Perception and reality are often very different. If the reaction I got from friends and co-workers is any indication, Ford has some perception issues to deal with with the 2008 Ford Focus.

“Nice looking car. How much? 25 grand? Why buy that when a Civic is so much cheaper?”

When did people get the perception that Honda’s are cheap? In Canada, the base Civic sedan lists for $16,990. Compare that to $15,999 for the entry level Focus. Our tester was far from entry level, having been jammed full of every option conceivable at this level. The msrp on our little silver sedan was a lofty $24,764 before freight and pdi. Just for fun, I decided to do a little number crunching on the Honda site. All I can say is, Wow! To get all the stuff that was in our Focus, you have to begin with a Civic EXL and then start adding options. By the time you have all the goodies the matched up, you have a Civic that sells for $31,175!

Now that we’ve got a firmer grip on reality, we can get on with life with the Focus on the road.
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