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If the new 2011 VW Jetta is any indication, VW appears to be trying to move to the low end of the market, the opposite of where Hyundai is moving.

Note that the Elantra Touring hatchback / wagon is a different car from both the old Elantra sedan and the new Elantra sedan (and was not redesigned for 2011). But it is relatively thirsty for its size, due to its older tech engine and low gearing. Consumer Reports finished testing a new Elantra sedan (automatic). Although its EPA numbers of 29/40 are better than that of the Fiestas that they tested (manual 28/37, automatic 29/38), Consumer Reports did not get as good fuel economy in the Elantra as they did with the Fiestas. Still the Elantra did beat all of its class in Consumer Reports fuel economy tests except for the Civic Hybrid and the Corolla (which seemed to do a lot better in their fuel economy test than in the EPA, even though they thought it was a pretty dull driving car otherwise). Back to the new Focus, the summary of EPA fuel economy is: Manual: 26/36 Automatic: 28/38 Automatic with SFE: 28/40

Yes, Cruze fuel economy is: Eco manual: 28/42 Eco automatic: 26/37 LS manual: 26/36 LT/LTZ automatic: 24/36 LS automatic: 22/35

In the city, a manual driver can hypermile upshift to a greater degree than any car company would program an automatic for. However, the Fiesta's automatic has a higher top gear than the manual, so pure highway cruising gives better fuel economy with the automatic. Consumer Reports got 45mph highway with a Fiesta automatic but "only" 42mpg highway with a Fiesta manual -- their highway test is just a 65mph cruise.

According to this Ford press release, the 2012 Ford Focus with SFE package gets official EPA fuel economy ratings of 28/40. No mention of non-SFE EPA fuel economy ratings. The SFE package is available on the sedan with SE trim and automatic transmission.

Old VW Beetles did not have power steering or brakes. Of course, being light cars with rear engines helped, as did the large (by today's standards) steering wheels. Some Honda Civics up until 2000 had non-power steering. With small steering wheels, today's cars may be hard to handle if the power assist fails, especially by drivers of low physical fitness and strength.

To do that, an upshift light must be installed in the instrument panel, and a shift survey must be performed to see what percentage of drivers follow the upshift light. Then the EPA test is run with both the standard shift speeds (15, 25, 40, 45, 50 mph) and following the upshift light, and a weighted average taken based on the shift survey percentage.

Didn't one of the Mazda 2 predecessors show up in the US as the Ford Festiva? While the Festiva was built by Kia, the same basic design was built by Mazda and sold as the Mazda 121 in some other markets.

The Eco's forged aluminum wheels probably help lighten it. The Cruze has been around in other markets since about 2008. In those other markets, it has not gotten particularly good reviews, but most of the aspects where it gets panned are changed for the US (e.g. more sound insulation in non-Eco models to reduce noise, Watts Z-link in the rear suspension in non-Eco models for improved handling, 1.4L turbo engine for better drivability and fuel economy) or are aspects which the US market prefers (the Cruze was criticized for being a sedan in Europe reviews -- hatchbacks and wagons are preferred there). In the US, we may be used to getting cheapened or decontented cars in this class, compared to other markets. The Cruze is the opposite -- upgraded for the US.

Given that the owner's manual says that severe engine damage can occur if the timing belt is not changed on schedule, there is the implication that it is an interference engine. Timing belts do have some advantages, such as being lighter and quieter. Timing chains may last 2-3 times as long, but cost 2-3 times as much to replace when they are worn out. Usually, that means that timing chains will outlast most cars, which eventually die due to neglect, crashes, rust, etc.. At least one company (not Ford) had trouble with both belt and chain driven engines. Some belt driven engines tended to have timing belt failures before the replacement mileage, and the normal replacement involved a huge amount of labor. Some chain driven engines tended to have timing chain related parts fail, requiring a huge amount of labor to fix. Things were even worse if a failure resulted in valves hitting pistons.

How long does the battery in the stick-on SecuriCode keypad last?

Roadside assistance tow truck drivers can "slim jim" the door open on most vehicles. Also, batteries too weak to start the car may have enough to operate low power accessories like the power door locks. The smallest window is usually the least expensive to replace. But for a Ford specifically, you can check prices on http://www.fordparts.com .

If it is the stick-on type, it comes with one fixed code and one code that you can set to whatever you like. (Not sure if the built-in type is the same way.)

Access to the back seat is more difficult in a two-door car compared to a four-door car. Especially when it involves infants in bulky infant seats or elderly people of limited mobility.

According to the EPA test cycle descriptions, the EPA city test has 23 stops, with 18% of the time spent stopped. The air conditioning and cold weather tests also have 19% and 18% of their time stopped. The EPA highway test has only one stop, at the end of the test. The high speed test has 4 stops with 7% of the time spent stopped.

It should have an effect on city fuel economy (EPA and real world). 18% of the EPA city fuel economy cycle is spent stopped.

The Contour was supposed to be a size up from the Escort, and the Focus eventually replaced the Escort. But the Focus was actually bigger inside than the Contour. Chalk it up to size inflation over the years. Other cars have also grown over the years -- the Honda Accord grew from an EPA compact (or maybe even subcompact) class car of the 1970s to the EPA full size car of today. The 2012 Focus has about 3" less rear legroom than the 2011 Focus, according to the specs on Ford's web site. Total interior volume is about 91 ft^3 passenger, 13 ft^3 cargo for the sedan, compared to the 94 ft^3 passenger, 14 ft^3 cargo for the outgoing model. However, the hatchback's cargo room is larger than that of the old ZX3/ZX5 models (but smaller than the old wagon models). But note that the Focus' competition is continuing to get larger. The Cruze and Elantra nose into the EPA midsize class by interior room (actually, even the 2007 Elantra nosed into the EPA midsize class).

Usually, the brands that do the best in dealer service quality surveys are Lexus and (now closed) Saturn, two brands created from scratch with the intention to provide good dealer service, so the manufacturers presumably wrote that into the franchise agreements. Getting existing franchised dealers to improve service is much more difficult, since state laws are typically heavily biased toward the dealers (who are local businesses lobbying for laws protecting them from out of state or out of country manufacturers). Ford actually does not do too badly overall in JD Power dealer quality surveys, but dealer quality is definitely highly regional. If the only convenient dealers in your area are poor, then it does not really matter whether most of the other dealers of the brand are good.

Lumping together the "Detroit 3" does not make too much sense, given that they are different in many ways. Same with "import brands". For what it is worth, the brand numbers in JD Power's retention study show quite a variation: Ford (company): Ford (brand) 62% (tied with Honda for best) Lincoln 45% Mercury 28% GM: Chevrolet 52% Cadillac 44% GMC 43% Buick 27% Chrysler (company): Ram (formerly Dodge trucks) 45% Jeep 34% Chrysler (brand) 24% Dodge (cars) 22% (It would be interesting to know company retention -- a Mercury owner buying a Ford or Lincoln would be one retained by Ford (the company), for example -- but that does not seem to be publicly available.) But it does seem that Ford is doing a lot better than GM and (especially) Chrysler at retaining owners the next time. Given the uncompetitiveness of most of Chrysler's recent product, that is not too surprising. Among "import brands", it does look like Ford's former PAG brands are not doing too well in retaining owners the next time. Even Mazda is not doing that well in this survey. But Hyundai and Kia are doing very well despite not having any presence in some market segments (e.g. pickup trucks) and not generally being seen as "aspirational" brands. Subaru does quite well, considering its very limited lineup.

47% to 60% is a pretty big jump in one year for Hyundai, whose perceptions have changed greatly: 1986-2000: behind the curve designs, poor reliability, cheap 2001-2005: behind the curve designs, decent reliability, cheap 2006-2009: competitive designs, good reliability, cheap 2010: that new Sonata is really nice... oh, and cheap Perhaps a combination of the new Sonata and the recession may be behind Hyundai's big one year rise.

The Element did have an easy to clean interior. Seems like neither Honda nor any other company offered or marketed such an easy to clean interior for minivans and other vehicles aimed at families with young, messy children.

The Ford Five Hundred was designed to give SUV-like high seating position with good outward visibility through big windows. Some people like that over the current high beltline styling trend popularized by the Chrysler 300 and followed by the current Ford Taurus. But the high beltline styling trend is apparently much more popular, despite the compromises in outward visibility.

Wasn't this essentially the old Explorer Sport Trac (though the bed was only 4.17' long)?

In at least some Ford models, the keypad is an accessory option that is just glued on to any flat surface of the vehicle (it is just another remote otherwise). Seems like it makes the most sense that way -- that way people who have no use for it don't have to have it, while those who do find it useful (examples given in previous replies) can get it. If it is standard equipment, it does make more sense to have it better integrated into the car.

UK gallons are bigger than US gallons. Fuel economy testing and reporting is different in different countries. Since 2008, US fuel economy numbers tend to be much lower than other country fuel economy numbers for the same car, engine, and transmission (when such exist) because of these testing and reporting differences.