good car for noob drivers?

hi im 17 and bout to get my license and am seriously think bout getting a ford focus zx4. do u think this a reliable and good car for me. i am 6 feet 3 inch so i aint sure if i could fit in this thing but u guys are the genious of this site so can u help me out a lil. tell me all the stats of the zx4 and if it is a good ride for me if not can u tell me another car that would be a good choice for me besides: camry, solora, civic, accord, geo metro, and the hybrids.

appreciate it
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Since you say ZX4, I'm assuming that it's a fairly new car. If that's the case, then you should love it. It's been a fun car to drive since it's inception, but at this point, all the bugs have been worked out, and it's very reliable. I don't know the stats offhand, but research cars.com and you should be able to find everything you need. Of the other cars you mentioned, the only real competitors to the Focus, IMO are the Civic, Camry, and dare I say it, the Geo. The others are in a slightly higher class. You'll love the any of those cars, especially if you get a newer Focus like you were talking about. Good luck, and keep us updated.

The Focus is a great car. I agree with Mustangman about the competition. Honestly, I don't see that you can get a better car for the same amount of money. I ended up paying about 12 grand for my 05 ZX3 and I can't think of any car out there that you can buy brand new for that price and get the same performance. Definitely do your research (Edmunds, cars.com, Car and Driver) but also get opinions. You've come to the right place for info about the Focus. :)

BTW, the height issue, don't worry. A good friend of mine is about your height and he drives an 04 SVT ZX3 and has no problem.

OH 12 grand... you make me sick. I bought the one I got for my mom last september, right when they came on the lot (05 ZX4, victory red) and paid about 16 for it (loaded) after the 2000 rebate. It now has around 20K miles on it (rural mom), and she loves it! Hasn't had one lick of problems, plenty of zip and very comfortable. Great stereo system too. I personally have a 2000 wagon, has 180K miles on it, and I love mine too. I just had to replace the tranny with a used one, but other than that I have had NO problems. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones for this year model. If you get one from the 00-04 era, get one with the Ztec engine. The only thing I don't like about mine it the lack of zip with the SPI engine. But the new one with the "base" 2.0 Duratec has plenty of power.
As for the height issue, the Focus is the perfect car for a tall person. I'm 6'1, and this is the most comfortable car I've ever owned. The seats sit up high off the floor, so your legs don't feel all crammed in if you know what I mean. And the seat moves backwards plenty, if I push it all the way to the rear I can barely reach the pedals...
Good luck!

Oh, and when mine dies/crashes, I am going to get another one. No one else makes a small, roomy wagon that has all the utility and room of an SUV that gets 35 miles/gallon (I'm a delivery driver, 400 miles a day). OK, KIA does, but they aren't very comfortable or reliable though. I rented a Rio once on vacation, and the armrest on the driver's door must have been made of sandpaper...

OH 12 grand... you make me sick.

Hehe, I had a 2k rebate and then another discount from my work, brought it down to that. Mine wasn't loaded though. I bought an SE with the sport package. Lots of features but far from loaded. I'm at just under 5k miles on it, not one problem with it. From my research, stay away from the 00-02 models. 03 and up are fine but anything before that seem to have problem after problem. I only wish that I had opted for a sunroof (the only thing i miss about my '00 Grand Am) and that there was an option for the 2.3L Duratec on the ZX3. But thats just me being picky :biggrin: