I cannot tell you how many people come to the car lot looking specifically for a Honda Civic, and leave here the proud new owners of a Ford Focus. It's not because of my sweet sales skills, or fancy mojo that us slick sales persons possess -- it's because the Ford Focus is genuinely a smart purchase. They compare across the board with Honda and Toyota in the same class, they have similar gas mileage, handling, equipment, and depending on the model, can be just as sporty -- boasting 17 inch alloy wheels and spoiler. Read on to discover why your money will be better spent on a Ford Focus as opposed to the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla that everyone thinks they need.

The Ford Focus has been around since 1998 when it replaced the Fiesta. We are now in the 3rd generation of Focus, and although there have been improvements with each generation, the gen 1 Focus is still a very popular choice with many still on the road today. Because of the longevity of this brand, there is a Focus for almost any budget. If you are looking for a commuter car for your new college student, the 1st generation Focus will be the perfect choice, and will not break you budget under $5,000. In fact, we just had a 2004 in our inventory with under 17k original miles! Although that was a rare majestic beast, it's not uncommon to find a 2005 Focus with under 100k miles with plenty of life left in it.

(Another happy Focus owner)

Fully loaded, the Focus SES comes with Bluetooth, sat nav, moon roof, and Ford Sync connectivity. 3rd generation Focus has a very smooth ride with little to no road noise, and a sleek body style that is sure to impress. Although the 1st and 2nd generation Focuses aren't as sleek or boast as smooth a ride as the newer ones, they too come with leather, spoilers, moon roofs, and such amenities that were very on trend for their time. The 2nd gen even comes with a 2 door option.  

(Stock image of 2015 Ford Focus hatchback)

Aside from the affordability, amenities and sporty looks, the Focus is a safe car. They boast 7 air bags in total, including a driver knee air bag on newer models. They also include electronic stability control and hill start assist. I have sold many Focuses over the years, to young people buying their very first car, and grandparents alike, and many come back to tell about what a comfortable ride their Focus is as well as how much gas they have saved!

Just this week, as I was delivering another Ford Focus, I was talking to my customer about the difference between her new car and a Honda Civic. To me it comes down to brand recognition and advertisement. For instance, Nike pays athletes millions of dollars a year to wear their shoe and feature in their ads. They have the same factory as a brand like Skechers, the same material, the same research analysts looking for the best new thing in shoe technology (Skechers Shape Ups, anyone?). What we consumers are paying for is that notoriety.  Michael Jordan and Lebron James have a little more sway with the kids Nike's ads are targeting than say Brooke Burke for Skechers. Skechers are just as comfortable, have just as much longevity if not more so than Nike shoes, but Lebron James is a whole lot cooler so he gets paid a lot more money, and that's what we are paying for. People somehow got it in their heads that Honda is a better, more reliable, sportier brand than Ford. It might have something to do with movies like The Fast and The Furious - we don't see Paul Walker street racing in a Ford Focus. We do see Nascar drivers though, racing in real life in Ford Fusions. Hollywood has a little more star power than Nascar, and we American consumers want to keep up with the latest trends.

My point is that your money is well spent with Ford Focus, and/or Ford products in general in comparison to other, more seemingly popular brands such as Honda and Toyota when it comes to these commuter cars. Why spend upwards of $12,000 for a Honda Civic with 115k miles, when you can purchase a Focus with 85k miles for under $10k? You'll have extra money in your pocket and a smile on your face as you pass by the gas station.  

More often than not, when I respond to the question "What do you do?" either by people I just met, or old high school friends, I get met with either a blank stare or an immediate response of "No you don't." Yes, yes I do. I sell cars. But I like to think of myself as doing more than that.

I graduated from Humboldt State University in 2011 with all intentions of doing something big. I just had no idea what that something big was. I chose my major in Human Communication when I transferred to HSU in order to understand how and why people do the things they do. How we communicate our wants, our needs, our ideas and expressions, says something about who we are as a people, as a community, and a society. Understanding communication, to me, is understanding the world.

Me, 2nd to the left, w some of my debate teammates feeling pretty proud of our win

I was working at Fraga's Sweetheart Motors throughout college. Tony and Denise were very flexible with my schedule and encouraged me to take the time I needed in order to focus on my school work. They had already come to the realization that I would move on from my admin position here after graduation. I had applied and was accepted in an AmeriCorps program, but I was still hesitant as to what I wanted to do, as I am sure many 22 year olds are. During my last year in school, and into that summer, I had grown restless in my position at Fraga's and was helping establish a more interactive website. I had helped with a few sales and realized I have a lot of fun working on this side of the business. I had heard many stories from people over time about how they had overcome hardship, dragged themselves out of the hole they were in and here they are, able to buy their own car with their freshly rebuilt credit, or their new job or promotion, or maybe even their very first car! The feeling of handing someone the keys to their new found freedom is unlike any other. So when it was time for me to move on, and take the job at AmeriCorps working for next to nothing doing back breaking work, I realized that I was already doing that something "big" I had been searching for.

We do it for the smiles

Obviously we sell vehicles to people of means. People who don't need that extra bit of help to get financed, who may have financed 10 cars in the past and know exactly what they are doing. Those people are great too, don't get me wrong. But what drives me are the people who I know that I put a smile on their face. People who were walking miles to work, or taking the bus on our awful HumCo. public transportation system, people who are using up their savings fixing up their busted up unreliable cars in hopes they will last just one more year. It is next to impossible to get ahead in life in Humboldt County if you don't have a car of your own. So when I see the tears well up, or am hugged so hard that I feel like my shoulders might break, I can't help but to squeeze back even harder, and pump my fists in the air in jubilation right along with them. I can't speak for everyone else in this industry, but this is why I do what I do.