Hi all. I am already the owner of a 2011 Toyota Tacoma and last weekend I traded my new 2012 Ford Focus for a new 2011 Corolla because frankly the new Focus is a garbage car. Not long after I bought it the dual clutch transmission started acting spastic and it just got more and more annoying the longer I owned it, which was all of six months. It would shudder regularly and the clutches rattled when it changed gears. Basically it made for a miserable driving experience and I just couldn't put up with it any longer. I had taken it to Ford 3 times about the sub-standard performance of the transmission, had a software update applied to it and even had the Ford Regional Engineer come to the dealership and evaluate it. Ford informed me each time that it was all normal and there was nothing wrong with it and there was nothing they could do about it. So apparently over at Ford they purposely engineer cars to deliver a miserable and sub-standard driving experience. Good idea.
So I traded for a new 2011 black Corolla LE and I couldn't be happier about it. The Corolla has a nice smooth running powertrain and even though it doesn't have the fancy new six speed dual clutch like the Focus I am getting 3 mpg better on my normal driving route. I am averaging 30 mpg with a mix of mostly city and some highway. In the Focus I averaged 27 mpg over the same route. I think the Corolla has a nice ride and the handling is easily comparable to the Focus even though the fanboys over on the Ford forum insist that there is no way a Corolla can ride as well as their precious Focus. If they don't want to know forgettem. The ride is excellent in the Corolla and I can say that with absolutely no bias about the matter between the two. The Focus had more bells and whistles to be sure but what it didn't have was quality in the powertrain and for me that is far more important. I was actually to the point that I wouldn't let friends or dates ride in the Focus because of how badly it would shudder and rattle. It was like riding around in a cheap little crap car. I would just use the truck instead. The Toyota truck.
Fortunately the Toyota dealer here really helped me out because I was a repeat customer and we are good friends with the owner. The trade in value on the new Focus is already in the tank to the tune of losing over 40% of its new price value in just six months and that was the offer from the same Ford dealer where I bought it. My 22K Focus was suddenly only worth 13K to them but they are going to try and tell me that there's not a problem with the car. Yeah right. By comparison the Corolla that I just purchased which only had a 17K price tag still has a higher trade in value than the Focus did. Unbelievable. At any rate, even though I put no money down my payment only went up $10 and I get two years of free maintenance so I figure I came out ahead in the end. It's worth $10 a month to not have to drive the car with the spasmatic transmission.
The only thing I plan to do to the Corolla is put a set of nice wheels on it as the factory wheels are steel wheels with hubcaps. They deliever a nice ride though. Other than that the car has pretty much standard features like power windows and power locks, cruise control, CD player, heated side mirrors etc etc. Nothing fancy like bluetooth or nav but that's alright by me. What it lacks in features it more than makes up for in the smooth ride, quiet cabin and the certain knowledge that I will get years of dependable service out of it.
So for those of you that might be considering trading your Corolla for a Focus I suggest some serious thought on the matter first. If you browse the Focus dedicated forums you are going to find a lot of threads with owners of the new car that are not at all happy because the car is having issues and Ford is doing almost nothing about it. It's starting to reflect in the sales numbers as well. Where the car was selling 19 to 20 thousand units a month back in May and June it was down to 11 thousand in November. Of course the Ford fanboys are making all kinds of excuses about why like the price is too high or it's because the cost of gas dropped a little and people aren't buying compact cars. Anything but acknowledging the truth which is that the word is out on that car and people aren't buying it. Ford blew it again. I'll never buy another Ford myself after that experience.
Congrats on your new corolla, I bought mine about two months ago and Im in love with my corolla s. I want to fix it up a bit now... You will have lots of fun with the corolla.
Congrats on the Corolla purchase. Nice dependable car... if a little bland.
I've driven several new Ford Focus models with the trans you mention. It's a bit different due to the fact that it's not like an old standard trans, but I found it to be quite nice and a lot of fun to drive. If you were so hell bent on Ford sucking, why did you buy one to begin with?
Congrats on the Corolla purchase. Nice dependable car... if a little bland.
I've driven several new Ford Focus models with the trans you mention. It's a bit different due to the fact that it's not like an old standard trans, but I found it to be quite nice and a lot of fun to drive. If you were so hell bent on Ford sucking, why did you buy one to begin with?
The transmission is fine when you first buy the car. Its after a thousand miles or so that it really started acting up. If it was doing that when I first drove the car I would never have bought it. When I took it to the dealership the first time the shop foreman rode in the car with me and it was shuddering and rattling and he's telling me its all normal. So a few days later I went by another Ford dealer and drove a new Focus and it didn't exhibit any of the things that mine was doing. I then went back to my original dealership and drove a second Focus and again it was fine. So I went back into the service area and found the foreman and said "I just drove two brand new cars and just like when mine was new they run fine and they aren't shuddering and the clutches don't rattle so obviously this is something that develops as the car breaks in." He insisted there was no problem and basically suggested I was full of ####. But I've been driving cars for 25 years and I knew what was going on with my car. It may very well be that the Focus can run just fine for a couple hundred thousand miles even with the shuddering and the rattles but it doesn't change the fact that it made for a miserable drive and made the car seem like a cheap POS.
Ford never gets anything right the first time(first focus) but eventually they make a good product. Give it a few years and i bet the focus will be competitive and reliable.
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08 tC mt
Smooth driving is comfortable and easy. It is also FAST(though not comfortable at speed). I don't care if you apex corners(everyone does) on a public road unless you suck at it(everyone). Hold a proper line or get out of my way.
Ford never gets anything right the first time(first focus) but eventually they make a good product. Give it a few years and i bet the focus will be competitive and reliable.
Ordinarilly I would agree but when they came out with the Fusion they took the time to make sure that it was right before releasing it. As a result the Fusion has been a reliable and good car from the first year model. I was foolishly optimistic that the new Focus was handled in the same manner but I was wrong. If you pay a visit to some of the Focus forums you'll find all manner of complaints about the car. There is even a youtube video in which one owner is showing a problem with the fit and finish on his steering wheel. He can actually push on the wheel spoke nowhere near the horn button and the horn will go off. WTF? There are even a few complaints about the car burning oil.
At any rate, I'm completely happy with the Corolla and I actually look forward to driving it when I have to go somewhere. It may not be the most cutting edge styling or have a plethora of bells and whistles but the driving experience is first rate none the less. The seats are comfortable, the cabin is nice and quiet even at highway speed and the handling is good. I have no complaints. Frankly I don't care if Ford turns the Focus into the goose that lays the golden egg, I'll never buy a Ford again.
Congrats on your Corolla purchase. I love my 09 S & it's very easy to add a nice Nav HU with BT for around $300 & up. Most people think the Corolla is bland but when you talk to many of the Corolla owners we love our Corollas. It looks good, runs great & it's very easy to add the few things that you may want for very little money. Here is a pic of my Rosen HU so you can see what it can look like. Enjoy your new Corolla.
An interesting after thought about your resale on the Ford. I just sold my 07 Matrix for $14k after buying it almost 5 years ago for $18300 & it had 55k miles on it!
__________________ 89 Supercharged White MR2 5-speed / 09 Corolla S CSM 5-speed
07 Matrix XR Gray Pearl 5-speed (sold 11/23/11)/ 94 Corolla DX Red 5-speed / 95 Previa S/C White Auto/
07 Corolla CE CSM 5-speed/ 10 Prius III Blizzard Pearl
Congrats on your Corolla purchase. I love my 09 S & it's very easy to add a nice Nav HU with BT for around $300 & up. Most people think the Corolla is bland but when you talk to many of the Corolla owners we love our Corollas. It looks good, runs great & it's very easy to add the few things that you may want for very little money. Here is a pic of my Rosen HU so you can see what it can look like. Enjoy your new Corolla.
An interesting after thought about your resale on the Ford. I just sold my 07 Matrix for $14k after buying it almost 5 years ago for $18300 & it had 55k miles on it!
That looks great supercharged. Where did you get it and how hard was it to install?
That looks great supercharged. Where did you get it and how hard was it to install?
Very easy to install. The Rosen will cost you more but also is better built than the Chinese copies, although several guys have had good results with them. I had no choice but to get the Rosen since it was the only one that would work with the premium JBL stereo that I have in my Corolla. I bought it from Car Toys in Portland. Several guys have bought refurbished units from them on eBay with good results too. SInce you don't have the JBL unit in a 2011 Corolla You can get anything but the refurbished Rosen can be had for around $300.
__________________ 89 Supercharged White MR2 5-speed / 09 Corolla S CSM 5-speed
07 Matrix XR Gray Pearl 5-speed (sold 11/23/11)/ 94 Corolla DX Red 5-speed / 95 Previa S/C White Auto/
07 Corolla CE CSM 5-speed/ 10 Prius III Blizzard Pearl
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Here is a pic of my Rosen HU so you can see what it can look like. 
Enjoy your new Corolla. 
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