Faults:

Nothing, although it is only less than a week old.

General Comments:

It's an LS CL Focus sedan, with a 'smooth pack' that includes (above the air conditioning and single CD), cruise control, alloy wheels, power body coloured mirrors and a leather wrapped sports steering wheel.

It's Blueprint (not the Falcon Blueprint) a very pretty shade of blue.

My partner picked it up on Tuesday last, with 25 km on the odometer, and by Friday morning it had 150 km when we trekked off to Sydney, from Canberra. This served as a run-in drive.

It has very nice handling and took to the open road like any late German designed automobile should. Our baby son was very comfortable in the middle rear seat position and slept most of the time.

The only fault I could find was that there is a slight amount of wind noise from the upper rear windows, and the road noise is apparent when sitting in the rear seat, as I did on the way back. It's not too bad, the road noise, but I was aware of it, possibly as it is distinctly more than in my Boss 260 XR8 ute cabin, which is not too much.

Suspension is good with the control blade rears, and although the wheelbase is relatively short, it is quite smooth through the initial cornering. Front wheel drive helps in some tighter corners, but it does have a slight tendency towards under-steer if you go in or let it get neutral. A touch of the throttle and it grabs back without any jerkiness. Goodyear NCT5 all round, with 15 inches and discs all round.

Roomy enough inside, (I'm 6'2" and I didn't feel too cramped or stiff after the 4 hour drive through Sydney holiday Friday traffic and along the Hume Hwy.

In short, it is a perfect car for my partner and baby, and we had the windows tinted as well, so there is no need for unsightly black nylon shades on the windows.

It delivered an average of 7.4 L/100 km on the trip, and that will improve as the engine runs & beds in.

I'm actually impressed with this Focus, and the engine (2.0L 16 V transverse, coil on plug, Multi Point Fuel Injection etc) has a healthy throatiness to it, but lacks in torque.

107 kW @ 6000 rpm

185 Nm @ 4000 rpm.

However that is 143 bhp & 136 ft-lb... and for comparison purposes, my first Ford V8 289 CID delivered 200 bhp stock standard, then it is quite impressive for a light 'mid' size sedan.

Faults:

Driver's seat is terribly uncomfortable.

General Comments:

I only have my Focus for about a month, clocking up 1000kms on it in that time. Granted - very short amount of time to make a judgment!

I have no complaints about it at all to-date except the comfort of the seats. As a selling point, I was informed there was a Lumber Support feature in the drivers seat and as my job requires me to be on the road half my time, I was sold on this feature. In truth the lumbar support feels like someone is pushing their fist through your lower back! And because of its existence (I think), the lower half of the seat is very spongy with little to no support, unless you push the lumbar support forward. It also feels 'lumpy'.

The seat is tall, but it falls away from your shoulders as it gets higher, therefore providing no upper back support at all. It was suggested I lean back and rest against the disappearing top section of the seat - I did try this, but to lie back in such a manner, is seriously bad for your back and hurt my lower back lots!

I have tried every combination of seat positions, but every time I get into the car I want to adjust the positions again because it never feel comfortable. I kept one "semi-comfortable" position for a week in the hope it was only a question of my body getting used to the new car, but to no avail. I am now signed up to a course of physiotherapy to try to ease the pain in my back, due to driving my new car.

I have reached the stage of returning the car to the dealership for them to find a solution to this problem as I can no longer drive the car in its present state.

I will share the outcome of this when / if I get a resolution.