No, not one $70k Focus, that would be insane. Rather, this is a personal journey of me apparently deciding that all I want to drive is the Ford Focus.
It started innocently enough back in 2010, when we picked up a 2003 Focus Wagon. It looked like this:
It was an automatic, which I wasn't terribly fond of, but it did great as a car shaped car. Since we had a 1 year old and soon to had another on the way, it did its job admirably. It even converted my wife to a wagon lover (I needed no such persuasion). We drove it through 2017 when we moved from Ohio to South Carolina and it needed essentially nothing the whole time. We sold it right before we moved and my wife snagged a 2018 Elantra once we landed in SC.
We took my 2010 Scion XD when we moved. A few months later in 2018, I managed to total it when I made a turn I thought was clear. I was wrong. I had just moved out of retail and was starting at my current job, so I was both strapped for cash and in desperate need of a car. In walking distance to our Charleston apartment was a Carmax, which is where I found myself purchasing this 2012 base hatch with an auto. Somehow, I took 0 pictures of it, but it was just like this:
The car itself was fine, but the automatic was the biggest pile of garbage I've ever had the displeasure of interacting with. It was borderline dangerous. I would absolutely not recommend any Focus or Fiesta with an auto unless you hate the person who will be driving it. Like really hate them. Wish them harm hate them.
After a few years the apocalypse came and my company went fully remote. My salary had increased to the point that I could afford something fun, and I always wanted a Focus ST. In 2021 I found myself back at the local Carmax, where I picked up this 2017 ST in white. I actually hate white as a car color but it was a 1 owner with all of the options I wanted:
It was absolutely a fun car. Faster and nicer than anything I'd previously owned. Charleston is kind of a crap town if you're into driving, but working remote gave me the mobility to go wherever I wanted. We ended up in Rural VA, about 45 minutes west of VIR. Twisty roads in the Appalachian foothills are definitely a way more fun place to drive. I installed a blowoff valve because I'm a ricer at heart but otherwise left it completely stock. To be honest I did basically 0 fun events with it. No autocross or anything. Just a fun DD.
Earlier this year I realized that the trade in on the ST was more than I thought it would be and interest rates were lower. Sooooooo.....
I'm now the owner of a black 2017 Focus RS with 55k under its belt. I really wanted it in blue but so does everyone else. Like the ST, I saw a one owner with the options I wanted and went for it. I definitely prefer black to white. I've only put 100 or so miles on it but this is looking like an awesome time. The exhaust popping is worth every penny to me (once again, ricer) and getting the back end loose on a hatchback is wild. I had the recaro seats in my ST and don't really notice a huge difference in the RS. I'm 6'2" and 220 pounds and I find them super comfortable. The suspension is as stiff as they say, but since I only drive 3000 or so miles a year these days I can live with that.
No real plans. I need winter tires and I'll surely pop on a blow off valve and mud flaps (for real, I'm just an old ricer) but otherwise it'll stay stock. As it's now the family car it needs to reliable haul the now teenagers around. I do plan on immediately hitting some local autocrosses when then season ramps up though, it should be a hoot.
