the focus is the same thing as any import car, just made by Ford instead.

 

The Focus is an import. It was brought over to the US 2 years after it was introduced in europe. The first US spec Focus was build in the Ford Saarlouis plant to make sure the tooling could be used stateside to keep production costs down.

 

I am so sick of everybody thinking imports are the best! Americans can and do build excellent cars! Lets start keeping OUR money in OUR country instead of sending it to some other country that could and probably will use it against us!

Toyota and Honda both build cars in the states, so would you consider those models they build here "imports" or not? They provide jobs...

 

I am so sick of everybody thinking imports are the best! Americans can and do build excellent cars! Lets start keeping OUR money in OUR country instead of sending it to some other country that could and probably will use it against us!

Dude, Seriously.

You really think you can persuade ANYONE that GM and Ford can build a better car than Honda and Toyota!!! Lets see...Most GM and Ford Cars go about 20K miles before you see issues. Hell my Focus has tons of noises and a Broken CD Player in the first 500 miles! I have owned a Honda and currently an Eagle Talon which I consider to be an Import and the Honda took 140K miles are hard HARD driving and the Talon is at 146K with 40K high boosted miles. I am sorry buddy but the numbers and stats just do not Lie. I will support American Made cars when they build them good enough to be worth my money

Why do I drive a 2005 Focus now? Cause My Dad got me $8K off sticker. At that point it was worth the money.

 

The Focus is an import. It was brought over to the US 2 years after it was introduced in europe. The first US spec Focus was build in the Ford Saarlouis plant to make sure the tooling could be used stateside to keep production costs down.

And until this year, the ZX3s were built in Hermosillo, Mexico.

 

I am so sick of everybody thinking imports are the best! Americans can and do build excellent cars! Lets start keeping OUR money in OUR country instead of sending it to some other country that could and probably will use it against us!

That right there is a prime example of "closed minded thinking"

 

Sadly, I can't argue with results, or the repair work I've had to do with my Focus v.s. what's had to be done on my mom's Sienna minivan (none). There's a reason my sister's driving a Corolla instead of a Focus.

I bought the Focus because it rode and handled great, had plenty of room, and wasn't inefficient with fuel. I took a calculated risk that Ford would have worked out the bugs by the time I purchased mine in 2002. That turned out to not be the case, unfortunately.

Fortunately, what has gone wrong was mostly sorted out under warranty; I haven't had any serious problems since about 50,000 miles. I'm at 97,000 now.

Disappointingly, Ford was completely capable of building the Focus right from the get-go (it was among the most reliable in Europe). It took them at least 3 years to figure out how to build a reliable product in the states. The imports, you notice, get it right from the beginning.

 

*cough* unions/unaccountable business leaders *cough*

 

o jeez the nerver-ending battle of "imports vs. domestic"

honestly, the focus is the closest thing to an 'import' in the sense of design and mechnics, it's Ford's civic

...but who cares what is better, just love what u have, because in reality anything can be better than anything else aftermarket

we build our cars..manufacturers just bring us the foundation

but hey why not, let's rack of 15pages of "noooo imports are better....nooo domestics are better" i mean what better is there to do at work

-chris

 

I am so sick of everybody thinking imports are the best! Americans can and do build excellent cars! Lets start keeping OUR money in OUR country instead of sending it to some other country that could and probably will use it against us!

That right there is a prime example of "closed minded thinking"

Big time closed minded. Call me unpatriotic if you will, but I REFUSE to give up my hard earned money buying "junk". The "Big 3" automakers CAN build better vehicles than they do now, for some strange reason though, they won't!

 

that stringe reaosn is that they know they can make lower quality cars and keep their wallets lined, cuz idiots like us pay for them. hey I LOVE my focus, I wish ford europe built them, i hate ford n.a. there all lazy I think, their so used to us taking what they got. they need to realise that quality, while it costs more money to produce, provides more customers than quantitiy, or advertising.

 

I remember reading something about Ford a year or two ago saying that they were dramatically slowing down their production lines so that they can get better quality control. Must be why the '04s and '05s have been getting better reliability reports.

I will never buy an import, but its so hard to tell what IS one anymore. I drive a European designed, American owned and Mexican made car. My girlfriend drives an American owned and Japanese made car. Shoot, one of the "big 3" isn't even American anymore, its pretty much owned by a European company!

That being said, I stick to Ford pretty much. I like sticking to the ones that are owned by Americans, since that's where the profits are going.. plus I'm VERY brand loyal.

 

Sorry but this is the last Ford I'll ever own.

J.

 

Sorry but this is the last Ford I'll ever own.

J.

word x a billion, the japs are getting my money next

 

You really think you can persuade ANYONE that GM and Ford can build a better car than Honda and Toyota!!! Lets see...Most GM and Ford Cars go about 20K miles before you see issues. Hell my Focus has tons of noises and a Broken CD Player in the first 500 miles!

Focus was rated the most reliable car in Europe in 02... but those weren't the ones made in el me'hi'co.

And yes, GM and Ford can build much better cars than Honda and Toyota... and Honda and Toyota can build much better cars than GM and Ford... these are HUGE companies that have had both flops and success stories.

Making generalizations is stupid. We have an Impala SS that save for the cheap plastic window rollers, interior plastic discoloring from being parked outside in Texas for 10 years, and an AC repair (its on 99% of the time here) has been an unkillable tank in the last 140K miles as well. Thats a ... gasp... GM. And Lincoln I think was ranking highest on JD Powers reports on most of their recent lineup.

Also, the final assembly isn't what makes a car domestic or foreign. You have to follow the real money trail. Where are most of the management and engineers and R&D and percent parts content? Assembled in America doesn't mean much.

Smart bet is to judge each car individually.

 

no one cares about this crap all people want is a car that runs and will give them no hassels for the 8-10 years they will have it. or 1-3 if they lease. and they just want to look good driving it or have it be able to do what it is supposed to do.
ie:BMW's and Mercedes

 

Well lets see, i bought an SVT Focus and loved the damn thing(Basic Design by Europeans and tweaked by Americans) but then in the 34k miles i owned it it spent 120days in service in its first 13 months. So it got lemoned, so instead of wanting me to come back and buy another Ford vehicle Ford wanted to screw me on a replace so i went elsewhere. That same day i drove 2 miles to the MINI dealership and put down my deposit, i'm now on my second because i love it so much. Its not perfect, but it hasn't stranded me and any issue is truly minimal. I wish it was my second SVTF but......

My GF both a Zx3 a year before i bought my SVTF, it also was practically a lemon. Spent numerous times in service in its first 2 years, the second it was out of warranty needed a $700 repair. 2 weeks later it was Traded in for a Hyundai.

Due to my life experience i've driven hundreds of cars(not exagerating). And i've noticed that there is something that the American big 3 just can't get. They keep thinking we want something completely different than the Japanese or Europeans. But guess what they bring over their models as is and are starting to sell more of them.

The only reason the big 2 are left at the top anymore are probably because of die hard buyers in the midwest and fleet sales! That and their holding on to thier last few customers with massive rebates and employee pricing.....

The funniest part of the whole thing is that if Ford and GM were to bring over their European models they would probably start to compete again!

 

Sadly, I can't argue with results, or the repair work I've had to do with my Focus v.s. what's had to be done on my mom's Sienna minivan (none). There's a reason my sister's driving a Corolla instead of a Focus.

I bought the Focus because it rode and handled great, had plenty of room, and wasn't inefficient with fuel. I took a calculated risk that Ford would have worked out the bugs by the time I purchased mine in 2002. That turned out to not be the case, unfortunately.

Fortunately, what has gone wrong was mostly sorted out under warranty; I haven't had any serious problems since about 50,000 miles. I'm at 97,000 now.

Disappointingly, Ford was completely capable of building the Focus right from the get-go (it was among the most reliable in Europe). It took them at least 3 years to figure out how to build a reliable product in the states. The imports, you notice, get it right from the beginning.

Well worded.

 

The funniest part of the whole thing is that if Ford and GM were to bring over their European models they would probably start to compete again!

but they can't because of all the BS emission laws we have in the US. most other countries could give 2 [censored] about emissions so what difference does it make if we care? not like it will really effect our lifetime

 

You really think you can persuade ANYONE that GM and Ford can build a better car than Honda and Toyota!!! Lets see...Most GM and Ford Cars go about 20K miles before you see issues. Hell my Focus has tons of noises and a Broken CD Player in the first 500 miles!

Focus was rated the most reliable car in Europe in 02... but those weren't the ones made in el me'hi'co.

Your point?? The Focus was designed and built from the ground up by Ford of Europe with no interaction from Ford of a America..... When Ford of America didn't know what to do about an Escort replacement they said "hey look, FOE made a nice little compact lets just bring it over". And guess what it was the hottest selling compact in 2000-01' here in the states. But guess what FOA messed with FOE's design too much and made a mess of it. Resulting in 10+ recalls and many more quality issue's which ended up ruining the Focus brand in the US and now people think its another ESCORT!

So what was your point again Duc?

 

The funniest part of the whole thing is that if Ford and GM were to bring over their European models they would probably start to compete again!

but they can't because of all the BS emission laws we have in the US. most other countries could give 2 [censored] about emissions so what difference does it make if we care? not like it will really effect our lifetime

Its not emissions, its crash ratings and regulations. Mainly freakin Canada and that stupid 5mph bumper law which makes it cost too much to redesign tons of small bits of the car. But yes California causes some issue's with their crazy emissions law too.

 

no one cares about this crap all people want is a car that runs and will give them no hassels for the 8-10 years they will have it. or 1-3 if they lease. and they just want to look good driving it or have it be able to do what it is supposed to do.
ie:BMW's and Mercedes

Like the problem free X5s... Can't tell you how much my buddy as spent on repairs for his M3... or imagine if my dad bought an 850Csi instead of that GM... talk about high cost of ownership. I'm tellin ya, make generalizations and you just get yourself in trouble.

So what was your point again Duc?

I thought it was obvious.

What brand made what is considered the most reliable car in Europe? Ford. What model was it? The Focus. So therefore if you hear either Ford or Focus it means its the most reliable vehicle ever... or visa versa regarding recalls in the US for European customers. The point is that making generalizations about such large corporations is dumb. Just because one model put together in Mexico had a ton of recalls doesn't mean that your 2006 Mustang or Freelander will have a ton of problems. And the Scions are technically Toyotas... but if you read about the tiny plant that the xBs and such are made in then you understand why the fit and finish and overall quality is so much lower than a Camry. Thats all I'm saying is just don't buy a car the first year to avoid surprises REGARDLESS OF BRAND, and don't just generalize based merely on manufacturer.

 

Sorry but this is the last Ford I'll ever own.

J.

word x a billion, the japs are getting my money next

yes my first and last ford unless they can make something like the focus but more solid. I almost returned my focus a day after I got it cause of that MTX-75 gear roll over noise I mean what kind of company will produce a car that makes such a noise and not fix it! and just tell the customers that spend money on their product that it is " normal " the mechaninc thought the tranny was shot when he heard it hehe anyways it seems that the big 3 tend to sway to the " lets build 10,000 cars fast and hopefully 80% will be reliable and we'll not worry about the other 20 cause we can make money off the parts and labour ( well the dealership makes money from labour ).... anyways my 3 cents worth

 

Also Hyundai Just built another Plant in Alabamma. Is that still considered Import? I Owned 3 Fords the last being my SVT Focus That was build In Mexico till I bought my Mitsubishi.

 

I am so sick of everybody thinking imports are the best! Americans can and do build excellent cars! Lets start keeping OUR money in OUR country instead of sending it to some other country that could and probably will use it against us!

Screw the big three. Next car will be from a foreign manufacturer (well, at this rate, foreign owned, made in america).