Ford Focus or Honda Civic?

Focus. I'm a Chevrolet guy, BUT....my dad had a Ford Focus, 5 speed. He couldn't drive stick anymore cause of his arm and shoulder. (He's actually an amputee so it was impressive he drove sticks period) Anyway, I bought the car from him cause it was cheap. It had 58K when I got it. Fast forward 5 years and it has 326K miles on her now and run greats. I've put 3 timing belts, an alternator & just regular maintenance and nothing else. Still has the original clutch. The newer ones have gotten a lot better too.
 
It's kind of a tough call. I like both of them. Ford has made some huge strides, but the Honda is probably still going to cost you a little less in repairs if you plan on having the car for a long time.
 
mike honcho said:
I like Hondas over most everything.
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+1

Can't beat a Honda. I have 3 of them in different configurations. Never had a problem with any of them.

Ford quality has improved dramatically but it depends on the year of the Focus. Most Civics are OK no matter what year they are.
 
Focus. I bought mine new in 2008. Zero problems. Average 35 mpg's between city and highway. Get one with the Sync system, pairs with your phone when you start the car, incoming calls are displayed on the screen, plays blutooth audio wireless from your iPhone, USB port in the dash for flash drive (I have 8GB flash drive in mine) total handsfree operation. Plays music, makes phone calls by voice command.
 
BobbyFord said:
Focus. I bought mine new in 2008. Zero problems. Average 35 mpg's between city and highway. Get one with the Sync system, pairs with your phone when you start the car, incoming calls are displayed on the screen, plays blutooth audio wireless from your iPhone, USB port in the dash for flash drive (I have 8GB flash drive in mine) total handsfree operation. Plays music, makes phone calls by voice command.
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I can't tell you what of these features the Honda, or even the Toyota Celica have, but those sound pretty nice. Most of you know that I am a huge music guy, so the music aspect of that sounds awesome.

Speaking of which, is the Toyota Celica an option for you? I almost bought one of those new a few years ago. That's the closest I ever came to buying a new car. I hate the idea of how much value they lose when you drive it off the lot. Although, Toyotas and Hondas tend to hold an awful lot more of their value than their domestic counterparts. From my many years in auto service, and many years in auto parts before that, you really can't go wrong with either. I've seen so many of each that had over 200,000 miles and they still needed very little repairs at that point. If you change your fluids and timing belt when they are scheduled, those things just tend to run forever and rarely break down.
 
kkfan91 said:
All cars play music...
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All cars have a hard drive and a USB port in the dash? All cars play music and dial phones via voice command?
FYI, Ford is the only manufacturer with the Microsoft Sync system. It will also verbally read your incoming text messages.
 
All cars do play music, its called an FM radio, why do you need a USB port in your car.
 
While the features sound nice, it's something I'm not terribly concerned with. I'm more concerned about how the car will run, what repairs cost and so on. The Civic and the Focus are sounding like the top choices right now. GM's cars suck and their warranties are **** -- I can get a longer warranty on a used Ford or Honda than on a new GM vehicle. I'm not finding any Toyota Corollas, just the Camry which is way more expensive and much less fuel efficent. I still need to hit one more Ford dealer this week though.
 
Seriously though, 10 year/100,000 mile warranties on new cars are the standard. Six years? Come on GM. Ford's offering 7 year/100,000 mile warranties on their USED cars with free roadside and free rental.
 
Buy both, we all know no matter which one you choose to buy it's gonna chit the bed in 6 months and we'll all have to put up with yet another week long Andyrant....
 
kkfan91 said:
kiss my ass


Amazingly radios play music who knew.
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Yeah, from 10am-2pm. That's about it. I uninstalled the radio from my Toyota because it ONLY had FM Radio. I knew more about the chick on DC101 and her sex life than I knew about myself.
 
SST55 said:
Buy both, we all know no matter which one you choose to buy it's gonna chit the bed in 6 months and we'll all have to put up with yet another week long Andyrant....
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Kiss my ass.

That's why I'm asking you all, so I end up with something that won't break down.
 
You're asking us to choose between two cars, sight unseen. Why don't you ask which is better, Chevy orFord and get a real brew-ha-ha going?
My daughter had a Accord, great car. Got rear ended and totaled. My son a Sable, biggest pos that ever floated out of Detroit. Did he get a lemon because I know people that swear their Taurus, same car with different badging, is better than sex. I also know people that had a timing belt break in their Honda blowing the motor,,and before the scheduled change.
So what is you seek bunkie?
Take 2k and go lease a new car, write off the mileage on your taxes.
You remind me of Donna, a girl I was ,,hmm dating, yeah dating in Fla who wanted me to buy a Road Runner over my Camaro because the horn was cute, "beep=beep".

Oh and pucker up Butter cup...
 
Hondas and Toyotas are both good cars. The Focus is also a proven-good car. There are no issues reliability-wise with any of the three. Sure the Hondas are "interference" engines, meaning the pistons will come in contact with the valves in the event of timing belt failure. That's why there are recommended timing belt replacement intervals. Some of the older Hondas had the timing belt run the water pump; if the water pump failed then so did the timing belt and then you have bent valves. I always recommended a water pump with the higher mileage Honda timing belt replacement. All three manufacturers have good reliabilty vehicles that get great mileage and are comparable in value. It's probably going to come down to which one gives you the best deal, best warranty and best financing (if you are in fact financing this vehicle).
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Seriously though, 10 year/100,000 mile warranties on new cars are the standard. Six years? Come on GM. Ford's offering 7 year/100,000 mile warranties on their USED cars with free roadside and free rental.
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I don't think Honda's warranty is 10/100,000

Go buy an Elantra and save 3 to 4K. You can order one built in Georgia. 10/100,000 powertrain warranty, but you'll never need it. 6/50,000 bumper to bumper, no arguments. If you're the self service type, oil and brakes are a snap, and front brakes last 40,000+.
 
FenderBumper said:
I don't think Honda's warranty is 10/100,000

Go buy an Elantra and save 3 to 4K. You can order one built in Georgia. 10/100,000 powertrain warranty, but you'll never need it. 6/50,000 bumper to bumper, no arguments. If you're the self service type, oil and brakes are a snap, and front brakes last 40,000+.
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We had an 06 Sonata with zero problems...just traded it in on a Tuscon...Hyundai is moving up in the ranks
 
Bucky Badger said:
We had an 06 Sonata with zero problems...just traded it in on a Tuscon...Hyundai is moving up in the ranks
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I've bought 3 new Hyundai's in the last 10 years and never had a problem. They were second cars and never got over 40K. 1 set of front brake pads after 35K on the '05 Santa fe, which I sold in '09 for $9,200. I only paid $12,800 new in late '05. My paid $9,500 for my 2002 Elantra. It got rammed by a van and only got a wrinkle in the bumper cover. I left it like that and pocketed the $640 insurance check from the other driver. 2 years later, a Honda pulled out in front of me from behind a truck while I was doing 30 mph. I hit the ide of her rear wheel, knocked it off the axel and spun her to the other side of the road. I had a scratch on the lens and a 3/4 inch shift in the front end. I got $2,880 from her insurance, and paid $200 to get the front end pulled. Sold the thing for $6,800. I made money on the thing.

It's nice having the countries largest Hyundai dealer nearby with 60 acres of cars. They always have a bunch of left overs. Last year I picked up a left over '09 Elantra 5 speed for $11,500. The thing has great pickup, especially when I push it to 6,000 RPM's. All Hyundais come with rev limiters, so I can't hit the 6,500 red line. :(
 
Whatever you get make it a standard.Less of a chance of it getting stolen in your area.:lol2:
(NewsCore) - Police in Washington, D.C., were searching Sunday for two would-be carjackers who abandoned the vehicle they stole because they couldn't drive a stick shift.
D.C. Police spokesman Anthony Clay said two male suspects confronted a man and a woman in their vehicle at gunpoint at around 6:00am Saturday, WTOP-FM reported.
The suspects forced the man and the woman into the trunk of the vehicle and tried to drive it away, but realized they didn't know how to operate a manual transmission.
They got the man out of the trunk and ordered him to drive the car, police said. He escaped by jumping out of the moving vehicle and called 911. The woman was also able to get away unharmed.
The car was later found abandoned.
Both suspects were still at large Sunday. They were wearing masks during the carjacking, according to WTOP.


Read more on myFOXdfw.com: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpps/news/unusual/dc-carjackers-foiled-by-stick-shift-dpgonc-km-20120422_19354255#ixzz1svAWPDCD​
 
mike honcho said:
Whatever you get make it a standard.Less of a chance of it getting stolen in your area.:lol2:
(NewsCore) - Police in Washington, D.C., were searching Sunday for two would-be carjackers who abandoned the vehicle they stole because they couldn't drive a stick shift.​
D.C. Police spokesman Anthony Clay said two male suspects confronted a man and a woman in their vehicle at gunpoint at around 6:00am Saturday, WTOP-FM reported.​
The suspects forced the man and the woman into the trunk of the vehicle and tried to drive it away, but realized they didn't know how to operate a manual transmission.​
They got the man out of the trunk and ordered him to drive the car, police said. He escaped by jumping out of the moving vehicle and called 911. The woman was also able to get away unharmed.​
The car was later found abandoned.​
Both suspects were still at large Sunday. They were wearing masks during the carjacking, according to WTOP.​
​
​
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Yeah, with the economy starting to collapse again and gas prices soaring, car theft is going to be a problem this summer.
 
By the way Andy, yes I meant the Corolla. Not sure why Celica popped into my head, except that they came up Celica/Corolla in several of the computer system where I spent years building service orders and/or looking up parts.

I worked in a Hyundai parts department back in the late 80's and early 90's, and yes they were pieces of crap back then. However, by the early to mid 2000's in particular, they became some of the most dependable cars on the road. I was going to suggest one of those, but I figured it would open up a bash session about how bad they used to be.
 
In her quest to drive every car salesman in New England completely bonkers she's come to the conclusion the Hyundai Sonata is the best car out there, although she liked the Genesis too. And she's driven them all, believe me. Their quality is right up there with the best, if not the best.
 
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