2008 Ford Focus ZX from North America - Comments

Only thing wrong is roof racks don't come with cross bars.

I was driving a used Focus wagon with automatic transmission that I had bought used, but when the rebates went high enough, I purchased a new wagon with manual transmission for $14,500 and passed my old one on.

No problems with the old model. Both have excellent cargo space, but this one has nicer styling, all basic amenities, comfort, good pickup and excellent handling with more positive control from manual transmission. It gets much better mileage than the automatic (33-34 mpg vs. 29-30 mpg to date).

As a mechanic who has owned cars from all US manufacturers as well as one Japanese (LEMON) and one German (TOTAL DISASTER). I can assure you that few cars (if ANY) can surpass the quality of American cars, especially Fords. I currently own a GM SUV (because Ford SUV's are ugly as sin), a GM mid-size car (same reason) and a new Ford Ranger Sport pickup (because Chrysler and GM's small trucks are ugly as sin). We owned a 2001 Focus ZX-3 and found it to be a sporty, fast and great-handling little car that was way ahead of the competition on all points. I commend you for buying American, and I hope you have as few problems as we had with our Focus (which was NONE).

I was so happy with my 2005 Ford Focus, that when our other car got old, we purchased a 2006 Ford Focus Wagon. Now we have two Focuses, and couldn't be happier. You can easily get the cross bars put on at any ford Dealership (~$133 in my area). But this car is perfect for my budget, and yet fits enough stuff inside to take camping trips, or move larger furniture :-)

The Focus is really a great car. We owned a 2001 ZX-3 and it was a fun, economical and very well built car. The build quality and reliability was much better than our Honda Civic, and the car was way faster.

Hey, Focus is a great car, but not because it's american, the whole design and concept is european. that's why it's economical, spacious though not too big outside and very good handling. it's probably assembled for the american market somewhere in north america (hopefulley not mexico). that's the reason why we don't have the lovely new focus, which is ruling european roads. there are other great ford models which we unfortunatelly don't find in north america. As someone mentioned the 'american' fords are ugly as hell. just visit ford.co.uk to get an idea what we missing.

Anyway, started to comment on this, since I have 2006 focus wagon, I am very happy with it, but the cross bars for the roof racks? local canadian dealer estimated the price just for the cross bars $500, jeeeeze. for 2 silly bars and 4 screws probably. Any idea where to get good quality aftermarket crossbars? thanks!

FYI, the current Ford Focus is built at the Wayne, MI assembly plant. They use to be built at Hermosillo (sp) Mexico, but that plant now builds the Fusion. The VIN # will tell where it was built, 1 for U.S., 2 for Canada, and 3 for Mexico. Happy driving!

They don't put the cross bars on the Focus Wagon because it will cut the gas mileage with the drag they put on the vehicle and can often be noisy. Not enough people actually USE them so to make it a better performer they've made them an option. And if you don't mind adding a little touch-up paint, you might try a junk yard for a set of cross bars.

Not that there's anything wrong with the current Focus, but I think it will be getting a complete redesign in 2011 or 12. So you may get your wish on a sleeker, lower and more powerful engine.