With a high total cost of ownership, one can't help but feel rather surprised by Sime Darby Motor Division's claim that the Ford's popularity is going up in Malaysia. Perhaps when you have an increase in sales, no matter how meagre, such a claim may be justified, if only barely.
Having owned a Ford Focus S2.0 for slightly over 3 years, I can attest to the fact that the car is really expensive to repair or maintain. While it doesn't need repairs very often, when the occasion warrants it, the bill can easily come up to thousands of ringgit.
Just a few months back, I had to replace a faulty left-front-side brake calipers along with disc and pads. Guess how much I was set back by? A whopping RM3,900!
What the hell? If I wanted to spend that much on repairs or maintenance, I would have bought a BMW or a Mercedes.
So, I really can't see why a lot of people would consider Ford to be "popular".
Why did I buy mine? Well, looking back, I was simply too happy to buy my Ford Focus S2.0, because I'm a Ford Focus enthusiast. Beyond that, I think I would have bought something else if I really considered how much the repair bills would amount to.
Would I still recommend buying a Ford? Well, on the balance, I would, provided you're an enthusiast like me.
You see, the Focus S2.0 is comparable in performance to the BMW 32oi, if not better. It costs less than half the BMW 320i to own.
So, while you may end up paying as much to repair or maintain the Focus S2.0 or some other new Ford for that matter, you're getting performance on the cheap.
For now, I can live with that.
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