2012 Ford Focus

Performance:
Exterior:
Interior:
Overall:

Pros: What do you like about 2012 Ford Focus?
Styling.
European Handling.
Fuel economy.
Sync with phone.
Smooth ride.
Good quality.

Cons: How would you improve 2012 Ford Focus?
- The transmission feels like it's slipping when learning driving habits, doesn't feel natural.
- When at a stop even in drive you tend to roll back very easily. Be careful at lights or in parking lots. Don't like how you have to give it more gas to get over a speed bump at slow speeds or it will roll back.
- Trunk cannot be opened unless the car is turned off and keys are out of ignition. Very annoying.
- No place to put change, cup holders in awkward location.
- Touch screen not always responsive, glitches in computer, black screen, unresponsive, can't change radio manually, needs updates at dealer. Would not recommend Computer Nav system. It's as if it doesn't have enough speed in the computer to keep up with the features.
- No lumbar adjustment.

2012 Ford Focus Review:
Overall I love my Focus. I have the Titanium model, which is beautiful, but there are a few things Ford needs to resolve.

I would not recommend the full computer model. There are a lot of glitches. I have already had to bring it in once for computer updates. It's slow to respond and freezes where you can't change anything. Can be scary as it can affect cruise control and transmission.

If they fix these problems, it'd be a 5 for sure.

Performance:
Exterior:
Interior:
Overall:

Pros: What do you like about 2012 Ford Focus?
Styling inside and out.
Ride quality/handling.
Fuel economy.
Performance in general.
Versatility.
SYNC system/stock audio.
Options.

Cons: How would you improve 2012 Ford Focus?
Off the line performance.
Transmission learning habits.
Upper interior trim pieces and headliner.
Needs more storage and cupholders.
Tailpipe.

2012 Ford Focus Review:
I love the styling inside and out especially with the added aesthetics of the Sports Package. I really appreciate Ford's added attention to quality/certain details with this Focus. An example would be the addition of integrated blind-spot mirrors.

The only real exterior design goof with such a well done look is the boring tailpipe. It just seems like an afterthought the way it droops slightly from underneath the bumper and isn't finished in chrome or polished stainless like the competition. I just feel like it needed to be better detailed and integrated into the look of the car or hidden altogether rather than being an eye-sore.

One odd gripe I have is that the interior is black and gray with some silver accents but Ford decided to randomly make all of the upper trim pieces (A-pillar, B-pillar, C-pillar) and the headliner a light gray color that seems kind of cheap and out of place. This is even more off-putting in my black car. I would liked to have seen these pieces in black or a gray that matched the seats and door/dash trim.

Also could use a couple more cubbies and cupholders as it has very little storage space for the driver/front seat passenger and no cupholders in the rear.

The ride quality/handling and steering is superb, especially turning thanks to the new torque vectoring technology. The fuel economy is great. I get better than advertised numbers unless I get a little spirited or have a lot in the car weighing it down. The performance is pretty nice for a stock four cylinder (just wish the compression ratio was more turbo friendly). I would like to see a little more off the line performance though, as it finds it's torque pretty high up the curve and isn't as peppy from a stop as some competitors.

The Power-Shift is a great transmission in all three modes. I offers great economy in Drive. It offers more spirited/performance-geared shifting in Sport mode without too much of an effect on economy. And Select-Shift mode where you manually select your gears is precise and fun, like a manual without messing with a clutch pedal or lifting off the gas. Also took a while for the computer-controlled dual-clutch transmission to learn my habits and shift as smoothly as it finally does after 1500+ miles of learning.

I love the versatility of the hatchback design as well.

The SYNC system is pretty nice without MyFord Touch. Sometimes though it seems to have blonde moments where it forgets my commands and preferences or just chooses not to listen to them. The sound system is pretty nice for a base six speaker set-up. The volume increments on the radio are a little wide though. My car's speed compensation for the volume doesn't seem to work as it should most of the time.

Really the only things holding this car back from being a perfect 5 in all areas are the little things, and the current lack of aftermarket parts/accessories doesn't help. I'm sure Ford will release updates soon enough to fix performance/programming issues and earn its 5 there.

And my 4 for interior only requires some color changes and some storage additions to improve. But even though it didn't get the perfect 5 it still beat out every competitor in it's class for me overall. Others had their pluses and minuses and even beat the Focus in some areas, but as a total package the Focus is my top pick. I love this car and would highly recommend it to anyone in the market for a compact.

The Fiesta is awesome too if you don't need more than subcompact space. But I needed a little more room. The new Ford is definitely moving up in the world as a whole and beginning to beat the competitors at their own games.

Performance:
Exterior:
Interior:
Overall:

Pros: What do you like about 2012 Ford Focus?
Finally an American car that can compete!

Cons: How would you improve 2012 Ford Focus?
MPG.
Fit and finish.
Simpler interior.

2012 Ford Focus Review:
After comparing the Focus with the new Civic and Elantra, we decided on the Focus.

The Civic's ride was a bit too stiff and noisy. The Elantra's exterior was too much.

While the Focus struck a good balance, it could improve on a few things to really compete and win over hands down.

In order to win over the Elantra, the MPG can improve. I am sure American engineers can figure that out.

The fit and finish also lags behind the Civic and Elantra. Perhaps the interior is too complicated. If the designers can clean it up and make it simpler, it would be easier for the factory workers to build it tighter.

We also worry about the "infotainment" system. We love the system - the Sony and bluetooth - but we read about some complaints on the system's reliability and complexity. We'll see how that goes.

Overall, we are happy. Now, the reliability is going to be the deciding factor for our next purchase.