Well I wanted an Accord in the first place, but in the end I bought the Focus because it was cheap -- £3700 for a 56-plate with 70K.

Thing is, every man and his dog waxes lyrical about how wonderful Focuses are. And to be honest peer influence came into play here. On the cheap end it was this or a cheaper Lancer. I chose this, and regret the decision. And all because others said the Lancer was ugly.

I am slowly getting used to the layout, and the twinges are dissipating. But it's a bit worrying when you get out of driving the "best drivers car in the business", climb into a Mitsubishi Space Star of all things, and mentally note how nice the latter car is to drive....

The car is unrefined in many respects, from the engine (1.6 petrol) to the handling (jumpy round potholed bends) to the interior (cheap with a capital C). Hopefully it should be reliable for long enough that the service I just paid for is the only expense in the next 12 months, when it will be moved on assuming I have the funds.

Disappointed to be honest, and I'm not sure I'll be buying another Ford.

Well I now have rather painful sciatica on myt right side caused by a slipped disc, very likely exacerbated by the twisted driving position. Thanks Ford!

I think the only car that I've ever driven that doesn't do my back in is ............. dah, dah............. my wife's Ford Focus. And I've got sciatica! Her Focus is a 52 reg Chic with leather seats. We've had this discussion before and I suspect a lot depends on the type of Focus you have.

I've recently bought a 53 plate Suzuki Ignis Sport - a rare model in this country and made in Japan. Beautifuuly built, it runs sweet as a nut, is fiun to drive, has a comfy seat and pedals were they should be - straight ahead. Ditch the Focus and go Japanese.

There are companies like mine that specialise in adaptaing cars for people with difficulties of all types, we can move your pedal up, back or side ways.

The cost depends on various things such as wether or not the accelerator arm metal or plastic, how far do you want to move it and where you live as I provide a mobile service, the cost should be around £60 - £120.

I'm based in london but if you want to find a company near you, just look on the motability web site for a list of accredited installers, this is a list of all Motability accredited installers (Adaptation companies like me) and there addresses.

A10 Adaptations. London.

Hi Primeradriver,

Were you able to get a left foot rest for your focus? Did the £75 pund cost include the fitting?How easy was it to fit it?

I couldn't agree more about the offset postioning of the Focus pedals.

The seats in the wife'sFocus Zetec are also poor - you sit on them; not in them - and there's no thigh support either so with the displaced pedal position, discomfort becomes the name of the game. I find within a few minutes I have aching upper legs and I'm constantly shuffling in the seat to find the least worst position.

Then I get into my Citroën, sink into the armchair, find the pedals are exactly where they should be (despite the handbrake and wipers been still setup for LHD) and can drive for hours in comfort, arriving completely relaxed.

Edited by BigJohnD on 22/10/2010 at 01:44

Titanium trim must have better seats than a Zetec then, but I assure you the Zetec seats are truly awful, and seriously let the car down. Even the wife complains, and after much trial and error, she has found a suitable shaped cushion to improve the seating position and back support.

It's a no-brainer when it comes to long journeys (i.e. more than about 10 miles) - the Citroën every time. She regularly falls asleeps in the passenger seat of the Citroën, but it's impossible to do the same in the Focus seats because they are small, uncomfortable and lack support back and leg support.

Fortunately for me, this has convinced her that moving up to a bigger C5 Tourer with oleo-pneumatic suspension is a very good move. (Bending bits of iron to keep a car on the road - who thought of that?!)

If you're driving don't you want a seat that keeps you awake?

Citroen have always had comfy seats John going way back .

I know, I started with a 1969 2CV!

Funny you mentioning the Accord - one of the most comfortable cars I've had was my 04' Accord Type-S. The seats the ride comfort was superb, even on 17" wheels.

Another thread I'd totally forgotten about :)

I (or rather Ford) traced the problem to a faulty clutch master cylinder. I don't recall the details now but there is a small piece of plastic(!!) on the cylinder that is designed to stop the pedal from travelling beyond a certain point, which had been defeated on my car. Apparently these are prone to sticking down (so the clutch remains disengaged, not helpful if you are joining a motorway or the like!!!) so my guess is that the previous owner experienced this problem and pushed the pedal back up with his foot, breaking the "stopper" and causing the clutch pedal to travel much more than it should.

Replacing the master cylinder (£85 I believe) fixed the problem.

I'm still not 100% happy with the driving position (the pedals are still offset but because I can now push the seat back it's a lot less uncomfortable) but it is now tolerable and as a result I kept the car.