TenSpeedV2

I traded my 2013 Mustang GT in on this 2017 Ford Focus ST. Rear seats fold down completely flat. Has a ton of cargo space. 58cm road bike fits with the front wheel off easily. Could fit another one on top with a moving blanket. Has the ability to add a roof rack if you want. Nicely equipped, decent mileage so far, turbo.....and the only available transmission for this model, a 6 speed manual.

CrankyOne

The firings are a non-issue. It was less than 1% of their workforce and something that most companies do. The difference here is that it was all done at once rather than spread throughout the year.

The production rate was indeed disappointing based on the 1500 projection. OTOH, Tesla's time to market from beginning design as well as their production ramp so far to 250 is massively higher than other car manufacturers. You have to take Musk's projections with a grain of salt, even according to Musk himself. He sets obnoxiously high impossible goals and knows that they very often won't make the goal. It's not the way I've done things from a mgmt standpoint, but then again I've not built an automobile manufacturer, rocket company, and other enterprises that have totally upended major industries with what most thought were impossibly high barriers to entry.

Keep in mind that the Model S has taken 31% of the large luxury sedan market and have clobbered resale values of all other cars in the segment. The Model X is solidly on track for similar results in the luxury SUV segment. And half a million deposits for Model 3's? GM, BMW, and every other manufacturer except Subaru are quickly retooling design, engineering, and production to begin producing electric cars - all in response to Tesla. As Audi's CEO said "Once someone drives electric they'll never go back to petrol, we don't want to keep loosing customers to Tesla."

P.T. Barnum did build quite an enterprise. Sad to see it close this year after 176 years. :-)

Grand Bois

Nice, but too many doors!

TenSpeedV2

ST only comes in 5 door as pictured as do all of the Focus hatch models now I believe. Already had a 2003 Focus SVT 3 door and that didn't have enough doors. 2 door cars, such as the Mustang, Eclipse, and Trans Am that I had previously were great, until you wanted to haul stuff to include people. Not easy to access for cargo or people. This is really ideal, especially for biking.

king_boru

The Honda Fit. Amazing little car. I don't have one but the wife works at a Honda dealer and the stuff they get in that car amazes me. I actually want one, a manual, which I think would be an awesome city runabout.

She actually drives a Subaru Forester (the pinnacle of utility SUV's IMHO) and my bikes fit in the trunk/boot/hatch with the front wheel off.

If that isn't around I throw (gently) bikes in the box of my truck. Which obviously fits a lot more than that.

hobbs1951

My Wife's everyday car is an 06 Focus wagon with the 2.0 Ecotec (petrol engine). Maintenance costs are low (has a camchain), fuel economy is good (50 mpg on a run) and it is quite fast = fun/torquey.

Best of all I can stand a bike upright inside with wheels out - I've created a device to stand the bike on so it slides in and out easily - quite tall in the back for the size of car.

A couple of my old timer friends have small vans - Fiat Doblo/Renault Kangoo...often called people carriers here !!!

John.

N.B other bike hauler is a 1986 Volvo 740 estate (family owned from new - oldest one in England).

luddite_68

Mini Cooper Clubman S (British racing green of course) carries my road bike, no issues.

fietsbob

Tesla S .. lots of cargo space because there is no petrol motor..









....

PaulRivers

My 2009 Prius fits a bike in the back without taking the front wheel off. I've also fit 2 bikes plus luggage in the back, though that took more time and involved taking parts off the bikes (front wheel and pedals).

If you don't want a hybrid, the new Honda Civic Hatchback looked nice.

As others have said, if you just have 1 bike you should be able to fold down the rear seats, take off the front wheel, and fit the bike inside the trunk(ish) on your midsize sedan as well.

mrodgers

Test drove one when I was hunting for a regular Focus to test with a manual. Drives fantastic. I just don't think I could live with that horrid ugly Focus interior. Loved that turbo though. I ended up moving out of the turbo Jetta into a Mazda3 so I really miss that turbo.

Told the guy it was definitely out of my price budget and I was only going for a ride for fun, but if he wanted to sell a car and could come down any more, my budget could go up. He wouldn't budge on the $23k price (which was reasonable) so thanked him and went on my way.

TenSpeedV2

Focus ST1's are currently going for about 19k after rebates. They are trying to move them out. This is the "base" version, no leather, no sunroof, no fancy stereo. That is what I ended up in because I didn't feel like paying the extra money. As for the interior, it took about 5 minutes for it to grow on me. Actually really like it after having it for almost a month now. Previously had a 2003 Focus SVT purchased new and loved the hell out of that car. Ended up in something a bit nicer and then onto another car but am honestly happy to be back in a Focus again. Cargo room for days. Fun to drive, peppy acceleration and a decent ride. Pretty damn happy with my purchase so far. Oh, and the bike fits in with plenty of room to spare which really is one of the reasons I bought it.