Ford Focus LV (2009-2011)

Reliable Little Family Car – I use this car every single day - she's been on road trips from Melbourne to QLD and back and not skipped a beat. Bought second-hand through Grays Online at only 80,000kms she's been a fabulous family car for us. All of the interior is great and hasn't cracked or come apart. Only thing I would say is that there's a metal plate in the boot that… Read more

means that when you pull the back seats forward it's not completely open so if you have a large item you want to fit in the boot and flatten the back seats you may not be able to fit it in.

A Fabulous Advertisement for Ford's Competitors – Went car shopping in 2010. The Ford Focus XR-5 had a fantastic motor - Volvo's 5 pot 2.5 litre turbo and really supportive comfortable seats by Ricardo so it felt GREAT to drive at the dealers. I bought it new but within 3 weeks the problems started. Too many to remember but here's a summary: 1. Regularly just failed to start. Dead. You had to… Read more

wait up to 20 minutes for it's electrics to decide they'd wake up. 2. It was a 6 speed manual. Several times I found I was locked out of anything higher than 4th due to the 'tone wheel' (sends pulses to determine speed) fault. Also had no speedo reading during this problem. 3. For a sports model, the gearbox was like that of a tractor. Changing into 2nd and 4th took ages which killed the idea of having a great motor. My old Kingswood had a quicker box. 4. Clutch - the 'take-up' point varied from day to day and was so sudden that stalling was a regular event. I've driven manuals for many years. Nothing ever like this. 5. In winter: Windscreen 'demister' caused windows to fog up in an temperature less than 15 degrees no matter what settings I tried. I had to keep a wad of paper towels in the dashboard. 6. In summer: Air conditioner was pathetic. Unable to lower the cabin temperature by more than about 3 degrees. Useless on hot days. 7. Numerous small problems like sound system fading and distorting once the car warmed up, endless rattles and squeaks, leaking window seals, strange noises, shocking tyre wear with gentle driving (25,000 ks max) plus there were several small but noticeable scratches on my car when delivered new which the dealer claimed I must have done. 8. The attitude of Ford's service department was almost comically bad. They denied anything was wrong until you went with a drive with them and pointed out obvious faults like "It won't get past 4th gear" It reminded me of Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch "He's not dead. He's just resting"

After 18 months I traded it for a bog-standard Honda Civic which has proven to be a vastly better car - not as ferocious, but a far more enjoyable experience to own. I wouldn't touch Ford again after that experience.

Flimsy interiors – The interior is flimsy plastic with inner door being able to be pulled off easily, lower seat area breaking ans basically feeling like the whole thing can fall appart. Ive never had a car with such flimsy interiors. Otherwise drives nicely with enough power for a small car. Show details

Wouldn’t buy another one ever again – When I first got this car it was great until I had to get engine mounts replaced. Then my Bluetooth stopped working and I was told it would be $1200 to replace the whole system. My car actually came with a scratch in the interior and nobody did anything about it. I paid extra for paint protection however now my paint is fading on the top… Read more

and on the bonnet and around the whole car. I have called ford numerous times and have always been transferred to different people every time. The paint protection company is MING and they need a copy of the contract of sale - don’t know why because I have all the certificates and other paperwork except for that as I have thrown it out. After calling ford 4 times I am now waiting for the archives team to look for the contract of sale. The inside of my passenger door is starting to fall off. I will never buy another Ford again. Overall the customer service is non existent when I have had a problem.

Power assist malfunction!!!!! – Hi everyone.need help power steering asist malfunction 2011 Ford Focus Trend 5dr Hatchback 2.0turbo Semi-Auto light on been told by ford 4500 to repair is this a joke!!!!!I hav done some research and it is a common fault as I can see with everyone elses complaints purchased off a Holden dealer 18months ago it's done 82000 which is not much any help would be greatly appreciated never again ford!!!!!!  Show details

good car – Got my ford focus at the beginning of the year been great there is heaps of legroom great glovebox but poorly designed bonnet when you hit the bonnet not very hard the bonnet locks so you can't unlock it the noise is a bit noisy but you get over it in awhile  Show details

Very Economical Car – I have had my focus since new. It hasn't missed a beat. I have a Manual Sedan with leather seats the LX LV. I like the heavy feeling of the doors they are not light and tinny sounding like some of the other cars I looked at. The one thing I cannot stand is that it does not have a rear interior light. This is SOOOOO frustrating when you have young kids and trying to get them into their car seats at night time you literally cannot see.  Show details

Great to drive,though has unresolved issues – We chose this car for the leg room front and back and the very comfortable seating,also the voice command phone and radio.The radio always returns to a particular station when the ignition is turned off.The usb has never worked. The glovebox light would stay on.Its always a struggle to place the car in reverse.The tyre well fills with water… Read more

through the left rear light fitting.After 5 years at 50'000 the cruise control has stopped worrking and the passenger window has to be over ridden each time it is opened or it wont close after opening.There is red lighting everywhere except important places like the door handles and most important at night the cruise control on the steering wheel.Otherwise a great 2LT car with metal bonnet and doors.Good enough for the Pope to be chauffeured in.

Good all round car – Good car for the money. Has excellent driving attributes, the handling, steering, suspension, etc are top notch. Engine is adequate for the car although the auto transmission can be a bit indecisive at times. Good room for front seat passengers and although the interior is plain, it is functional and my example is well put together. Negatives… Read more

include slightly intrusive road and engine noise at higher speeds and weak A/C on very hot and humid days. Although I've only had it for a year, I have had no problems thus far and hope to get many more years out of it, as it has proved itself to be a great car.

Great Little Euro style Hatch – 3 Months in and I'm as pleased as ever. After much research we decided on LV Mk II as very best of older shape with features like Bluetooth stereo. Picked Zetec over LX for the improved handling after driving examples of both. Found the 'Fishnet' seat fabric standard to Zetec felt like sandpaper so searched for leather seats and found almost all… Read more

examples still in V Good to Excellent condition. With Bridgestone RE-003 this is a fantastic handling car. The very tight chassis would easily handle the extra torque in RS and XR5 models. I compromised on power with the 2.0l engine but have found enough pep to be satisfied and am pleased to return around 7.3l/100km.

The down side - Not many examples, so a bit hard to find, few in wreckers yards to get 2nd hand parts from like replacing the dodgy wheel nut covers, - No workshop manual for LV, let alone a quality publication. - Largely in boring colours like light and dark grey (silver & titanium), some examples are showing signs of paint fade, - Not the qiuckest engine in class.

The up side - Extremely safe especially for a small car, - Very competent handling will put a smile on the face of all but the fussiest of enthusiast drivers, - Bristling with clever features, sadly not climate control Aircon, - comfortable interior with cavernous hatch boot, - South African manufacturers have managed to re-create European build quality, - Shares engine and many brake, steering and front suspension components with more common BK Mazda 3 as well as parts with Volvo S40 & V50, - Zetec models haven't been discovered/thrashed by boy racers.

Well worth the long hunt to find. Get some decent tyres on and go find a twisty section of road!

Diesel seems the way to go – Bought the car 12 months ago with 25,000 km's on clock. First thing I did was drop the oil and refilled with shell fully synthetic (meeting ford specs) as well as both oil and air filter. Although the oil was new I don't trust dealers nor do I like the price of there servicing cost. I say this because I can service it for at least half the asking… Read more

price at the dealership.

Overall the car is great plenty of torque and the 6 speed manual box is awesome. I hear so many disappointed people with the petrol versions, I guess when you have nearly twice the amount of torque the drive line must be heavy duty or else.

The TDCi comes with all the fruit and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good reliable car which they are going to own short or long term. I am not one to trade in every 3 years and hope to look after it and have it 20 years at least.

Steer Clear – This review is for the lx 2010 focus Auto (Designed in Germany, made in South Africa). I'm not really one who puts in his two cents, but after having owned a focus for more than 3 years from new, I feel my input my might be of some value. I'll start off with design exterior. Firstly the cars body is very good looking at most angles and… Read more

certainly has its charms, but after you've looked past that it's the little things that bug you after a while. Like the way you open the bonnet, the car does not have an interior latch so you can't pop it open with ease. Instead you have to swivel the badge on the front end of your car counter clockwise (which exposes a lock) and unlock the bonnet with your car key. The same can also be said about the boot (again no interior latch) which is operable only by key fob or key physical and you probably don't have to guess, the filler lid is sort of the same only you have to insert your key into the ignition for you to be able to open it (Which means some smart alec could open your tank at a stop light and siphon your fuel).

Now the interior Design. It's not much better here either. Again little things, but a lot of em. let's start with cup holders, their positioned vertically aligned at your hip so reaching (or rather twisting) for you drink can be terribly uncomfortable and to make matters worse, the armrest console lid obstructs the rear cup holder (Which was pretty much inaccessible in the first place).The interior dash is very basic and doesn't leave much to be desired and looks as though it was copied from an older falcon. Moving on to the stereo, it's a decent unit that produces good sound, but then stupid design comes back into play and you find out your Auxillary input is located in the glove box of all places.(which is a terrible place to keep it, unless you like having damaged cables). Now for the position of the seats, I'm a tall guy, so this might be a personal issue but sitting in the driver seat makes you feel like your sitting on a high chair and that when it is on the lowest setting!

All round quality. Mechanically this car ran great, never had any big problems with it apart from the gear shift handle popping out unexpectedly one day. One of my gripes is the RHD conversion, it's not the left hand indicator that bothers me, but the handbrake being on the passenger side!. the seats are uncomfortable and not very conforming. There were a lot of Big gaps between buttons on the steering wheel and other places(i.e not very straight) and a lot of visible grease in between crevices probably left from the factory. Now for the worst thing I can say about this, is the paint. Moonlight silver was my colour and after more than three years of ownership and 45000 ks, after my warranty expired, paint started to peel in various places. So before things got worse, I fixed it and sold it.

I chose this vehicle because I was after a comfortable reliable commuter hothatch that can deliver on power and handling, but dissapointingly fails the relaible/comfortable part ( it delivers the other two very well though).The person who designed this car obviously did not have a clear understanding of ergonomics and so my conclusion is that this car was built on a small budget without the driver in mind and if you are considering buying one, refer to the title.

Exceptional trouble free drive – We have two (2) Focus 2010 LX Sedan Auto 4 speed petrol LV Series in the family, both purchased new in 2010. The wife has recently completed her 75000km service and I am about to have my 60000km service done in a weeks time. Both vehicles have been diligently serviced at the recommended intervals. No complaints with our local Ford service center… Read more

in Cardiff. Wife does 80km round trip for work each week day. I do a lot less. We usually use my car for longer trips for holidays or to visit the kids in Sydney. We live in the Hunter region. Living in a regional area means a lot less Sydney city traffic to contend with but consequently much more open road driving at higher speeds. We have had not one jot of trouble with either vehicle for the entire time we have owned them. The car is well balanced, handles well, good brakes, smooth ride and pretty good fuel mileage (on average about 7.7l/100km). We have only ever used 95 RON fuel. Cabin ambiance has a quality feel, uncluttered with lots of space. The vehicles are fully equipped with most of the extra's you could ever want or need. These vehicles have been very reliable and have given us an exceptional trouble free driving experience. Despite the age and mileage both vehicles still drive like new. So much so that we are reluctant to trade up to a later model.