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Ford Focus Prices Paid and Buying Experience

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Comments

  • matsukesmatsukes Member Posts: 21
    You folks buying the Ford Focus should get the 5 speed manual transmission! I own a fully loaded ses I had to special order the car built at Ford as the top end models have the auto in them. My wife got the same model ses with the Auto. transmission in it. Although the auto trans. in my wife's car never failed in the time she owned it ( she sold at 18,000 miles the shifting on that auto wasent right! . The manual transmission has much greater power and pick up also the stick shift trans gives much better control in winter driving conditions!. And let me tell you from experience a clutch plate is much less money to replace then a automatic transmission!. Also the 5 speed trans. cuts the weight down on the Focus and gets MUCH better fuel mileage!. Not to mention the 5 speed trans. lowers the out the door price BIG TIME!
  • jeffyscottjeffyscott Member Posts: 3,855
    MPG is actually about the same: EPA "combined" figure is 28 mpg for both the auto and the manual.

    Manual does save some money up front, most of that will probably be given back when you sell as the market for manual transmission cars is very thin. Probably something like 90% of potential buyers will not even consider one.

    I do think it is about time that Ford upgraded to a 5 speed auto in the Focus.
  • matsukesmatsukes Member Posts: 21
    The resale value on a Ford Focus is squat anyway. My wife sold hers a fully loaded SES With the auto trans. at 13,000 miles and only got $9,000 for it! The Focus is the kind of car you buy and drive until the wheels fall off. If you want resale value other cars do much better!. Anyway, I get 38-41MPG hwy with the 5 speed manual in my Focus so I have to disagree with your post regarding the MPG being the same with the Auto and the 5 speed. As I stated before We owned both and I have driven both and I have to say the performance of the Focus with the 5 speed manual is much better then the auto trans! The manual lets you get all the horse power out of that 2.0!. JMO but also my experance!
  • myrtle73myrtle73 Member Posts: 2
    Hi, I live in the Illinois/Iowa area "Quad Cities.' I would like to get a couple, but if the price is right I would get a sedan
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  • tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    Well, Focus resale is better now than it used to be. Dealers here in Chicago area have had 2008 Focus SE's with popular features priced at $10,995 for nearly 12 months. used 2009's are set at $12,995. A few years ago, a two year old Focus would be $9000.

    Focus is no longer a 'throw away' car. The 2008+ models are holding value that used to be only for imports.
  • mnfmnf Member Posts: 405
    What are the used 09 fully loaded going for in your area....

    Thanks
  • pristinacrawfopristinacrawfo Member Posts: 5
    I just traded in my 2000 Ford Focus SE for a new 2010 Ford Focus SE with Rapid Spec 201A package and SE Appearance package for $13,733.

    I didn't bargain much over price, other than asking for and receiving $500 college grad bonus on top of $3,500 in rebates already listed. Nor did I bargain on my trade-in and felt satisfied to get $500 for a car that is in need of significant repairs and reconditioning.

    But I did shop around for loan rates and let the dealership know I was also considering a Hyundai Sonata 2011 for which I qualified for 2.9 percent financing. Ford dealer gave me 2.89 percent.

    I bought it because the price and rate were right, this car just felt great, and I was put off by the price of the Sonata and the sales tactics of the Hyundai sales person I talked with as well as the unwillingness of another Hyundai dealer to bend on price and match a third dealer's offer of $1,000 under invoice.

    And besides, I didn't want to give up the fun of a manual for an automatic (there were no manual Sonatas available).

    I am just thrilled with the new car! And the sales rep, Jon McKean, treated me with respect and integrity through the whole process. I would buy another car from him and urge anybody who's looking for a Ford in Auburn, Alabama, to look his way.
  • pristinacrawfopristinacrawfo Member Posts: 5
    I took the new car out for a spin this afternoon and the power mirror control housing came off the door frame as I was turning the switch to adjust the mirrors. Looked like the plastic clips that hold it to the door were broken. Looked like someone had packed little rubber gaskets to hold the clips in place but they melted away or something. I just hope there aren't more build quality problems in this ride. It was a disappointing second day of ownership. :(
  • pristinacrawfopristinacrawfo Member Posts: 5
    Update: The dealership took care of the problem immediately. After the parts and service manager said it might take until tomorrow to get the part and I said I wouldn't be back in town until after the holiday, the sales rep said "How about if we swap the part off another car so we can get him on his way right now?" No fuss, no muss. I am satisfied!
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  • seaurchinseaurchin Member Posts: 57
    Folks, i visited a dealership today and they only had one SE in Blue Candy color, i sat inside it was nice, maybe a little too small, since they did not have it in black i did not even ask about the price.

    Did anyone buy a new 2012 Focus so far? What did you pay?

    Thank You
  • newbie2carsnewbie2cars Member Posts: 15
    I know this is almost 7 months late but I am looking at a SEL now and it's priced at 15K... Heated leather seats were the biggest selling point for me. I think it's a perfect car for a recent college grad (me!).
  • puffin1puffin1 Member Posts: 276
    SEL 15K good deal to me.I've been lookin'@ the Focus and did alot of home work.SEL makes you get the DCT/ dry clutcy trann .Yep, a real deal are you sure it's not an SE?
  • rockdog77rockdog77 Member Posts: 2
    We couldn't find what we wanted on any lot, so we ordered our Titanium just after Thanksgiving. It arrived last week. Options: 401A group, Performance package, Blaze Yellow Tri-coat paint and that's it. Price was $24k flat. Ford offered $2000 cash back which brought it down to $22k. Only 200 miles on it so far averaging 31.0 mpg.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    Just bought a red candy SEL with stone leather seats. Dealer's discount was almost $4,900 below sticker including the $2,000 in rebates. AND they had no dealer fee and gave me $500 more for my '08 Taurus than another dealer offered. Overall a fantastic deal for a great car. I love it so far. The 'auto' transmission works great for me. Slight lag from a standstill, like turbo lag, but has continuous power delivery during acceleration and good passing power. Handling is great. The red candy paint job, despite sounding a little silly, looks premium.
  • steven39steven39 Member Posts: 636
    hello,iam looking at the same car down here in south florida.i was wondering when you get the chance if you can provide a break down of your deal.thanks..
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    Basically MSRP was $23,080, minus $2,000 in rebates and $2,900 in dealer discount equals about $18,200 sale price. Don't know why the dealer discounted only a few of their stock Focuses so much, including this one, but not others on their lot. Color is red with stone leather interior so it's not because it's a hideous color or something.
  • steven39steven39 Member Posts: 636
    how do you like the auto tranny that so many people have been complaining about??
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    I like it. It shifts very quick, almost no loss of power between shifts. I don't get any of the clunks that people have reported at low speeds. I think that's been solved with software updates. It does feel different than a true automatic, but not so different that it turns me off. Engine feels great coming out of curves, revving up to 3,500 - 4,000 rpm.
  • mississippi7mississippi7 Member Posts: 2
    Last week I called the Ford Sales Rep and interested in purchasing a Ford Focus. I told him I wanted an automatic transmission as well. He quoted me a price of $15,700. I arrived and drove the car and it was comfortable and drove well. In the process of working up the price, another person told him that the vehicle I was purchasing was a fleet vehicle and it would be $700. more. He asked me if I still wanted it and I said yes. After completion of the paperwork and reading when I got home, I noticed that the price of the vehicle was $17,412. I thought that this should of been $16,400 with the additional $700. being added to the price I was quoted. I took the paperwork to my credit union where the car would be financed. My credit union rep called and informed me that the price they were asking me to pay was above the MSRP price. The MSRP price on the sticker was $18,390. with Equipment Group 100A and Optional Equipment 6-SPD Auto Transmission. The car already had 420 miles on it. I just returned home this evening and noticed the parking light on the front passenger side was dim but the driver side parking light was bright. It doesn't appear to be a bulb problem but maybe it is only getting half the voltage to that side. I haven't closed the deal on this car yet and right now since I may be taking a hit on purchasing something higher than the MSRP and the car showing a problem with the voltage, that I may return the car and ask for another car like an SE with more options for a better price. My bottom line price is $17,412., it is a fleet car that is white, and not sure if I should buy or return since I am seeing a problem with the voltage. I think I will return it and start over, but anyone out there, let me know what you think or would do in this situation.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    Return it immediately and start over, preferably with a different dealer. There is a $1,500 rebate on this car so if they're charging you $17,412 then the real price is $1,500 above that, $18,912 which is significantly above sticker. Perhaps I'm missing something but the light problem aside, why would anyone pay $500 above MSRP for any new car, let alone one with 400 miles on it? According to truecar.com you should be paying no more than around $16,500 for that car including the current $1,500 rebate. You should return it and get on the internet and start shopping around all Ford dealers within a 50 mile radius and get them to start competing for your business in order to get the lowest possible price which may end up being significantly less than $16,500. A dealer in central FL has several cars with that MSRP advertised for $15,700. And I know that price has no tricks in it because I just bought from them.
  • gambit293gambit293 Member Posts: 406
    This is a bit confusing. Why would the car being a fleet vehicle cause it cost $700 more?
  • steven39steven39 Member Posts: 636
    fleet vehicles have always cost more because they are well taken car of with proper maintenence and such and also have the balance of the factory warranty.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    Any used car can have the balance of factory warranty if it hasn't expired yet.

    A fleet vehicle can include a rental car which, even though it may have verifiable maintenance records, you can assume it was beat up by renters.

    I don't know whether he's saying it's considered a new or used car. Either way there's absolutely no reason to pay anywhere close to MSRP especially given the glut of base Focus's on the market right now and the rebates attached to them.
  • joegiantjoegiant Member Posts: 90
    Just bought a '12 Focus SE sedan 5spd w/sport pkg & 203a SYNC pkg. MSRP for car: $20,385. OTD price $18,300 in MD (6% sales tax and usual usury gov't fees associated with a people's republic state like MD). FWIW, didn't have a trade-in. Business strictly conducted over internet. Dealership stood behind their numbers and conducted transaction in a professional fashion. Highly recommend DARCARS Ford in Lanham for those looking for less hassle in the new car buying process and a decent honest price on product.
  • steveaspesisteveaspesi Member Posts: 46
    A "fleet car" cost $700 more because what? It's taken better care of?

    I thought we were talking about a "new" car here?

    I'm sorry to tell the buyer - but you've been had.
    Now that you've taken delivery of the car by driving it off the lot, you have pretty close to zero chance getting the dealer to re-neg the deal.

    it's shame full that a dealer would do that to you, but it's buyer beware anytime you're in a car dealership or the dealer service department.
  • erzeszuterzeszut Member Posts: 16
    edited March 2012
    Hi--

    Does anyone know, or have a best guess, as to whether the current Ford $2000 cash back on the Focus will be extended past 4/2? I have a Civic coming off lease in late April, and would like to delay my new purchase as late as possible. But of course I don't want to lose the $2000 offer.

    I know Ford won't really say, and salesmen won't give me any hints, of course. But is there any historical evidence -- for example, does Ford tend to have their best offers in Feb/Mar, and then they dry up in April?

    Any insights appreciated.
  • steveaspesisteveaspesi Member Posts: 46
    just kicking the tires and looking at the colors in person. Of course I get a salesman assigned to me. He was nice enough to answer some questions but when I said no thanks to a test drive, he left to get me a brochure and his business card. Instead, out comes the closer? This guy really wanted me to test drive the thing even though I politely said I have to run. I never did get offered a brochure and the guy wants MY phone number in case I have questions. HaHa

    with that said these guys had dealer mark up of $2,900 on all their new focuses!

    Sunnyvale Ford = home of the $2,900 dealer mark up
    I realize they probably aren't getting that, but from a starting point in negotiating it's just rediculous.

    My impression of the focus was so so - the reviews seemed better than what I saw in person.
    The car salesman being as pushy as they were is just a huge turn off.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    Don't know, but might make sense to look into buying the Focus by 4/2 anyway and just have two cars for 2-3 weeks until you turn the Civic in. Worst case is probably just having to pay insurance for 2 cars during that short time. First payments on car loans are usually a month after taking delivery so you wouldn't necessarily be doubling up car payments that month.

    Or see if you can turn the Civic in a few weeks early. Whatever nominal charge there is would be worth it so you don't miss out on the $2,000 rebate.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    That is outrageous! There must be at least 1 more Ford dealer within 50 miles of you. Go there. These guys obviously don't want to do business. Most people are getting their Focus's for at least $1,000 under sticker (not including the rebate) so you'd be paying almost $3,000 above market at this dealership.

    Hilarious!
  • steveaspesisteveaspesi Member Posts: 46
    I can see the ads in the paper with all the discounts for the focus - but car dealers are always praying for the uninformed buyer to show up with check book in hand. It's very old school to have dealer mark up on a window sticker this day and age. It's also a weird game of sharades when you point out the $2,900 dealer mark up and ask "what's up with that?" and they think you're ready to buy because you brought up the price.

    Even the Hundai Elantra doesn't put a mark up on their cars - and they are in demand big time.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    "Even the Hundai Elantra doesn't put a mark up on their cars - and they are in demand big time. "

    In my area dealers are putting big markups on both the Elantra and Civic. Don't know if they're getting that markup. The Honda dealer also puts several thousand dollars worth of dealer add-ons to every car on the lot (e.g. pinstrips, mudflaps, and other useless crap) that is supposedly non-negotiable. Ridiculous.
  • fushigifushigi Member Posts: 1,459
    kam, you hit the nail on the head. Manufacturers do not mark up their cars above MSRP. Why would they when they could just raise MSRP to begin with? Dealers are the ones who mark up the cars.

    IMO, regardless of make or demand, if I saw an ADM (Additional Dealer Markup) sticker on a car I'd point it out to the salesperson, laugh, turn around, and leave. No car is worth more than list price.
    2017 Infiniti QX60 (me), 2012 Hyundai Elantra (wife)
  • mndriver72mndriver72 Member Posts: 2
    If that's Sunnyvale, CA, I used to live there and the average income is over 100k...they're looking for well-to-do engineers who are not car-savvy. But there are plenty of other options for Ford in the area.

    In any case, out here in Minnesota I just bought a Focus Titanium for about $3000 under sticker at a no-haggle dealership in the Twin Cities. Love it. About half our dealerships here have gone to no haggle, and pricing is getting more aggressive as the no-haggle marketplace starts to price itself more dynamically.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    "In any case, out here in Minnesota I just bought a Focus Titanium for about $3000 under sticker at a no-haggle dealership in the Twin Cities."

    Gotta say I don't understand the concept of "no haggle." If a dealer is advertising a car for a certain price I can guarantee you there is some profit in there and therefore some room to haggle, or at least to try. Many dealers will sell at invoice or even below in certain circumstances, such as the end of the month and they're trying to meet a sales target.

    Did you finance with Ford and therefore get $2,000 in rebates? If so then the dealer effectively sold it to you for $1,000 under sticker and they probably made $1,200 on the deal including dealer holdback, plus whatever other volume incentives they were shooting for.

    Always Haggle!
  • steveaspesisteveaspesi Member Posts: 46
    When a dealer makes a profit on a car selling below invoice, and they do, it tells you there's all kinds of incentives you may or may not know about.

    when a dealer negotiates from MSRP down - they stand to make a nice profit.

    when a dealer negotiates with a mark up of 15% over MSRP, it's just rediculous - because Ford and GM are kings of making a mockery of MSRP.

    There are so many ads in the paper from Ford and GM that never mention price, but will loudly pump "deals" that state $5,000 off MSRP!!! on every......in stock. That's enough to tell me that not only is dealer mark up a joke but so to is MSRP.
  • erzeszuterzeszut Member Posts: 16
    Yep. Always, always haggle. Even the places that famously claim (or claimed) "no haggle" would be willing to wheel and deal at the right time of the month, on the right vehicle.

    In years past, I negotiated discounts at Saturn dealerships and at CarMax, both of whom claim(ed) to be "no haggle."

    Don't believe it!
  • mndriver72mndriver72 Member Posts: 2
    I just bought a focus titanium with all options except the sport package and parking package. Dealer was "no haggle" and their pricing method seemed to be to start with invoice and subtract incentives off of that. So obviously invoice prices are drastically inflated.

    There was a small additional discount below invoice, but basically the price was invoice minus incentives, which for me were about $1500.

    This was in the Minneapolis area in March 2012.
  • kam327kam327 Member Posts: 115
    Starting at dealer invoice is always good. Holdback for a loaded Titanium is around $800 so that's one place the dealer is getting money on the sale. Did they charge you a "dealer fee" or whatever name they gave it, usually $500-$600? That's another profit center. I look for the dealers that don't charge such a fee, which are few and far between.
  • kjdiscusskjdiscuss Member Posts: 5
    Hey mndriver72, I'm looking for about the same trim in Minneapolis. Do you mind saying which dealers you looked at and got such a good deal?
  • tomcatt630tomcatt630 Member Posts: 124
    I got my new Focus SE, with 203A and Auto for the TMV(R) price. And my trade in was spot on with TMV too.

    I refer Edmunds TMV to others looking for prices. :shades:
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  • hackattack5hackattack5 Member Posts: 315
    2012 SEL hatch with the $2900 package leather, back up sensor, my touch and sony stereo. 1000 rebate 750 trade assist 500 private offer and a 1800 dealer discount. Milford Ohio
  • dad2bedad2be Member Posts: 60
    2012 SE hatchback manual transmission with 203A package, sport package, winter package, and 17" alloy wheel upgrade. MSRP was $21140, which reflects the new pricing with "no charge sync" discount of $395 and "SE sport regional discount" of $515.

    Price paid was $18240 (+tax and tags), so the $1500 rebate plus a $1400 dealer discount. The $750 trade assist promotion is over, but the rebate went up from $1000 to $1500 this month. Also did not qualify for the $500 private offer mentioned above (even though I'd requested several brochures - no coupon included...)

    In addition to the above, I got slightly above KBB trade-in value for "good" condition, and the Focus had to be located/brought in from another dealer.

    I've got to disagree with the post above about just relying on the TMV prices - the TMV price for the Focus was $19405 ($1165 higher), mainly because the pricing on the site is not updated with the latest sync and sport package discounts. Also, the TMV trade-in value was about $500 lower than my reference point from KBB. I guess there's not one perfect site, but point is just to collect several data points from multiple sites and shoot for a reasonable target.
  • gambit293gambit293 Member Posts: 406
    Thanks for sharing, dad2be. Would you mind stating where in the country you are? And maybe even which dealer you worked with?
  • dad2bedad2be Member Posts: 60
    Sure - I'm in eastern PA. Will post the dealer info on Tuesday - after I've picked it up - assuming everything continues to go well.

    Something not mentioned above was that I got a few other quotes from other local dealers as part of the process. We can get X-plan pricing through my company, and I made the mistake of mentioning that for one of the quotes. The X-plan price stinks! It was a discount of just $905, plus same rebates. Stuck to traditional price requests without mentioning X-plan for the rest of the dealers...
  • billy3554billy3554 Member Posts: 148
    People using TMV to price a new vehicle should consider it is more of an average price paid rather than the rock bottom price which can be expected. Average means half pay more but half pay less. While TMV will yield a decent price, especially for people who do not enjoy the art of the deal, I would prefer to be in the half which pays less. I have accessed TMV for years and found it quite useful. However, I have always found a better price with a bit of work.
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