A buyer's guide comparing the Honda Accord vs Ford Focus: Comfort meets style meets fuel economy.
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If you're a potential buyer in the market for a mid-size sedan, a head-to-head comparison of the Honda Accord vs. Ford Focus will make a great starting point for your quest. Buying a new car is never entirely without its worries, and the least you can do when you're considering taking the big step and signing on the dotted line is get a firm grip on your priorities.
Try to understand exactly what it is you're looking for in your new car, beyond the smell, that is. By the time you're seriously in the market for an economy sedan, the core values you will be looking for in selecting your new car will be:
- The true price of the vehicle: Not just the MSRP, but the overall cost of ownership
- The fuel economy: Miles per gallon is the strong suit of the economy sedan
- The options package: Great economy is lovely, but you'll want to make sure your new car isn't a fuel-efficient tin can
Prices
Savvy car buyers know that each car actually comes with two prices on the sticker. One of these prices is the manufacturer's suggested retail price, or MSRP, which is the number a sales rep uses as a baseline before you pay for the undercoating. The other price, which is less known, is the invoice price. This is what the manufacturer actually charges for the car, and since it's usually hundreds or thousands of dollars less than the MSRP, it makes a glorious place to begin your negotiations with the dealership.
The invoice price is highly variable, and Buyerlink has plenty of resources to help you get a better understanding of it yourself, since dealerships usually prefer that you not look too hard at that. In the Honda Accord vs. Ford Focus comparison, the MSRPs speak for themselves, with the Honda Accord coming in between $23,350 and $30,350 and the Ford Focus ranging between $19,200 and $24,200.
Gas Mileage & Fuel Economy
With an economy car, the emphasis is always going to be on fuel economy. This depends on several factors, such as tire pressure and even the way you weave in and out of lanes. An average has been computed, however, and again the advantage goes to the Focus. The Ford Focus gets 26-27 mpg in the city vs. 18-26 mpg in the city for the Accord. The highway economies show the exact same pattern, with 36-38 mpg for the Focus against a more conservative 28-35 mpg for the Accord.
Both of these vehicles are fine, and often they're comparable down to such detail that you can sometimes forget you're supposed to be contrasting different cars. Both of these cars seat five passengers, both run off of inline four-cylinder engines and both come with a basic three-year/36,000-mile warranty.