Looked at this same issue a couple of years back. The wife was driving my Bronco to work and the gas bill was more than she wanted to spend and she was tired of the BIG Bronco. We looked at most everything in an econobox- Kia, Hyundai, GM, Ford, etc in both new and used cars. We bought a used 2006 ZX4 SE Ford Focus. It's among the rare small cars that I fit in and comfortably I might add. I'm 6'4". The 2.0 Duratec engine has been a stellar engine for quite a while with a long reliable history. The platform for the old Focus and the new Focus are the exact same, just different sheetmetal so it has a long history and that history has been great. It's a comfy riding car and has more giddy up than I thought an econobox would have. Fuel mileage with me driving it is 32-34 town and 44-45 hiway, but I usually get better fuel mileage than most folks. If yer old enough to remember the Mobil Economy Run, my grand dad and I raced in it so I know how to milk fuel mileage. Like any of the econoboxes, you have to be careful about what tires you run on it or expect loads of road noise. Otherwise, in the 60+ thousand miles we've had it we've spent money on brakes and gas and oil- that's it. It still drives like a new one and looks like a new one. We did have the windows tinted for our Texas heat so the A/C will absolutely run you out of it on high when the temps are 100F+. We will be replacing the Bridgestone tires sometime this summer. They were a 50,000 mile tire and still have a lot tred left but they are showing aging cracks. They're getting noisy anyway and considering the wife is one that she drives all the way to a red light at speed and then slams on the brakes only to hammer the gas on take off, she needs great tires under her if it rains. Honestly, considering her driving habits, it's a wonder anything holds up under her but the Focus is still pretty bulletproof. Kinda like a Timex, takes a beatin and keeps on tickin". Give one a look see. You might just fall in love.
