Anyone have either of these cars, if so what is your opinion? Does the mileage live up to the claims, how does it ride any problems would you buy another one.....what year is yours.

 

Had a Spark as a rental for a week in February, super small, but fun to drive once I adjusted to the "Throbbing 84HP".

The Sonics drive like smaller Cruze's, nice and competent, but not very sporty or exciting...just nice entry level cars.

 

Have a 2001 Focus ZX3 that I bought new. It has a little over 100,000 miles now. No problems with it and has been a great car in the winter. Reasonable gas mileage. I'd buy another Focus (current generation- the middle generation was just plain ugly).

 

My girlfriend has a socic sedan. She says it doesn't get nearly the MPG's it claims to get. Very small inside, no room at all in the backseat. I don't like the way it shifts and it has very very little power. It makes my car seem like a beast!

 

The new focus is the beast of the lot, similar to the focus from wrc fame less the body roll & power.

 

I was watching youtube videos a couple days ago.....the 2013 focus ST with the hatch, might be the closest thing to our SS. Similar design, similar HP/TQ, same price range..... I am not a ford guy though

 

I had a Focus as a rental car last year while my wifes Cobalt was in the shop. I was actually pretty impressed with it. It drove rather nicely, had decent headroom which is a big deal for me being 6ft 4in, but I didn't find the MPG lived up to its claim.
Two weeks later I was on a business trip and got a Cruze and loved it, not that you were interested in that, but just in case.

 

My brother's girlfriend has a Sonic LTZ with the 1.4T and a stick. She loves it.

It's her first manual and she finds it very comfortable. It's a great tranny, clutch take-up is in an awkwardly high position but otherwise it's very good.

The interior room isn't bad, if you're looking for a car that size it's got plenty of room. Trunk space is awesome, actually.

Interior is quality, speedo gauge cluster is sweet, they designed it after a motorcycle gauge.

It's a little under-powered, but first and second gear have some pull. Also you could Trifecta tune it and wake it up My brother has been pushing her to get one ever since he's seen my tune on the SS.

Overall, it's a great little car, especially for a DD. I've driven it a few times and it's very smooth.

Also, I've never been in a new Focus but I've heard great things. Fiesta and Spark are cool, but they have very little power.

 

My dad moved into a sonic 2LT after his lease came up on his HHR. I have driven his sonic quite a bit and let me tell you it is much slower then the HHR 2.4LT and I would also agree with the rest of you, it has a weird transmission, it shifts funny.

It does however get great mileage, and is a great fun car to drive, even with it's anemic horsepower.

 

I test drove a Sonic and was unimpressed. Lots "smaller" feel than the HHR. I did drive a Buick Encore last week. A tad smaller than the HHR, but bigger passender area inside. I'm not thrilled that the car is built with Chinese/Korean parts and the 1.4 turbo engine. It handled well and was nicely appointed with a back up camera and power drivers seats. I always worry about the turbo as just another component that can break down. Limited discounts offered at the dealer ship as "it is a new car model" so no discount whereas when I looked a a Ford Focus, I was getting nearly a $4000 discount off the price.