Does the new Focus look like a Kia?

[andrew e]

There was a Kia closed auction a couple of weeks back, I had my man bidding on a demo Magentis auto - it went way over book as did everything else Kia there. So I turned to Motability and even then it was above book. For a bloody Vauxhall! Back to the Focus, you know the new one has lost its key operated bonnet? Anyway, I think these two are close cousins, another forum I frequent had this line of what if a few weeks back.

 

HYUNDAI I30 WAGON:

 

 

FORD FOCUS BREAK:

[retrogeezer]

Best handling standard car I have driven was my Citroen ZX Volcane with the rear wheels that steer as well. 306 floorpan on them too I believe, it was great.

[MK5 Escort]

I’ve been very impressed with most of Kia’s offerings to be honest. The brand has certainly moved up in the world and other manufacturer's need to take note of that seven year warranty they offer. One problem though - Kia's are supposed to be cheap and I’ve noticed the prices are creeping up... It's the same story with Hyundai.

 

The Ford Focus - the car that is somehow almost universally praised seemingly by default. I was surprised by it’s high praise in 1998 and to be honest, I’m still surprised now. It's always been one of those cars that most people seem to rave about but has always left me feeling completely cold. I actually passed my test in a Pepper Red Focus, so I should be a little sentimental towards them, but I'm not.

 

Yes, they have decent handling (although you don't spend your entire driving life on a racetrack, do you?) and decent gearboxes but that’s about the only saving grace of near enough any Focus I've ever driven. I wasn't impressed with the quality of the first model and indeed, the visibility of both the original generation and particularly the second one left a lot to be desired. I didn’t think they were particularly spacious either and the second generation always gave me lower backache for some reason. The styling of the first one has softened with age and isn't so 'wedge-like' now as it first appeared to me. The saloon still looks bloody awful though - much like a motorised door wedge. The second? Meh. From one extreme to the other. A very forgettable car which only started to look reasonable(ish) towards the end of it's run.

 

I have yet to drive the current model, whatever mark it is (after all there is yet another a 'new face' for Ford near enough every week in most motoring magazines), so it would be unfair for me to comment on that front. On the positive side, at least they've moved the rear lights from the roof down to a reasonable level. I have no idea what that front bumper is all about and the rest of the styling just looks too clumsy for me...

 

Mind you, I'm the first to admit that I do have quite an irrational hatred towards modern Fords - near enough anything post 1998. The company I used to work for until last year bought nothing but them in the nine years I was there. I was one of the people who looked after the fleet. Various ongoing faults with the company Focus'es/Mondeo's/Transits become tiresome. Predictable in some cases (TDCi fuel injectors, for example), and the company did successfully take two North West dealers to the trading standards because of shoddy (to be very polite) workmanship. Personally, these experiences alone is enough for me not to want to go near a 21st century Ford. Sad really, considering I grew up with the brand. Not all bad news though. On the positive side, the end of the line Escort van's, Connect vans and the Fiesta’s we had did seem pretty decent and robust. Same dealers though...

 

  Pete-M said:

Ford look like they're repeating the Escort again. Start off with a blindingly good car then progressively make it worse and worse until only idiots buy them.

 

That'll be me then . Oh well...

[gricer]

  Quote

I was at the Motability sale at the local auction last week, halls full of 3 year olds, and was amazed by how Kia's were making more than the Focuses, like for like

 

 

That's because the Kias have four years' warranty left, while the Ford warranties have just run out.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

  Pete-M said:

  The Reverend Bluejeans said:

So....Focus = why??

 

Because even though it's not as much fun as the Focus Mk1, it probably still drives better than 95% of the alternatives.

 

 

I don't think that matters anymore. Cars have now reached a level of competence that the Golf, Astra and probably the Focus all drive much the same - because really, they are the same car. It's all down to the styling, the extras, the dealers - and the price. To charge extra over a perfectly good Korean, VW, Vauxhall and Ford have to offer something really good.

The Golf has it's own character. It's evolved from a line of Golfs which, apart from the Mark 3, have all been pretty good. You'll always recognise it, it does the job well. The Astra looks great - I think it's pretty much as good as a Golf apart from vision and some interior plastics.

 

The Focus has gone sideways. It's lost it's identity - it's a nothing car now. And it's right in the crosshairs of Kia/Hyundai's gun sights.

[andrew e]

A point to note, you get a Hondaesq service too with Kia - because of that 7 year warranty, at the 6k service our Rio came back with all its wheels swapped end to end, and the front calipers having evidence of the pads being disturbed! I.E. it was actually serviced! So as long as the minge bag owners stick to the schedule, you know these things will have been looked after properly when you pick one up in 7 years. Even out in Romania, Kia was offering the 7 year warranty - thats faith.

[carlo]

  barrett said:

All these things are absolutely GOPPING. That Kia K9 thing is the best thing in this thread but even that looks quite wank. Sorry, I can't think of a single car in production that doesn't look utterly hideous.

 

Normally I'd agree with this but yesterday I caught sight of one of these which made me think a bit..

 

[carlo]

  andrew e said:

A point to note, you get a Hondaesq service too with Kia - because of that 7 year warranty, at the 6k service our Rio came back with all its wheels swapped end to end, and the front calipers having evidence of the pads being disturbed! I.E. it was actually serviced! So as long as the minge bag owners stick to the schedule, you know these things will have been looked after properly when you pick one up in 7 years. Even out in Romania, Kia was offering the 7 year warranty - thats faith.

 

More to the point isn't it also a pretty clever ploy to keep all servicing in-house for seven years?

[Pete-M]

  Len H said:

I've driven a couple of mk1 Focusesii, I think their handling is massively over rated, slightly better than the HH-R Rover 400s I was tooling about in a several years ago but they don't hold a candle to torsion bar Peugeots.

You have to put up with their daft toytown dashboards and typical Ford cost cut trim and rust proofing too.

 

I often drove new Mk1 Focii back to back with new Peugeot 306s - often for 50-60 miles in each car on roads I know well. The Ford is the better handling car. The Peugeot runs it closer than most, but in my experience the Focus wins it - and not just by a little bit. I've done this back to back test using new cars about 20 times. The 306 was good, but it felt ancient in comparison even in '98.

 

Unless you're comparing diesel powered ones. A diesel 306 handles better than a Focus TD. The diesel Focus felt a lot nose-heavier than the petrol ones, bobbed its nose and was more reluctant to turn in to a corner. Slower than a D-Turbo 306 as well. The diesel engine ruined the handling of the Focus hatches and saloons, but didn't seem quite as bad in the estate.

 

First time I drove a Focus was an S plate 1.8 LX 5dr in silver. I thought it would be crap. Borrowed it from work for a weekend to see what all the fuss was about, drove it the 15 miles home and couldn't believe that it was as good as it seemed. Did close to 600 miles in it over the weekend and was sad to give it back. I genuinely think it improved family hatchbacks more than any other car.

 

I've not driven a Mk1 Focus for a couple of years now, so no doubt all but the best examples will feel baggy and shit. People will have replaced the ball joints, shocks and track rod ends with non-OE bits and taken away the feel that the new ones had (Teflon coated ball joints from the factory) but that's always the way with cars. New they're brilliant, 10 years on and they can feel totally different.

 

Oh, and Mr D. Wobbler. I didn't say they're sports cars, they're just brilliant handling family cars.

[504GL]

  carlo said:

  barrett said:

All these things are absolutely GOPPING. That Kia K9 thing is the best thing in this thread but even that looks quite wank. Sorry, I can't think of a single car in production that doesn't look utterly hideous.

 

Normally I'd agree with this but yesterday I caught sight of one of these which made me think a bit..

 

No longer in production though.

[Timewaster]

These still are though

[AnthonyG]

  dollywobbler said:

They choose it because Ford offers sensible motoring which is why when Ford do anything even slightly outrageous - like the Focus Mk1 initially and the original Ka - people run for the hills.

 

I don't think there was much resistance to either - the Sierra was the one that put people off due to weird looks.

 

A lot of middle to upper management didn't like the fact you couldn't get a Granada Mk3 saloon or estate from the start either - they basically handed those buyers straight over to Volvo. Ford belatedly launched ones when the car was well past its best - about 1991 I think.

[Negative Creep]

  AnthonyG said:

  dollywobbler said:

They choose it because Ford offers sensible motoring which is why when Ford do anything even slightly outrageous - like the Focus Mk1 initially and the original Ka - people run for the hills.

 

I don't think there was much resistance to either - the Sierra was the one that put people off due to weird looks.

 

A lot of middle to upper management didn't like the fact you couldn't get a Granada Mk3 saloon or estate from the start either - they basically handed those buyers straight over to Volvo. Ford belatedly launched ones when the car was well past its best - about 1991 I think.

 

 

You can't look out the window without seeing a mk.1 Focus or Ka; both have sold in vast numbers so resistance didn't last very long. Sierra was a strong seller in the end and looking back it seems bizarre people hated the looks. Only thing that seems to have been a failure due to the looks was the Scorpio

[Pete-M]

  MK5 Escort said:

  Pete-M said:

Ford look like they're repeating the Escort again. Start off with a blindingly good car then progressively make it worse and worse until only idiots buy them.

 

That'll be me then . Oh well...

 

Ford blew the Escort completely in 1980 in my eyes. The Mk5 RS2000 wasn't a bad bit of kit - I bought a J plate one in '96 and did 30,000 miles in six months in it, but the rest of them were pretty bloody lame. They improved things a bit with the Mk7? (the one with the oval clock) but in comparison to pretty much everything else out there they were well below standard, especially in '98. The company I was working for at the time had about 50 S reg Escort Flight and Finesse jobs they'd not long bought when the Focus appeared. Once those who hired cars from us had tried the Focus we'd get "NOT ESCORT" on pretty much every hire request from them after that. Wasn't just one company either, pretty much every one of the large volume customers we had refused Escorts after the Focus was released. The only other car to get similar levels of hostility was the Daewoo Nexia.

 

In '98 the Escort was a rough old dog of a thing, not as rough as in '94 or '91, but outclassed by virtually everything else available at the time.

 

You like yours, happy days.. It's an old motor and you like it, that's what this place is about. I'm not about to knock anyone for liking crap old cars, that's what this place is for. I'm as guilty as the next bloke for irrationally liking old chod, but there's no way I'd say "My 604 is better than a Bentley" because it quite simply isn't. Same for my old Escort, at the end of the day for me to enjoy that it'll need at least a 2.0 Pinto and sorted suspension, but I still like the old thing.

[Albert Ross]

I like my Mk2 Focus. Yes, it's bland and grey on the inside, but It was specced well when new. Heated electric seats, parking sensors, cruise control, small petrol engine. Yup. It's a Ghia, in that ubiquitous Tango Red, and a 5 door hatch. The only foot it ever put wrong was a cracked spark plug shroud. I broke the remains off the plug, and it drove fine until I replaced the plugs a few days later. I've had it 3.5 years. I bought it at just under 2 years old, someone traded it in for a petrol Freeander. I want to keep it once I've paid the credit off in 18 months. I like it that much. As for the pic of the current Focus Estate in the plum colour, Yes please. I preferred my Mk1 Estate for handling and ride, but the one I have right now is more comfortable on a long drive. It returns good economy and is reasonably cheap for tyres (205/55/16... possibly the most common tyre fitted to new cars 5 years ago)

[retrogeezer]

  Quote

Ford blew the Escort completely in 1990 in my eyes.

 

Edited for accuracy...

 

[Cavcraft]

You all know what I think of the Focus so no further comments required.

 

Just like to add though that if they've done away with wank 'key-to-open-bonnet' system, it can't all be bad.

[ProgRocker]

  Negative Creep said:

Ok so it's not the final version and it has a stupid name, but check out the rear wheel drive Kia K9

 

 

Now that is lovely

 

 

I can also see the mk.1 Focus attracting a fair bit of scene tax in 25-30 years time

 

Agreed - I even have that one as my current desktop background. Isn't it now called the Optima?

 

 

As for the new Ford Focus, I keep mistaking it for a Subaru Impreza hatchback at a distance

 

 

All new cars are mutating into homogenous blobs now. Thank you NCAP.

[Pete-M]

  retrogeezer said:

  Quote

Ford blew the Escort completely in 1990 in my eyes.

 

Edited for accuracy...

 

 

Heh, that doesn't explain the Mk3 or 4, both of which were bloody awful things.

[504GL]

  Albert Ross said:

I like my Mk2 Focus. Yes, it's bland and grey on the inside, but It was specced well when new. Heated electric seats, parking sensors, cruise control, small petrol engine. Yup. It's a Ghia, in that ubiquitous Tango Red, and a 5 door hatch. The only foot it ever put wrong was a cracked spark plug shroud. I broke the remains off the plug, and it drove fine until I replaced the plugs a few days later. I've had it 3.5 years. I bought it at just under 2 years old, someone traded it in for a petrol Freeander. I want to keep it once I've paid the credit off in 18 months. I like it that much. As for the pic of the current Focus Estate in the plum colour, Yes please. I preferred my Mk1 Estate for handling and ride, but the one I have right now is more comfortable on a long drive. It returns good economy and is reasonably cheap for tyres (205/55/16... possibly the most common tyre fitted to new cars 5 years ago)

 

I don't think people are necessarily saying that there is anything wrong with Focii, just that there are also a lot of other good cars out there at the moment.

 

If I were in the market for a Focus sized car I'd get a Fiat Bravo. Very cheap, some models are well equipped and Fiat's these days are generally well built.

[504GL]

  ProgRocker said:

As for the new Ford Focus, I keep mistaking it for a Subaru Impreza hatchback at a distance

 

 

All new cars are mutating into homogenous blobs now. Thank you NCAP.

 

You have to say that Subaru weren't exactly designing classics before NCAP rules came in! This is ours. I like it, but it's no looker.

[Albert Ross]

I wasn't actually looking to replace my old Mk1 when I saw this one I have now. It was at work, all valeted up, awaiting delivery to another dealer in our Group. I was smitten with the colour, the condition, the mileage, the spec, mostly the black leather. Then, as now unmarked. I plan to keep this car, and hopefully in 20 odd years, at a show, it will be a head turner. Sure, there were better cars out there, but like I say, I wasn't in the market to change. I just borrowed a pair of trade plates, took it to show the Wife, she loved it as much as I do, and I signed on the line. Our other dealer was a little pissed off, they had 2 customers waiting to see it, and had underwritten the original trade in deal..... I have never seen another hatch with the leather, just a saloon, the same colour, but with cream leather instead of the black. I wanted that too, but the Wife said NO! (2 litre diesel!!) I like Fords, and work for a Vauxhall dealer.

[504GL]

  Albert Ross said:

I wasn't actually looking to replace my old Mk1 when I saw this one I have now. It was at work, all valeted up, awaiting delivery to another dealer in our Group. I was smitten with the colour, the condition, the mileage, the spec, mostly the black leather. Then, as now unmarked. I plan to keep this car, and hopefully in 20 odd years, at a show, it will be a head turner. Sure, there were better cars out there, but like I say, I wasn't in the market to change. I just borrowed a pair of trade plates, took it to show the Wife, she loved it as much as I do, and I signed on the line. Our other dealer was a little pissed off, they had 2 customers waiting to see it, and had underwritten the original trade in deal..... I have never seen another hatch with the leather, just a saloon, the same colour, but with cream leather instead of the black. I wanted that too, but the Wife said NO! (2 litre diesel!!) I like Fords, and work for a Vauxhall dealer.

 

Leather is great We specced leather on our 500 and I don't regret it for a moment. Cloth seats are nicer in warm weather and not as bad for that first 5 seconds on a winter morning, but leather seats just look and feel fantastic. It's a pity that people don't spec leathter and other nice options more often because I think people would hold onto cars more often if the option sheet wasn't filled with ticks in silly boxes like automatic lights, automatic wipers and so on.

[retrogeezer]

  Pete-M said:

  retrogeezer said:

  Quote

Ford blew the Escort completely in 1990 in my eyes.

 

Edited for accuracy...

 

 

Heh, that doesn't explain the Mk3 or 4, both of which were bloody awful things.

 

I don't like you any more Pete!

[R9UKE]

One of these came towards me the other day and I was well impressed:

 

 

A gorgeously smart looking car among the mong that is the UK car market today.

[Negative Creep]

  R9UKE said:

One of these came towards me the other day and I was well impressed:

 

 

A gorgeously smart looking car among the mong that is the UK car market today.

 

 

Blimey, he's a happy looking fellow isn't he?

[Tayne]

Looks like a Ford Focus crossed with a startled Volvo.

Its also got too much flat metal above the rear wheel arch, something too many cars suffer from these days.

[andrew e]

Albert my mate on the line in Dagenham has a Focus for you - Panther black Titanium diesel with cream leather - was a right bugger to get ordered! Its a 2007, but it has outstayed his usuall 3 year swap because he can't get cream leather again! A few swaps back he replaced a 1.7 Puma with a 2.0 Ghia in that nice deep green, and he still swears it was the faster, better drivers car than the Puma.

[R9UKE]

I love odd options on "normal" cars. Nice way to brighten up an 07 Focus.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Deep green, cream leather. The Focus Roland Garros.