My beloved 1997 Mercury Tracer was destroyed in an accident over Fourth of July weekend 2000, so I had to go out and buy another car. I had my eye toward the new Ford Focus, and I test-drove one and loved it. However, the price of a new car was pretty steep. I stumbled across a slightly used (3200 miles on it) light sapphire blue Ford Focus SE that was $2500 under book, so I took it. I'd say my review of it is mixed.

Okay, let's be clear: it does feel cool to be driving around in the Next Big Thing. Since the car is new for model year 2000, everyone knows I have a new car when I drive around. I've even had people stop and ooh and ahh over my car. And I do like it. It's definitely a step up from my Tracer, although there was nothing wrong with that car. It has power locks (standard on the SE) and keyless entry, and doesn't have a feature I strongly dislike--power windows. The radio sounds great, and actually has a feature on it that adjusts the volume to account for the environment, such as road and engine noise. The seats are supportive, the car is well laid out and ungodly roomy inside and the ride is solid. When I was waiting for my settlement, the rental car place gave me a POS 2000 Dodge Neon that shook like a willow to the point that the tape in the deck almost slid out of the dash, so I do notice these things. The transmission does tend to "search" every once in a while. I had to take it in for a minor adjustment and they said the trannie is shifting normally, however. The brake rotors did need to be turned, which is definitely odd for a car that only had 3000 miles on it. Since I'm getting married soon, one other feature is nice: the back seat has clips to hold a seatbelt for a car seat. The trunk is big.

Okay, so what don't I like about it? The 110-hp engine can be a bit underpowered, a common problem with four-cylinder engines. If the AC is on it's sometimes hard to merge in city traffic, but that was a problem with the Tracer, too (it also had a 110-hp engine). The trunk doesn't always shut right, meaning the button to pop the trunk from inside the car doesn't always work. You have to slam the trunk really hard to get it to close. The styling is a little odd. I guess I just miss the commonality of my old car. :)

Would I buy it again? Sure. Should you? It's not a car for everyone, but it may be the car for you.