David B

Reviewed a 2012 Ford SE Hatchback on Oct 22, 2012

Purchased this car in July of 2012 to replace my Jeep Cherokee. Was purchased for $17,500. Mine is an SE hatchback model with cruise control, Sync, Premium Stereo, LED parking lamps, and 15 inch wheels. This car gets amazing gas mileage, Im averaging 37mpg with mixed city and highway driving. I can get well over 40 on the highway on longer trips. And even mostly all around city driving will get me about 30. Im often going close to 2 weeks without filling up these days, the tank is small but that doesnt matter as it lasts 400+ miles! The car handles very nicely, unlike most electric power steering cars this one actually has road feel to it. In addition even though its a small car it absorbs the bumps on the highway extremely well, and the car is very quiet at highway speeds. The hatchback has great storage, and the stereo system sounds outstanding. Its not the fastest car out there, its small 1.6 liter engine only produces about 120HP but given that it only has about 2500 pounds to pull it has great pick up. When it comes to braking it stops on a dime. The interior quality is high. The interior has few hard plastics, no shiny plastics, and few panel gaps. I only have a few minor complaints about this car. The front seats dont recline, the back seat is small, and the stereo system takes some time to adjust to the layout is awkward at first. The visibility is good for its class, far better than the Hyundai Accent/Kia Rio which has horrendous rear visibility. Updated 8/16/2016. I traded this vehicle in with 75000 miles on it. Over the course of those 75000 miles and 4 years of ownership it gave me virtually no problems outside of breaking down once due to a grounding issue that was repaired for free under warranty and the sound system failing on me which was repaired under the extended warranty. Overall this car was an outstanding little car one just would have to get used to the odd quirks of the Ford Powershift Transmission.