2007 Ford Focus

I've had my 2007 Focus 5-Door since July of the respective year. Since then I've found that it's not all that bad of a car, but I would have preferred something else, possibly even by a different manufacturer. I think it's important to note that I did not have a choice in the matter; while it was my money used to pay for the car, I was not allowed a say-so in the matter (long story). I remember the car being a little under $15,000 MSRP, and I was able to use one of the plans (can’t remember if it was A, Z, or X) since I have an uncle that works for Ford. But somehow the car still managed to come out to over $18,000. At first I really enjoyed the car. It seemed to have decent gas mileage and handle well. As time goes on I find the gas mileage is not as high as it used to be, and is way under what the manufacturers are claiming (it gets about 25 mpg highway, when they say it can get up to 37 mpg). My car only has just less than 26,000 miles on it, and I recently just had to replace one of the tires. When I was doing this, I was also told that the other 3 tires are extremely worn and that he (the mechanic) has never seen those factory tires last passed around 30,000 miles. The handling of my car has decreased and has begun pulling to the right pretty bad even if my tires all have accurate pressure, so it needs an alignment already. This car is not the greatest at handling winter weather conditions either. I consistently find my car sliding when it is snowy or icy out. Since the car is low to the ground, if there are more than a few inches of snow on the ground, it can easily get stuck. I find that the headlights are not as bright as I would like them, especially in comparison to other vehicles. The car has enough room for me. I enjoy the hatchback because I can take things from the backseat and easily put them in the trunk without the hassle of taking them out of the car first. One thing I dislike about my Focus is that even if the fan is off in the car, there is still are blowing in through the vents. Also I would recommend changing the windshield wiper blades because they don't work very well. Another con is if you need any repairs on this car, which I have, the replacement costs are very expensive. You could easily spend more on collision repairs than you did on the entire car in the first place. I would say overall the car is okay, but had I had a say in my decision, I would have found something else in the same price range. I would recommend this car to anyone looking for something cheap with semi-decent gas mileage. It's a good compact car for small families.