Places to Go

My 2007 Focus SES

When my Mazda3 died in September of 2010, I was forced to buy a daily driver, as the engine needed to be replaced, and the car was too old and had too many miles to be worth spending thousands of dollars to repair it. My original plan had been to keep the Mazda3 for at least another year, and then buy a new, third generation Ford Focus 4-door hatchback ("5-door"). Unfortunately, the new Focus, a 2012 model, is not available until early 2011, probably first thing February.

I was lucky enough to go to Signature Ford of Perry, MI, where I had such great experiences with my 2001 Focus ZX3. I test drove a 2011 Fiesta and a 2011 Focus SES. The Fiesta was a great car to drive (the only drawback being slightly numb steering), but too narrow for me. The 2011 Focus was tediously dull to drive, feeling completely isolated from the driving experience. I like the Fusion, but it would have been too expensive and not gotten the kind of gas mileage I was looking for (at least 35 mpg on the highway as rated on the window sticker).

The salesman knew that if he didn't do something, I was going to go to the Volkswagon dealer, and probably end up with a Golf TDi or a GTI. He knew that what I really wanted was a 2012 Focus hatchback. So, they offerred me a deal: to buy the 2007 Focus SES with manual transmission they had on the lot, at their cost (over $2,000 off the window price), and agree to buy it back from me early next year at a prearranged price and mileage so that I could get a 2012 Focus, which I ordered shortly after the 2012 Focus "Build & Price" site was up, on October 29, 2010.

I agreed to the deal. My 2007 Focus SES was much more engaging to drive than the 2011 SES I test drove, although the stereo is not as good, and doesn't have iPod synchronization or an external auxiliary port. That was a hard one for me to deal with, as I was spoiled by the Alpine I installed in my Mazda3, which had full control of an iPod via USB cable. I was used to having all of my music accessible to me at all times, and I listen to several podcats. But still, this Focus got good mileage and is reasonably fun to drive. I took delivery of my 2012 Focus on May 24, 2011, and traded the 2007 Focus SES back to them.