Pre Order Loaner vehicles

So, I know I'm not the only one driving a loaner until my ST arrives..

What did you get stuck with, and how is it?

I had a '12 Fusion SEL at first.

The Fusion, was roomy and actually didn't look too bad in the white. Comfortable & spacious... It felt very cheap. It sounded cheap. A pretty disappointing v6 especially on the highway. Not great fuel efficiency. It felt fairly unstable cornering.. Really jerky & the shift points were very rough & unintuitive. The gauge cluster looked goofy. The cupholder and footwell ambient lighting was neat. Sound system was poor.

I don't know how this vehicle would have been brand new, this one had about 50k KM's on it. So... good as far as looks/comfort/space.. But that's about it. Smokin deals to be had on these locally though!

I didn't complain about the vehicle or anything.. I am not too picky when it comes to loaners... They just gave it to me temporarily because they messed up and didn't have my intended loaner vehicle ready when I came in to pick it up.

I have since been swapped into a '13 Focus SE. In black.
Immediately notice the reduction in space throughout. But it is adequate. Trunk is bigger than I expected. Passengers were all satisfied with leg room front and back. The ride is much smoother than I was expecting. Very quiet, quite comfortable to cruise around in. A pretty base interior, so nothing to rave about.. But it is newer and cleaner so it doesn't feel nearly as cheap as the fusion did. The layout is nicer, materials look nicer. They used some kinda weird cleaning product in it that smells like walnuts... I absolutely hate walnuts and I am a bit allergic to scented products.. So it is not really a pleasant atmosphere and every time I get out my clothes smell like walnuts. This really has little to do with the car itself and more to do with the treatment of it... lol Anyway, coming from driving mostly larger vehicles... It is pretty fun to scoot around in. Corners respectably for what it is, and superrrr easy to park. Loving the fuel ups so far. My Raptor was giving me about 11mpg.. Now I am getting over 30 mpg average.

I hate the seat adjustment pump & lever. Drives me nuts everytime I try to lean back I pump the seat up or down.. (Manual seat lift/lower). And the lever to lean the seat back is very oddly positioned so that I really gotta twist myself weird to reach it. Annoying. Audio is much nicer than what was in the Fusion. But still not very good. Great for being a base trim though.

The Heat is so so, the AC is good. Personally find it not quite as comfortable as the Fusion, but much more enjoyable to drive. It is a much more confident vehicle. Transmission... could be better.. but so far I find that I really don't like any of Fords automatics. A significant improvement over what the Fusion had though.

No where near as fun as the Focus ST. Obviously. After having driven an ST i'd find it pretty difficult to settle for the non ST trim's. You just get so much more out of it in the ST's.

That said, I had a lot more fun in the '14 Fiesta Titanium, than I am in this Focus. It just handles so much more fun, and the dynamics/dimensions are much more enjoyable.

I am also quite pleased with the interior quality of the higher trims in the '14s. One thing I wish was better in the ST..... the audio system.. .but I guess there's always aftermarket for that.

Anyway, that is my random mini-review of my loaner's........ And what I am stuck dealing with until the ST gets here.