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However, I got a 2002 ZTW with ABS, 5 speed manual trans, and side air bags for about $17040.00. including destination. Color is Ft. Knox Gold.
On the positive side, the dealer called today and said the car was in. Last Tuesday, Ford said I wouldn't have it until the second week of December. Go figure. I should have it Monday evening.
PD
Great highway mileage now .. around 34 at 65-70mph...First 2500 miles only got about 25, though...
My wife and I both really enjoy driving the car...both in town and on the road...unusual...
easy entry/exit...
good radio/cd sound...
Lots of storage space...
In our opinion, the wagon is the best looking Focus..and the most practical.
Great steering, handling...you think you are
moving slower than you actually are...tend to go over the speed limit...
Acceleration is OK; could be better...
The seats are firm and at first appeared to lack enough lower back support...However we found that the firmness makes them particularly comfortable on long drives...The seats/backs are firm enough that I take the wallet out of my back pocket on long trips...
Highway noise
Wind noise: good
Engine noise: good
Road noise: OK, better if you close the luggage
shade.
Revka
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Hatchbacks / Station Wagons / Women's Auto Center Boards
I've had my focus wagon since march of this year. I've already put 20k miles on it and am fairly pleased with it. But I have a reallly annoying problem that ford has so far been unable to fix:
Now that it's cold my rear hatch has stopped closing properly. I have to slam it incredibly hard to get it to close. So hard in fact that I altered an ongoing "rattle" that was coming from somewhere in the back of my car.
The Ford dealership replaced that latch in the hatch and in doing so, failed to properly replace the rear trim above the liscense plate AND managed to dent the hatch as well by trying to close it!!! Naturally I didn't notice it until I left the dealer....
Anyway, they replaced the latch and it still won't close! I'm out of town so I haven't taken it back to them but have spoken to the service manager on the phone and he seemed generally concerned. We'll see....
Has anyone else had this problem with the rear door?
In case you're not aware, a TSB is usually issued when there are lots of reports on a particular problem. Also, if you're vehicle is fairly new, it may not be a bad idea to check for TSBs for the same make/model of the prior year. Good luck, and please keep us posted on your situation.
Revka
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Hatchbacks / Station Wagons / Women's Auto Center Boards
check engine light came on...and stays on all the time...taking it in to the dealer this week...anyone have any ideas?...
I have linked this discussion into that folder, but it will always reside here in Station Wagons.
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
KarenS
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Owners Clubs
10000 mi on our 2002 wagon....this has been the only problem...really like its ride...
We're back in saddle now...it is a pleasure to drive this car...
I am much more interested in a nice small car than a larger car that isn't as good.
'Ford Focus -- Number One in Quality – The Ford Focus is the German car industry leader in reliability. The German TÜV, an authoritative industry body controlling and approving quality standards of industrial and consumer products, declared the Focus the leader for cars between one and three years old, in their ‘Auto Report 2002’ published on January 29, 2002.'
I noticed you asked the same question in several places, and I think most wagons could hold two adult bicycles, including the Jetta and Passat. A friend of mine races bicycles, and she could fit two cycles in the back of a Ford Probe. She may have taken the wheel off of one of them can't remember. I can put two in my Integra if I take the two front wheels off.
http://www.detroitnews.com/2002/autosinsider/0204/02/a01-455126.htm
I don't seem to remember Focii having a problem with oil sludge in THEIR engines (unlike is alleged with some recent Toyotas...and Toyota IS providing some compensation for SOME owners...) ( By the way, I FIRST read of this issue on Edmunds news site. Good work, Edmunds. For more details, just go see alt.autos.toyota in the newsgroups on USENET
Thanks
Revka
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Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards
Did you let your vehicle idle a lot in the first week while checking out all the different features? Going over 55 mph (you said "70 mph") will lower your highway mpg considerably.
Anyway, if your dealer service rules out any problems with your emissions system, then I'd have to speculate that it's related to one of the above factors. Others here may have more to add. Good luck, and please keep us posted on your Ford Focus Wagon experience. ;-)
Revka
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Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards
I own a 2001 Focus Wagon with 5 Speed.
In the city with running A/C I get about 21 to 22 MPG. On the Highway I get about 30 to 32 MPG.
I do not know how Ford calculates the MPG but the official values are not real. I was not suprised because I knew the values Ford Germany has published for the German Version and these figures are almost the same I have calculated on my US-Focus. So far I never trusted any official MPG postings from any manufacturer because they are not realistic.
I own a 2001 Wagon with rear disk brakes and want to take this car back with me to Europe when I am moving back in 1 or 2 years. Because of the regular usage of salt on german roads I just want to check if I could expect the same problems.
So far I have been living in Texas where salt is completely unknown.
Thanks for any hints
Stefan
Keep tire pressure up.
Keep car in tune.
Drive the speed limit.
Calculate the mileage on only highway driving (to figure highway mileage) with one start. For example if you drive to work on the highway, but only travel 10 miles a day, you have a lot of cold starts which use fuel, so even if you drive mostly highway you will get poor mileage.
Driving around town it is fine. Went for a long trip though and it seems that the leg room is too short (for the driver...me average height). My right leg seemed too long. If I moved the seat back it is too far to comfortably hold the steering wheel. I wonder am I the only one...or perhaps my body has to adjust to the Focus.
The highway speed limit is now up to 65 in some places. So staying up at that 65-70 range on the highway takes pushing the rpms to 3000. Passing pushes the rpms up above 3000. Although most times I found I could do 65-70 on flat highways at @2500 rpms. Can the ztec take the higher rpms? Is this the way the engine was designed to work? I just don't want to push it too much since it is just a 4 cylinder.
Thanks for your help.
Stephens37, did you try telescoping the steering wheel out? I'm 5' 10" and have the drivers seat all the way back and haven't had any problems. The auto tranny is a 4 speed, so when you put the hammer down to pass it drops into 3rd. Your revs will jump up there if your doing 65-70 mph probably about 4,000 or so. Unless tour driving around all the time with the OD off I wouldn't worry about the high revs, these 4 bangers were made to work at higher revolutions. The Zetec doesn't make 132 hp until it reaches about 5,500 rpm. I don't know were the redline is, my tach just goes up to 7,000 rpm, but you won't catch me driving around with it up there :-)
BTW these boards are great! Not too many wagon owners though, oh well those ZX5 owners are just gonna be deprived :-) . My wagon drives like its on rails.
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Wagons Boards
Overall I am happy with this car. The only two things I miss: More legroom and the nice and powerful Diesel engines they have in Europe. Especially the Tdci with 115HP.
A great post. My sentiments, exactly. We (wife and I) bought the ZTW wagon, largely because it carries two bikes/front wheels attached, and so far it has been great.
My name is Nancy and I live in Southern California, in the foothill area north of
Glendale and west of Pasadena . This looks like a great group to hang out with!
On Tuesday, October 22, 2002 I became the proud owner of a new 2002 Ford Focus
ZTW Wagon. My 2000 Explorer was coming off lease on the 26th, and I wanted to
downsize so the Focus wagon seemed perfect.
So far, I *love* it! It's the Sangria Red (my first red car!) with gray leather. It's pretty
loaded; about all it doesn't have is a sunroof and the "Advance Track" traction
control system.
Want to hear something funny? For the last two-three weeks, my boyfriend and I
have been independently searching the 'net, reading reviews, checking prices, etc.
as we each tried to decide what to buy. I was replacing my Explorer, and he was
replacing a 1995 Escort Wagon that was beginning to have one problem after
another (at 128k, that's probably not surprising).
Anyway, we *both* narrowed it down to one car: the 2002 Focus ZTW Wagon! He
bought his on Saturday, and it's the Twilight Blue. Other than color, both cars are
identically equipped. We both got our respective Focii (sp?) for just under 20k,
including the alarm system. We feel it's a *very* nice car for the money.
Comfortable, solid, holds the road like a pro, adequate get-up-and-go, and looks
good to boot (in our opinion, anyway ;-) As far as reliability, time will tell. We figure
after two years most of the bugs should be ironed out, and if not, we have the
warranty to take care of any problems that might arise.
I can't wait to take a picture of them (and us) side-by-side :-)
Nancy
I hope you enjoy your Focus. They should offer more cars like this. I would have gone for the ZTX wagon as well but the ZTX was not available as wagon in 2001. So I ended up with a SE and street edition package. Fully loaded incl. Advance track, ABS... but no leather and no sun roof.
So far I have been pretty lucky and did not have any major problems. Only some small things covered under warranty.
The only thing I miss: A diesel engine. I am from Europe and there the offer some gorgeous Diesel engines for the Focus. Better ones than they have for the Jetta Wagon TDI here in the US.
I you want to get some information about common Focus problems and technical help, check out the forums at this link: www.focaljet.com
Most of the topis are about tuning and other stupid things. But once a while they have some interessting information.
And by the way, here are some pictures of mine:
http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/exportImage.asp?s=cano&i=10098387&w=797&h=255
I wondered if anybody knew why there it is so hard to find Focus Wagons with ABS on dealer lots, at least here in MA (and if there is anywhere that you really need ABS, it is here!) I have searched high and low and found very few. Many dealers here still have a bunch of left over '02s that are great buys, but not one of them has ABS--virtually everything else but (moonroofs, side air bags, the whole bit). Just for curiosity I started looking for '03's and it is the same thing. Why is Ford so adverse to putting anti-lock brakes on the Focus Wagon?
Your other option is to order the car; you may need to wait a month or two, but you'll get the car configured how you want, and save some extra cash!
Good luck.
I was over in the "Ford Focus Wagon-Problems & Solutions" message board and someone there (jjc5) was saying that you can get the Focus wagon with a 60/40 split seat CUSHION as well as the 60/40 seat back. Those of you who have tried to use the 60/40 feature to increase the cargo capacity of the rear will understand how convenient this would be. You can't adequately fold down either of the seat backs unless the entire seat cushion is folded up... you end up with the seat cushions folded down to about a 40 degree angle which doesn't really do much to increase your cargo capacity since you can't put anything on it... in fact it reduces it because now you can't store anything where the seat was either. If they had a 60/40 seat cushion so you could actually fold down the side that you wanted all the way flat, THAT would be useful.
Anyway, does anyone know if this actually DOES exist? If so, please quote sources because my local dealers don't seem to be aware of it.