saying goodbye to the best car I've ever owned up to this point. My 2009 Ford Focus

I’ve owned a lot of cars in my life and I mean a lot. Just about every make and model you can imagine. Some were terrible, some were great, and a few were somewhere in between. But what’s surprising, if not a little shocking, is that the best car I ever owned is the one I just parted ways with: a 2009 Ford Focus.

Now, I’ve owned Fords before that were downright awful. I’ve also owned some that were exceptional. But this particular Focus stands alone as the most reliable car I’ve ever had.

It crossed the 200,000-mile mark without breaking a sweat.

Mechanically, the list of things I had to do to it over the years was remarkably short. Aside from routine maintenance such as oil changes, brakes, batteries, tires, a serpentine belt, spark plugs, ignition coils, fuel injectors, and a thermostat, there were only two real fixes. 

I replaced a rear hub when it started to whine, and early on I swapped out a motor mount. That year of Focus was known for a vibration issue, but a $25 motor mount solved it permanently. And that was basically it.

One important detail. The entire drivetrain on that particular generation was made by Mazda. Exceptional engineering. Simple, durable, and built to last. I once considered upgrading to the next generation of focus, so I rented one to use for a week. Long story short, they were absolute garbage.

The truth is, I loved that car. Even after I stopped driving it regularly, it sat around for months because I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. It was too dependable. If a friend was in a jam, that Focus was the car I would lend out without worrying about whether it would make the trip.

That car and I went through a lot together. Good times and bad. Road trips and long boring commutes to jobs I couldn’t stand. Relationship problems, life changes, and plenty of ordinary days in between. In many ways, it quietly carried me through some of the best and worst chapters of my life.

So letting it go wasn’t easy.

But the upside is that it went to a family who appreciated it. They bought it for their daughter after she wrecked her own 2009 Focus. They had already put a lot of work into their old car, including struts, tires, and other parts, and plan to move the best components over to my mechanically sound vehicle. They felt the same way about that generation of Focus that I did.

When I bought the car years ago, I had already done my research. Gas prices were surging at the time, and everyone was scrambling to get on waiting lists for Toyota hybrids. I ended up trading in my Land Rover for the Focus because it offered excellent fuel economy and a reputation for reliability.

I still remember the day I bought it. Another family with two kids were trading in a huge Ford Excursion for a Focus at the same time I was buying mine. By the end of that day, the dealership had sold seven of them and were completely sold out.

I never regretted buying that car.

For the entire time I owned it, that little Focus gave me something simple but incredibly valuable: the security of knowing I had reliable transportation.

I hope it keeps going for a long time and gives its new owners many more years of dependable driving.

Old Reliable earned it.