2012 Ford Focus

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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby Yak » Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:55 pm

Modstock wrote:Walk away from it imediately . These cars have always had motor mount issues from day one. We had one for our DD . although it was a good commuter , we replaced motor-mounts on it 3X . I would not advise to even tow with it. The car is not designed to tow . You'll be much happier with a mid-sized SUV with a 6cyl at least. 4 bangers are not up to the job of towing and you'll be in the way of whoever is behind you . Just a piece of experience im sharing.

No motor mount issues on the new ones
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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby TimC » Mon Jul 06, 2015 7:27 am

Yak, good posts. If I had to tow 1200# (trailer) and probably another 600 lbs of me and gear in the vehicle, would a Ranger be a good balance of power, MPGs and braking? I really want to try a Ranger again, but, I had transmission problems with my last one (mid eighties) when they had a French transmission that the dealer here told me was faulty. I don't want to spend more than $5k on a used one, so...

What other smaller vehicle from Ford would be good choices? Thanks.
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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby Yak » Mon Jul 06, 2015 7:55 pm

TimC wrote:Yak, good posts. If I had to tow 1200# (trailer) and probably another 600 lbs of me and gear in the vehicle, would a Ranger be a good balance of power, MPGs and braking? I really want to try a Ranger again, but, I had transmission problems with my last one (mid eighties) when they had a French transmission that the dealer here told me was faulty. I don't want to spend more than $5k on a used one, so...

What other smaller vehicle from Ford would be good choices? Thanks.


A Ranger with a 4.0 liter should do the trick, MPG, not so much. 1800# is closer to 2000 with adults and some fudge factor, that's more than my old popup. $5k here in East Pa gets you something with 150,000 or more. As for something else small, Ranger is about it.
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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby rowerwet » Wed Jul 08, 2015 3:24 pm

Only lawyer baloney keeps the focus from towing in the US. As you can see we tow with our 2012. 78,000 miles and no issues. Inside the tear we take two bikes, Webber Q grill, commercial grade ez up, etc. The car and six speed handle it like nothing is there.
Before this I towed with our 2001 focus, that car got pushed around when stopping.
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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby TimC » Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:20 pm

rowerwet, Do you know what your dry weight of your tear is? Also, what height is your receiver on the Focus (the top of the 2" or 1 1/4" hole). I'm trying to figure out what kind of riser or drop I might need. With my trailer level the top of the hitch ball inside the coupler would come in at about 16 3/4". I don't have a hitch for my Focus, still contemplating that...
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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby Yak » Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:26 pm

I'm not a lawyer and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn, just gave my opinion based on personal daily repair experience. If you have a 2012 that hasn't had a clutch replaced or any trans work or programming consider yourself very lucky. If anyone else want's to tow with a Focus, YMMV
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Re: 2012 Ford Focus

Postby rowerwet » Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:25 am

Yak- we bought it used as a rental or lease turn in with 12k on it already, it is my daily driver. Had the new clutch software loaded last year at the dealership. If we had the cash I would've gotten the anti-theft model (standard). Dealer doesn't sell those used. :(
TimC- not sure what it weighs, currently it is on a torflex axle rated for 1500 lbs. The axle moves any time we get in and out so we must be around 1k in camping trim ( my guess).
The kayak on the car roof is 65 lbs, even with all that weight and drag we saw 28-30 mpg at 65 mph.
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