When I started writing my sprawling take on the 2012-2018 Ford Focus, I originally intended to devote a portion to my personal experience owning one. Then the article grew well past 1,500 words and I decided against it. That is why this piece exists: To fill in the blanks. Consider this the equivalent to something like the director’s commentary you’d find on a Blu-Ray.
It may be too self serving to write about the Focus so soon after the Future CC, and the month of September may end up featuring too much Focus-related content, but the third generation compact did not have a typical product run and it’s entirely possible that the ongoing class action lawsuit renders a significant judgement against Ford. The company recently warned investors that a judgement for the plaintiffs could result in a $4 billion liability. That doesn’t mean all Powershift owners will get their vehicles bought back or a lifetime warranty extension, but it’s not crazy to assume something along those lines will happen, especially if more damning information is made public. And if it does, the lawsuit could potentially be spoken about in the same vein as Dieselgate, at least when it comes to buyer restitution.
I certainly hope my warranty is extended. Not that I’ve had any problems with mine. It behaves exactly like you’d expect a dual clutch to operate. Jerky and a bit unpredictable below twenty miles per hour but quick and crisp at higher speeds. My concern is what happens after February 2020, the month when my warranty extension runs out. If I’m unable to secure a set of replacement clutches on Ford’s dime (and I do plan to bring it in soon to see if it qualifies) I will be far less willing to keep the car beyond that date.
That being said, my Focus has been pretty much trouble free. Aside from oil changes ($40 at the dealer gets me an oil and filter change, fluid top off, and tire rotation) I’ve only had to shell out $17 to repair a tire. I did discover a nearly empty coolant reservoir last summer, which you can see above, but I’m pretty sure that was due to me not screwing the cap back on all the way. I bought a container of coolant and topped it off and it hasn’t dipped below that level since. At 26,000 miles, the car is still pretty new, but it’s also almost seven years old. It will need a new battery within the next year and I might have to replace the tires soon too. I’ve replaced the cabin air filter twice and the engine air filter once.
In spite of the transmission drama I continue to enjoy driving the car. The car trades some on-road smoothness for excellent composure over road imperfections. Torque vectoring is not a gimmick and it supplements an already competent suspension around curves. It eagerly enters turns and rarely protests. The electric power steering is much better than its contemporaries but not perfect. It doesn’t transmit much road feel into the car but the chassis makes up for it. And turning the wheel does give progressive build up and feedback, which is what really matters. I’ve never really wanted more power from the 2.0 Duratec either. The Focus really does operate like a European car. It’s how the Jetta used to behave before Volkswagen Americanized their non-performance oriented trims. Given its development took place in Germany, that shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.
It makes sense that Ford felt the Powershift was necessary in the Fiesta and Focus. The car gets good mileage. A minimum of about 29 mpg around town and I routinely get 40 and above when I take it on long distance trips.
As for features, I’m completely fine with what I’ve got, with one exception. The seats are nice but they kind of harden after an hour and a half and become uncomfortable after that. Also, I never use the moonroof and would have skipped that option if I knew the car would suffer from creaking related to the headliner in models equipped with it. Apparently, it’s an easy fix and only requires some tape to fix, but I’m always hesitant to fool around with something like that in fear that I’d make the situation worse.
Downsides? Rear leg room is minimal. Not really a problem for me as I rarely have more than one passenger in my car, but as you can see with the front passenger side seat, anyone taller than me will adjust their seat to the point where a rear occupant will probably find conditions in the back untenable. I also think the car could have used more sound insulation because wind and tire noise is a tad high. All three of these issues were apparently addressed in the 2015 refresh.
Although a bit crude by today’s standards, I have no problem with “Sync with MyFord,” as the company calls it. Bluetooth phone quality is great and my phone is never dropped from the system. My fourth gen iPod Touch also works very well with the car, and Sync’s voice recognition system is a valuable asset as it allows me to access anything in my iPod without using the device itself. The system even recognizes titles of playlists.
Ergonomics are good. The center stack is a little busy, but I rarely interact with those buttons. For audio functions it’s the steering wheel that houses the buttons I need. Sync is activated via a button that would serve as a paddle shifter in other cars. I’ll take that over a paddle button any day. It just works so well in that spot.
Would I recommend the Focus? Yes and no. It’s too risky to get one without a warranty, and it seems like the Focus has retained a surprising amount of its value even with everything that’s going on. A five speed manual equipped model is probably your best bet but definitely check out the seats if you actually think about buying one.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have probably picked something else, but I don’t regret my purchase. In fact, if I do end up replacing the Focus soon, it will probably be with a fellow Global C platform car. The C-Max really calls out to my inner geek. It isn’t terribly good looking but it’s just as quick, retains nearly all the great ride and handling characteristics of the Focus, and it gets good mileage to boot. Plus, they’re incredibly cheap because no one wants them.
Since the early 70s, there have been many stumbles on the road to decreased emissions and fuel usage. Some, like the DCT in Foci, were good ideas with poor execution. Others, like VW and Hyundai, were simply deception.
But in the grand scheme of things, the Focus DCT will one day just be viewed as one poor decision of many.
I recommend the C-Max as one of the best values in small used cars. As you mentioned no one really wants them but they are pretty much a Focus with better MPG and no jerky transmission.
We started with a base model, standard hybrid and my only complaint was that it was the base model. That one got handed off to my Mother In Law and we got my Wife an Energi with all the goodies.
The Focus with a 5-speed standard transmission, if you can find one, is also a really good value. I put 100k miles on one and would have kept it if it hadn’t been totaled in a wreck. I was averaging 30 mpg in mixed driving. It still had life in the clutch and was even still on its original set of brakes. The only repairs it needed were the evap purge valve that’s now covered by recall and a dead upstream O2 sensor (each of which only required 15 minutes under the hood to replace myself).
That said, if you transport adult humans in the back seat more than occasionally, the Focus is not the car for you.
That back seat is one of the reasons to go with the C-Max instead. It is actually useable by adults, Meanwhile it pulls down just under 40mpg in mixed driving.
I bought a used 2015 C-Max Energi SEL last year. It is averaging 47 MPG at the present time, without plugging it in. Freeway trips are usually 39 MPG while around town trips range anywhere from 40 to 75 MPG, depending on how you drive.
The C-Max is known as a “compliance” car, which means it was built to raise the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE). This in turn would let Ford sell more vehicles that weren’t very efficient. I’ve never seen them advertised anywhere and you pretty much had to have one to find one. The dealer I bought mine at acquired it with a number of F-150s at auction. In other words, you’ll take the C-Max if you want the trucks. He sold it cheap just to get rid of it.
Although mine is a SEL model, it doesn’t have all the goodies. No rear lift gate remote, no back up camera. It does have the Sony stereo and leather seats. After one year of use, no mechanical problems of any kind.
The C-Max was not a compliance car it was an honest attempt at a car that was supposed to generate its own profits. They did advertise it a bit when new, however when they had to roll back the MPG numbers they dropped all effort in promoting it, or any illusions of it selling in good numbers.
While I’m quite happy with ours it was a big mistake for Ford to bring it to the US and I’m certain they didn’t make a penny overall. They should have just kept offering the Escape Hybrid and called it good.
I also have the Focus 2013 with the 5 speed manual transmission.
To tell you the truth, we have never had any problems! New spark plugs at 100k. Front brakes, Oil changes and replace the tires a couple of times. Still running like new at 132k. Glad we got the stick shift.! 40mpg highway. Great vehicle!
I’ve never driven one of these, but hear many comments about it being rewarding in a way that the long-ago Escort was not.
The Transmission Issue: I look forward to hearing more, and as a Ford Loyalist I’m disappointed, to put it mildly.
Loss of Coolant: Happened to me once with my Taurus, and I feared the worst, but it turned out I hadn’t tightened reservoir cap down fully at last level check; I topped it up, secured cap 100%, and never had a coolant-loss problem again. Lesson learned!
C-Max: it was very appealing, and a close runner-up when we bought an Escape recently. “Nobody wants them”—-yeah, I get a sense that that’s so. Perhaps a gently-used one will show up on the market at a price I can’t turn down…
Another vote for the C Max. We bought a new 2017 Titanium with everything but a sunroof. No problems, no complaints. Favorite feature is the EV+ plus mode that shuts down the ICE when you are within a mile from home or work (or other frequent destination).
I’ve commented before about the 2012 Focus hatchback I bought new.
I agree with the caution about the seats. My long, usually nonstop drives between Cheyenne and Scottsdale were hard on my legs; there simply was not enough leg support by the seat bottom. The seat bottom needed to be longer. But the car was probably not designed for use by me.
My second criticism of the Focus was the lack of a sixth gear. I did buy the five speed manual but it seemed like I needed to shift up to sixth when on these high speed western interstates. But sixth was just not there. It needed sixth.
My car was almost all good. It was completely reliable – no repairs ever. Controls were good and, as noted by Edward, very German. Build quality was good – but for wind leakage in the right front door. Rear seat room mattered not a whit to me; never had a rear passenger. Rear seat was left down; I often carried a bicycle in the back and that’s why I bought the hatch.
My Focus experience was good; I liked the car. I am sorry that Ford, a company I’ve always liked, has lost its “focus” (sorry). I wanted another similar car this year but Ford has abandoned me; I bought a Toyota. I’m done with Ford – but not because of any bad experience with my ’12 Focus.
Only 26,000 miles!!! And I thought that I didn’t drive a lot 🙂
I bought my C-Max with 22K on it and now have 26K on it, one year later. My 95 Caravan has 170,000 on it after 25 years.
I have a 2014 focus 169000 miles 5 speed still runs great