Ford Focus ZX3 vs VW Golf/Gti

[TheGeak]

I've narrowed my new car search down to those 2 vehicled (possibly a Mazda Protege 5 if i can find a 5spd used for a decent price) I heard that Pre-2001 Focus's had major electrical problems....but the general conclusion has been that VW has gone to hell lately. However VW just introduced its 'whatever it takes' plan (supposedly the head tech has the power to do whatever you want to make you happy...again supposedly) Focus would be about 3-5k cheaper, but i'm wondering how well it'll hold up. Any ideas guys...thanks!

Jason

P.S. I'm about to put my old VW out to pasture, so its really crunch time to find a new car...

[Jon K]

Hey jason,

what year is the vw youre ditching? reason i ask is my friend PT and I are gathering parts cars and such for a car we just built should anything need replacing. We have a 1991 GTI w/ a VR6 swap.

As for your next car. I would go the VW route. The focus (ask me, i've driven one for two weeks when my car was being repaired) is a really, really lousy handling car. The steering is numb, the suspension is harsh but not sporty. The motor makes all kinds of noise but doesn't actually go anywhere haha. Oh well, I would try for a GTI 1.8T if you could. Very smooth motor.

[rickm]

A client's new VW bug had the door panel fall off 3 weeks after delivery. Not sure Yugos did that. :P

[DaCan23]

Your talkin about the highest recalled model line ever (Ford Focus) vs the car company which is at the bottom of the quality ratings every year (VW).... just get a used E36....

[Hector]

My GF has a Passat turbo whom she got for a good price, low interest rate, therefore low mo payments and warranty from a dealer. Although the sales reps were really nice and painted a rosey picture about their track record on selling used certified cars with no customer complaints, and how good their service department is, I have been really dissappointed with those idiots with their poor service management. The bottom line, it's really hard to schedule the car for service because it seems like they run a backlog (maybe because of their incompentency) of cars that need repair so it takes for ever to get the car in for service... and if you want them to just troubleshoot it, dude forgot it... you'd die of old age. Not saying this is universal...

As for the car, although it handles great and has a good engine, it has been in for its fair amount of repair.

[George Mann]

am surprised their quality has taken such a dive lately. Speaking of pocket rockets or high rev tuners...a car that has caught my eye lately is the new Scion coupe. Hard to fault Toyota these days. Anybody taken a good look at that car....lightweight, well built, nicely styled, and strong motor at a fair price. If I wasn't stuck in Detroit working in the auto industry, that car would be on top of my short list.
George

[DaCan23]

Scion TC looks like a decent little coupe... not bad for about $16k... recommended it to someone that was in the market for a small good quality car... comes out late June / early July

[TheGeak]

Jon: its an '89 VW Golf...

E36 is out of the question. I looked around, and it'd come with next to no warranty and would hurt my insurance pretty badly. The whole reason behind the new car is a warranty so i don't need to fix **** that goes wrong.

I drove 2 Focus's today, a ZX3 and a ZX4 as well as a ZTS yesterday...i thought the handling was pretty sharp. It wasn't like, Mini sharp, but it was responsive and firm. What year were you driving man, these were 2 04's and an 05.

I'm going to go check out the Golf now, there is a GTi in the area that they're asking $14,9 for (too high i think) There is also a Golf that i'm not sure what they're asking or what it comes with warranty wise.

Right now the Focus is a head above the rest...warranty, price, reliability (if you look into the recalls they were almost all '01 and '02 models...quality has gone up dramatically lately)....we'll see, the shop is on now!

Jason

[Martin in Bellevue]

A single professional guy with no kids in that town should drive a GTO, iff you don't swing for a ctsV. I spent about 18 hours on airplanes this past weekend, and about 4 different bland car mags report 29 mpg for the gto on the highway.

If you need a 4 cylinder, get an Elise, or an s2000.

Helping to spend friends' money for more than 30 years,
Martinator

[TimGinCentralNJ]

...who've had awful experiences with their cars. Fit 'n finish issues galore, and all with electrical problems. 1 was a leased Passat well within mileage/warrantee period with what behaved like bad fuel guage sending unit. VW wouldn't service it because they stated "it wasn't covered". Not sure if they were taking advantage simply b/c she was a woman, but between that and the rotten time I had with an '89 GTi-16v many moons ago, I've sworn off VWs.

Sure they look cool and are quite peppy, but who needs this kind of crap.

Just my $.02 YMMV.

Tim G.


My GF has a Passat turbo whom she got for a good price, low interest rate, therefore low mo payments and warranty from a dealer. Although the sales reps were really nice and painted a rosey picture about their track record on selling used certified cars with no customer complaints, and how good their service department is, I have been really dissappointed with those idiots with their poor service management. The bottom line, it's really hard to schedule the car for service because it seems like they run a backlog (maybe because of their incompentency) of cars that need repair so it takes for ever to get the car in for service... and if you want them to just troubleshoot it, dude forgot it... you'd die of old age. Not saying this is universal...

As for the car, although it handles great and has a good engine, it has been in for its fair amount of repair.

[Hector]

there have been times when the GF tries to schedule an appointment over the phone and they jack her around. This one is great... I'll try to make a long story short. The dealer is running a special on wheel alignment for $49. This is great, we thought. We're scheduled to take the car in on a weekday (I work half day), the car sits there for 1 full day, we call to check up on it to find they haven't done anything because their freaking machine has been down for a month. So (1) they don't call to inform us about this, we call them; and (2) hello!!! Thanks for not telling us over the phone the equipment was down when we made the appointment. *******s!! Like we don't need the car to go to work and such.

So the service idiot tells us that the machine will be up and running by end of week. My GF calls to schedule an appointment, the guy starts telling her that the machine is still down, all the while this guy has an attitude with her. While he's yaking away, the GF is frustrated and hands me over the phone. I catch some of the attitude and waited until the guy finish his line of BS. I was really pist at this time, as soon as he was done and heard my voice, the dude immediately changed his tone and began playing Mr. Nice Guy... man, I was fuming and gave him a piece of my mind. The rest is history.

[rickm]

I wonder it the few who have purchased a Phaeton get the same service?

Hector, the shop we go to have a female service leader who handles all scheduling. They're a small (6 bay) shop, service couldn't be any better. A former coworker of mine's wife went to work at a Saturn stealership, she got a cut off of everything. I do barter for my repair work, they screw me up they'll get theirs and then some. :) (It will never come to that with these guys.)

[Unregistered]

Jon: its an '89 VW Golf...

E36 is out of the question. I looked around, and it'd come with next to no warranty and would hurt my insurance pretty badly. The whole reason behind the new car is a warranty so i don't need to fix **** that goes wrong.

I drove 2 Focus's today, a ZX3 and a ZX4 as well as a ZTS yesterday...i thought the handling was pretty sharp. It wasn't like, Mini sharp, but it was responsive and firm. What year were you driving man, these were 2 04's and an 05.

I'm going to go check out the Golf now, there is a GTi in the area that they're asking $14,9 for (too high i think) There is also a Golf that i'm not sure what they're asking or what it comes with warranty wise.

Right now the Focus is a head above the rest...warranty, price, reliability (if you look into the recalls they were almost all '01 and '02 models...quality has gone up dramatically lately)....we'll see, the shop is on now!

Jason

it was the '04 Focus loaded model.. 4 door. Don't you remember? I had it as a rental and wrote "FIZZOCUS" across the front of it?

[George Mann]

at the GTO...haven't driven one but stopped at the dealer and kicked a few tires...a nice car. Grew up building the original ones in the late 60's....couple of my friends had them. Nicest Goat we built go stolen off the top of Cobo Hall when we were at the Auto show down in Detroit....many moons ago...broke my buddies' heart. I still remember building his engine in his garage to this day. Am frankly a bit surprised how benign the styling is on the new GTO....particularly for a Pontiac. Pretty remarkable about the mileage you can get with that Corvette engine. Seems like they sip gas if you aren't too heavy into the throttle. I should probably just go pay cash for a new C6 but I want to retire early :-)
Stay off them airplanes man....
George

[DaCan23]

If people who got VW's knew a thing or two I'd be surprised if the company would survive... ya the engines last, ya they may have some appeal.... but electrical issues are endless and every little non-operational thing on the car breaks starting on day one... Just think about this.... how many VW's do u see (1 month to 2 yrs old) driving w/ a light out in the back... Audi's too... if you cant even get that right.... anyone gettin the clue I hate VW's? LOL

[George Mann]

and loved the car. One of the best balanced FWD cars I have driven. Everything about the car felt right and light including the steering and gearbox. But I did burn up an alternator on the car even back then :-)
Sounds as though VW has taken a bit of a dive based upon everybodies' input.
Having designed steering for VW in the early 90's, they wouldn't change a single thing in favor of reducing cost...if they could use a bushing, they would still spec a needle bearing....almost drove them into bankruptcy when the Japanese started to make a hard run. Times have changed. When the Japanese started kicking their butts their business culture had to change to survive. The key is striking the elusive balance between quality and cost....very tough to do in the competitive car world.
George

[Hector]

and the service was great! She was good and organized, and ran a tight ship but she quit. This place has gone through 4 different owners in the last 2 years. I wonder way. We'd go to a different dealer but don't want to drive 30 mi for the next nearest one.

About the Phaeton--a 60 to $75k, I believe--well I wouldn't be surprised if they got special treatment. The Toureg owners did. The GF got to know the courtesy van driver, and he said that Toureg owners got the treatment on top of getting loaner cars. We got a loaner car but was like pulling teeth...

I'm still being patient and waiting for the reports to come in on the reliability of the hybrids. They got lots of potential. I was hoping that gas prices continue to rise so that more people would give hybrids more consideration. Until then, I'm thinking about trading in my Mazda for the Mazda 3 Sport 5-door. That is one nifty-looking ride.

[rickm]

and the service was great! She was good and organized, and ran a tight ship but she quit. This place has gone through 4 different owners in the last 2 years. I wonder way. We'd go to a different dealer but don't want to drive 30 mi for the next nearest one.

I think the owner of this place would break out the checkbook if she even thought about quitting. :) She's been there...jeez...5 years if not more.


Until then, I'm thinking about trading in my Mazda for the Mazda 3 Sport 5-door. That is one nifty-looking ride.

Yup, I saw one a few weeks ago that looked good. Decent car. A coworker of mine opted for a Vibe over the Mazda 3...my 5yo could take that Poncho off the line. :) Last Poncho he had was falling apart at 5 years old. :P The new RX8s are pretty rides, too.

[ryan roopnarine]

geak, i'm partial to the small-wide car myself......Inline 6 engine, 22 gallon gas tank, RWD, just like your m5!

http://plaza.ufl.edu/rroopnar/ad-introducing-the-first-wide-small-car.jpg

[TheGeak]

gimme gimme gimme!! where can i buy one of these beautiful machines?!