2000 Ford Focus SE review from North America

The only thing that went wrong is the trunk closing mechanism didn't retract fully preventing me from closing the trunk easily. A good slam would close it. The dealer replaced the defective part under warranty and now it works great! I leased the car with 19,000km on it initially and it is the best car I have ever owned :)

Some owner has posted a review on here complaining of a small boot (trunk) space. The Focus has a very decent trunk size for a compact car and what about the fold-down rear seats, just pop them down and you have a huge trunk!! Ever seen the trunk size of a Honda Civic or Toyota Echo, now those are tiny trunks!!!

The Focus won many Car of the Year awards because Ford finally got it right, great handling, huge interior room for a compact, great drivetrain and the best value in a compact car out there. Sure you can get a little sharper handling or more power from a Japanese manufacturer, but you will pay at least $3000 US more for that if not more, and is it necessary? Not in my opinion.

The Focus just plain works in every aspect for me, day in and day out. I never considered a Ford product before, the Contour was a joke, but I am totally pleased with my Focus and look forward to driving it everyday. There is nothing out there even close in its price range that can compete in terms of styling, handling, cabin size, comfort. The Toyota Echo looks like it was squashed between 2 trucks, too narrow and ugly. The Honda Civic is a fine product, but check out that price tag!! No thanks!! The rest of the compacts are either too expensive or lack styling, performance, or both... (GM products... Cavalier, ugh!!)