Bye, bye Focus.

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Zweef? - 23 Oct 2004 13:05 GMT

Yesterday, after 122.278 kilometres and nearly four years i said farewell
to my Silver 1.8 Tddi Focus Wagon, it's going back to the lease company
and will find a new owner. It served me well for all this time, never
left me standing. The only problem occured last spring, but that was an
aftermarket cruise control that went to the eternal hunting fields.

The Focus is a fine automobile, period! Looking back at the cars Ford
made in its earlier days, this definately was the start of Ford's major
step forward in design, roadhandling and overall build quality. I have
never been much of a Ford fan, but this little car deserves my respect,
and so does the company as a whole.

Not only the Focus, but with the whole (european) range of the Ka,
Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo they do pretty well IMHO. But not only Ford
itself, the premium brands of Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin
are flourishing, and (opposed to, for example GM) Ford seems to be doing
a pretty good job with all these great marques as well!

You wonder what my next car is?

Well, i have this five-door, black metallic 2.0 Tdci Mondeo parked in
front of my house, and it is great! The engine has 130 Bhp, loads of
torque, and its road handling is even better than the Focus. It is quiet,
has great seats and a decent stereo/CD player to enjoy my favorite Jazz
and classical CD's. I love the design and quality feel of the interior, i
think i'll enjoy this car as well.

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Bezit en wijsheid zijn illusies/
possession and wisdom are illusions

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Paul Giverin - 23 Oct 2004 19:58 GMT

>The Focus is a fine automobile, period! Looking back at the cars Ford
>made in its earlier days, this definately was the start of Ford's major
>step forward in design, roadhandling and overall build quality.

I would have to say that this honour belongs to the Mondeo. That's not
to say that Ford didn't make further leaps forward with the Focus but
the Mondeo was the start of it all..... the first quality car they had
built in a long while.

>I have
>never been much of a Ford fan, but this little car deserves my respect,
>and so does the company as a whole.

Well the car has my respect. Mine has been an excellent car. I wouldn't
extend my respect to the entire company though. There are a lot of bad
Ford dealers out there and Ford customer service has a long way to go.

>Not only the Focus, but with the whole (european) range of the Ka,
>Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo they do pretty well IMHO.

I wouldn't include the Ka and the Fiesta (both sharing a similar
platform). We've just got rid of a Ka. It started rusting on the sills
after three years and lower suspension arm bushes were starting to split
after 8,000 miles. Definitely not in the same league as the Focus and
Mondeo.

>Well, i have this five-door, black metallic 2.0 Tdci Mondeo parked in
>front of my house, and it is great! The engine has 130 Bhp, loads of
>torque, and its road handling is even better than the Focus. It is quiet,
>has great seats and a decent stereo/CD player to enjoy my favorite Jazz
>and classical CD's. I love the design and quality feel of the interior, i
>think i'll enjoy this car as well.

Oddly enough I've just given the Focus to my wife (as a replacement for
the Ka) and I've bought a Mk2 Mondeo Ghia X 2.0 litre. Its got leather
seats and all the toys. Its far more comfortable than the Focus but
admittedly the Focus does drive better.

Hope you stick around. I don't think there's a Mondeo newsgroup but you
could have a look at the forums here:- http://www.fordmondeo.org/

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Paul Giverin

British Jet Engine Website http://www.britjet.co.uk

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Zweef? - 23 Oct 2004 20:48 GMT

> >The Focus is a fine automobile, period! Looking back at the cars Ford
> >made in its earlier days, this definately was the start of Ford's major
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> the Mondeo was the start of it all..... the first quality car they had
> built in a long while.

That may very well be, i'll take your word for it.

But the design of the older Mondeo's was....well......to put it mildly:
nothing to get excited about. The garage borrowed me one a couple of
years ago for the weekend when the Focus was serviced and got is CC. I
wasn't too impressed by the handling i can remember.

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Bezit en wijsheid zijn illusies/
possession and wisdom are illusions

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Zweef? - 23 Oct 2004 20:51 GMT

> >I have
> >never been much of a Ford fan, but this little car deserves my respect,
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> extend my respect to the entire company though. There are a lot of bad
> Ford dealers out there and Ford customer service has a long way to go.

My dealer is very good, maybe because it's not one of those shiny sales
castles, but an oldfashioned garage with nice people workig there. The
showroom is a joke by the way.

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Bezit en wijsheid zijn illusies/
possession and wisdom are illusions

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Zweef? - 23 Oct 2004 20:55 GMT

> >Well, i have this five-door, black metallic 2.0 Tdci Mondeo parked in
> >front of my house, and it is great! The engine has 130 Bhp, loads of
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> the Ka) and I've bought a Mk2 Mondeo Ghia X 2.0 litre. Its got leather
> seats and all the toys.

That's a nice carriage!

> Its far more comfortable than the Focus but
> admittedly the Focus does drive better.

I think the Focus is the more nimble ride (if that's the right
expression), but i love the Mondeo, especially since i spend most of my
time on motorways.

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Bezit en wijsheid zijn illusies/
possession and wisdom are illusions

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Axxi - 23 Oct 2004 23:34 GMT

> Yesterday, after 122.278 kilometres and nearly four years i said farewell
> to my Silver 1.8 Tddi Focus Wagon, it's going back to the lease company
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> and classical CD's. I love the design and quality feel of the interior, i
> think i'll enjoy this car as well.

Patser...

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Zweef? - 24 Oct 2004 09:12 GMT

> Patser...

Dank! ;-)

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Bezit en wijsheid zijn illusies/
possession and wisdom are illusions

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Tiscali Nieuws - 24 Oct 2004 19:34 GMT

For me it was the other way around.
Six years ago I fell in love with the -old- Mondeo, specially the interior
design where the consoles were surrounding the driver.
I would have bought the 2.0 ltr Ghia gas-version if I would not have made a
testride in the VW Passat.
Both the VW 1.8 and the 2.3 ltr were superior to the Mondeo, where I had
tasted the automated gear, which drove like sh.t.
For 3 years I was happy with the 2.3 ltr Passat and I strongly advice you to
make a testride in a VW once. Yes I was not impressed by the way it looked
but like said before it drives superb.
After the 2.3 Passat I bought a 1.8 turbo and it gave me the same good
feeling as the 2.3.
Now it was time to buy a SUV-type car and I made several test-drives in
different brand cars.
I was charmed by the Focus Cmax where the 2.0 ltr gasversion just appeared
on the market.
It is very spacious from the inside, has attractive features switching
between 4 and 5 seats etc.
And most important, it drives fantastic. The outside look probably is less
attractive than the Mondeo but I can advice all of you to try this car.
Regards,
Andre

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Johnny BlazE - 25 Oct 2004 00:17 GMT

The latest mondeos I haven't been in but my uncle has a W reg and it is
a scarier drive on the motorway than the Focus... although it's
smoother, its quirky in its responses.

My dad has a 1.6 ghia focus and it's lovely on the motorways except for
the fact that it's almost TOO exciting a car.

It's so nimble and spirited, you feel like zooming along and it keeps
you awake.

For motorways the mondeo is more civilised and smoother... I really
would love the new ST TDCi or an ST220...

I'm REALLY looking forward to the 2005 Focus, bar it's looks. I'm sure
that it's going to be one hell of a hatchback :)

-JB

> For me it was the other way around.
> Six years ago I fell in love with the -old- Mondeo, specially the interior
[quoted text clipped - 45 lines]
>>and classical CD's. I love the design and quality feel of the interior, i
>>think i'll enjoy this car as well.

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adcb - 26 Oct 2004 09:12 GMT

On Sat, 23 Oct 2004 14:05:23 +0200, Zweef® <nospam@mymailbox.plz>
wrote:

>Yesterday, after 122.278 kilometres and nearly four years i said farewell
>to my Silver 1.8 Tddi Focus Wagon, it's going back to the lease company
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>and classical CD's. I love the design and quality feel of the interior, i
>think i'll enjoy this car as well.

Couldnt agree more, my focus tddi is the best car i think i have ever
owned, (mind i have owned a load of junkheaps)
On the mondeo side i am currently driving the new 2.0 tdci model and
it is awesome. Plenty of grunt in the engine, very quiet inside the
cabin, very comfy and i love the bit of thinking by ford that puts an
audio auxilary line in to the glove box so i can easily listen to my
mp3's withouth messing around removing the ford stereo.
In addition to this i have found that for a big car the handling is
exceedingly good, alright it is not going to beat an impreza round a
bend but it will have a go.

However, try fitting a phone kit to the bugger, oooh man that has been
fun (right up to the point where i discovered autoleads do an adaptor)

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