Have the Ford Focus been holding up?

Considering getting a car that gets decent fuel mileage, cheap in price not quality. How has the focus been doing the 4 or 5 years?
How does it compare in handling, maintenance, etc. Say with the VW Jettas, Passats, Beetles or even Chevy's of similar size?

A few colleagues had 2012 Fords (one Fusion, two Focus) and they all have since traded them in. Transmission issues and other electrical failures caused havoc.

I would go with Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla or Nissan Sentra. They are all comparable to the Focus and all are better options IMO.

Sadly Ford has just been producing terrible cars for the past decade.

UK answer. There are lots of older Ford Focus cars around. They are cheap and seem to last well enough. You can get a reasonable one here for $300 with a year's test on it.