 2.0L TDCi 170HP options

2012 New Chevy Trailblazer with 180HP

2012-3 Fortuner minor change (or perhaps major - times are changing fast) with 190HP

2013 New Ford Everest with 200HP

2013 New model Craptiva with carryover 2.0L diesel now pushed into making 180'ish HP, but not a very pretty torque curve.

2014 Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi minor change, still making 170HP because recipe is already right.

2014 Chevy Cruze 2.0L diesel on it's 2nd minor change, now with uprated Craptiva donk.

Well, that's mainstream. More activity will be going on in the 2.5M+ range....

I'm hanging to get some juice on the next-gen of big Audi/VW TDi's - the 2013 V8 TDi Q7 is a bit of a hot prospect to replace my hybrid chili pepper

Doh!

Add to that:

2013: New Pajero Sport with co-developed Mistu/Nissan/Renault diesel, and undisclosed but class-leading HP

[WarpSpeed]

Ive decided to wait 2 years and check to see what the diesel market looks like at that point

My crystal ball says:

2011 Craptiva and Cruze minor change, 2.0L diesels making 163HP

2012 New Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi with 170HP

2012 New Escape with 180HP 1.6L ecoboost and 2.0L TDCi 170HP options

2012 New Chevy Trailblazer with 180HP

2012-3 Fortuner minor change (or perhaps major - times are changing fast) with 190HP

2013 New Ford Everest with 200HP

2013 New model Craptiva with carryover 2.0L diesel now pushed into making 180'ish HP, but not a very pretty torque curve.

2014 Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi minor change, still making 170HP because recipe is already right.

2014 Chevy Cruze 2.0L diesel on it's 2nd minor change, now with uprated Craptiva donk.

Well, that's mainstream. More activity will be going on in the 2.5M+ range....

I'm hanging to get some juice on the next-gen of big Audi/VW TDi's - the 2013 V8 TDi Q7 is a bit of a hot prospect to replace my hybrid chili pepper

Doh!

Add to that:

2013: New Pajero Sport with co-developed Mistu/Nissan/Renault diesel, and undisclosed but class-leading HP

So you say the Focus TDCI power is going to jump to 170 from 136? That's a pretty significant jump. So if I were to install say a .de chip that brought it to 178 then there shouldn't be any warrantee implications right?

Can anyone tell me did Ford have any cars get wet? I'm kinda hoping they did, I have another aspect to this deal I wish to discuss with them..

[Haooo]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

I totally missed this post, so a belated congrats!

Make sure you post back here with all the fun you're having so us fence-sitters can all grumble about how we missed out

I'm going to pick it on Saturday, but everyone around told me not, which makes me hesitate now. Reason is simple, rare on road, difficult to get spare parts, poor resale value.

[caphant]

My crystal ball says:

2011 Craptiva and Cruze minor change, 2.0L diesels making 163HP

2012 New Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi with 170HP

2012 New Escape with 180HP 1.6L ecoboost and 2.0L TDCi 170HP options

2012 New Chevy Trailblazer with 180HP

2012-3 Fortuner minor change (or perhaps major - times are changing fast) with 190HP

2013 New Ford Everest with 200HP

2013 New model Craptiva with carryover 2.0L diesel now pushed into making 180'ish HP, but not a very pretty torque curve.

2014 Ford Focus 2.0L TDCi minor change, still making 170HP because recipe is already right.

2014 Chevy Cruze 2.0L diesel on it's 2nd minor change, now with uprated Craptiva donk.

Well, that's mainstream. More activity will be going on in the 2.5M+ range....

I'm hanging to get some juice on the next-gen of big Audi/VW TDi's - the 2013 V8 TDi Q7 is a bit of a hot prospect to replace my hybrid chili pepper

Cheers for the crystal ball and lol at the craptiva stab...haha i have to admit i wasnt impressed with the first one as the price was high (tax largely responsible) but nevertheless hard plastics would of been rejected by lego and didnt handle much better than the cruze. I didnt like the cruze much more than the 2002-2006 camry with floaty ride and poor feedback.I think out of all those ill be interested in the trailblazer and the everest, though leaning more towards the everest as i sat in the 2.2 early release show truck and felt that materials were not much better than the yaris which i cant stand. and apparently the new one is getting horrible reviews btw. I guess i was hoping for honda or toyota to see what the americans were doing and release some diesel options, this is the case in austrailia with Honda recently.

To be honest i dont like the high tax of european or non thai assembled cars, BUT id be more willing to shell out for it if servicing also wasnt such a hassle (lack of support) and expensive proposition. shame because Id buy a 320d as my daily driver without a doubt.

lol yes i remember your support of the pjs for current ppv, so was wondering about the ommision, yes i think id like to see what mitsu have for next, i liked their gwagon but to be honest i liked the sportrider better more of a suv feel less ppl mover stationwagon esk though that 5 speed paddle and 2.5 on the recent minor change definately takes things up a notch from the 3,2 with 4spd. Hopefully toyota will include curtain airbags, paddle shift and a tighter overall package for the imv2. wouldnt buy first year till they have time to iron the issues im sure ill be reading on here from early adopters

The 2012 is bigger, heavier, softer, understeers, and is just less engaging to drive. But it's bigger and softer - which might float your boat

And you're right - the 2.0L TDCi carries over to the 2012, but it will make a few more ponies. Nothing a plug-in piggyback can't compensate for though

Havent had the chance to drive the new focus but most reviews laud it and say the handling is still crisp, the self park seemed nice even though i wouldnt use it since i regularly park a truck with ease i dont see it as more than a gimmick but dash was finally stylish, ford always tends to understyle things outside and in, only need to see mazdas offerings and even volvo to see this. to be honest i hate front wheel drive with a passion, the mazda 3 really changed my view on fwd handling but yes not into a soft floaty ride and indistinct handling at all, since im really only wanting to spend around 600-650k cash for a second hand car im pretty much stuck with fwd since i want a reliable servicible car. the escape is not my personal car and whilst i enjoy piecing 1 of my 3 project cars together, i like my truck but for the long commutes id rather have something else.....really getting me to think about the diesel hatch, the front headlights look decent i just dont like the aspire looking rear to it, kinda soccer mom looking, saw one in a light blue with stock rims and it looked dated, a set of nice rims and alteeza rear lights might fix things up though.

definately stuck on the fence with this and the civic

[WarpSpeed]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

I totally missed this post, so a belated congrats!

Make sure you post back here with all the fun you're having so us fence-sitters can all grumble about how we missed out

I'm going to pick it on Saturday, but everyone around told me not, which makes me hesitate now. Reason is simple, rare on road, difficult to get spare parts, poor resale value.

That's more a reason to own one IMO. Second I was told VW parts were and are rare and expensive too which has turned out to be bupkis and it's usually the people that are clueless that say these things all based on uninformed assumptions (there's a lot of that around these parts) and MRO already noted Fords PANDA parts system. Third point is already accounted for in the price.. So now what say you?

Edited November 28, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[DJH77]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

The interest rates quoted to me are, 2.55% over 48 mths- 2.65% over 60 mths- 2.80% over72 mths and i checked the sheet to make sure. Not a big difference to 3% but it all adds up so go for it.

[katabeachbum]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

The interest rates quoted to me are, 2.55% over 48 mths- 2.65% over 60 mths- 2.80% over72 mths and i checked the sheet to make sure. Not a big difference to 3% but it all adds up so go for it.

which makes the deal not so fantastic as it initially appeared. its been 1.160.000 baht with 0,99% interest on 48 terms. now its 999k baht but an added interest cost over 48 terms at up to 80k baht

[SaNim]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

The interest rates quoted to me are, 2.55% over 48 mths- 2.65% over 60 mths- 2.80% over72 mths and i checked the sheet to make sure. Not a big difference to 3% but it all adds up so go for it.

which makes the deal not so fantastic as it initially appeared. its been 1.160.000 baht with 0,99% interest on 48 terms. now its 999k baht but an added interest cost over 48 terms at up to 80k baht

I just signed up for one @ 2.6% 48 months.

What still makes it very attractive is what other car can you get just now?

Get mine Friday.

[Haooo]

I already ordered one, delivery next week.

3% interest rate over 5 years. Free 1st class insurance and film.

It's my first time to buy a new car. I hope I made a right choice.

The interest rates quoted to me are, 2.55% over 48 mths- 2.65% over 60 mths- 2.80% over72 mths and i checked the sheet to make sure. Not a big difference to 3% but it all adds up so go for it.

which makes the deal not so fantastic as it initially appeared. its been 1.160.000 baht with 0,99% interest on 48 terms. now its 999k baht but an added interest cost over 48 terms at up to 80k baht

I just signed up for one @ 2.6% 48 months.

What still makes it very attractive is what other car can you get just now?

Get mine Friday.

You may check the year of production by the attachment.

Which dealer you booked from?