[brandon6976]

Hey guys I'm sure some of you know me.

Anyhow my Toyota is going to be paid off very shortly and thinking about getting a second car which won't be as heavily modded.

I was thinking about the focus. I've read a lot of reviews and a lot of good and a lot of bad. Most of the bad reviews seem to come from people who've said the car had engine problems with the 00-02 years and the 03+ seem pretty clean??

Just wondering what your guys experiences have been. I'm thinking of getting a SE sedan if that make a difference. Any advice on reliability or which years I should look for or stay away from. I'm hoping to get something used to save a couple bucks but don't want to get something that'll just cost me in repairs or just time spent in the shop.

[habmann]

I've got a 00' and its been a great car to me so far. I've put 40 000k on it since i've owned it and other than normal maintenance and a stupid lock cylinder going, its been trouble free ownership for me.

[D-Dub]

Im very satisfied with my focus that I own right now and Ive owned two of them. If you do the regularly scheduled maintance on it you will be gold........Oh yeah the part are half the price they would be for a Toyota.

[focusonthis_88]

Hey man,

I have 2000 Zx3 with a Roush Turbo kit if you want it.....pm me if interested.

[ZX3guy2000]

I have a 2000 ZX3 and when I purchase 3 years ago, I have since put on 80,000 and no problems! Current mileage is approximately 133,500kms

:)

[jen_deans]

LOVE mine,
have a 2000 zx3, like everyone said, no headaches, at 109,000km and it still kicks ass! :)

[ZX5focused]

great car, fun to drive, for the most part if you treat it nice, you shouldnt have too many problems.

check this topic out:
http://www.focuscanada.net/forum/index.php...topic=17491&hl=

[Penwraith]

My 2003, she's still goin strong.

[ANTHONYD]

Mine started out pretty rocky. I truely was a love hate relationship. I loved driving it, hated the quircks that came with it.

100K later and we're still in love.

[NOS2Go4Me]

Watch which version of the SE sedan you end up with. The SE between 2000 and 2003 came with the 2.0L SPI SOHC motor, which has a harder modding path than the 2.0L DOHC Zetec motor.

That being said, if you want awesome gas mileage and don't mind sacrificing some performance you might not miss anyways... the SPI IS the way to go. Intake, cat-back exhaust, 50% crank UDP, 8mm wires and I still get 42-44 MPG on the highway. I'll pull 650KMs and up with the AC on as well on the highway.

One thing to note is that select SE sedans and all LX sedans lack the rear anti-sway bar and correct rear subframe to attach said swaybar. I'm running a full S2 suspension right now with a 22mm Eibach front bar, and I don't notice any serious / immediate tendency to plow at all during aggressive maneuvers.

Otherwise, it's been damn near bulletproof for 2 1/2 years. We're just coming up on 100,000 KMs. It's a 2001 SE sedan with... a few mods :ph34r:

Pics:

[brandon6976]

focusonthis_88,Jun 22 2006, 11:39 PM Wrote:Hey man,

I have 2000 Zx3 with a Roush Turbo kit if you want it.....pm me if interested.
[right][snapback]194857[/snapback][/right]

haha sorry i want to get a 4 door so its cheaper on insurance.

[brandon6976]

cool I think I'd rather get the one with the higher milage. The toyota will be the crazy modded one.

for the focus I want to do something like maybe some rims, nice seats and simple stuff but not really looking to turn it out.

As well which models have the black dash and I notice yours has a tach as well.

[NOS2Go4Me]

That's the Focus S2 hatch dash... which briefly surfaced on some of the Street Edition 2001 sedans as well.

The car's pretty much a rolling S2 conversion - S2 dash, wheels (when they come back from toronto :D), suspension with the exception of the Eibach front anti-sway improvement and lack of a rear.

The black surround is actually a SVT surround... I believe the S2 dash gauge cluster surrounds were grey.

FYI, you can take any dash (even SVT) and bolt it into a SPI-powered Focus. They all have the tach driver signal wired into the common harness at the rear of the panel. Aftermarket Focus-specific panels will work too.-

[NefCanuck]

I doubt you wanna go as recent as mine for a second car but my '05 has breen solid, aside from a fuel guage crapping out on me.

NefCanuck

[euro_zx5]

NefCanuck,Jun 23 2006, 09:49 AM Wrote:I doubt you wanna go as recent as mine for a second car but my '05 has breen solid, aside from a fuel guage crapping out on me.

NefCanuck
[right][snapback]194929[/snapback][/right]

I was thinking the same thing... but my '05 has been great as well!

[naz]

personally i wouldn't get a focus

[mo_focus]

Foucs is a great car to buy for the price you pay for. Make sure you do get it used, that way it has already lost dep. value.
Don't think about selling it, bc there is no resale market for that car. It seems like no one wants it(which is a good point if you are looking for a used one)
I still have my 00 ZX3 and its been for sale for a long time. I'm also looking into selling the 01 ZTS, but i'm just scared to see how much i can get for it.

[naz]

mo_focus,Jun 23 2006, 04:22 PM Wrote:Don't think about selling it, bc there is no resale market for that car. It seems like no one wants it(which is a good point if you are looking for a used one)
[right][snapback]194965[/snapback][/right]

that is a good point. that also means that if you took out a loan for it and you say.. total it.. then you could very well find yourself upside down on your loan. this can happen with any car obviously, but IMHO much easier on an undesirable model like the focus

[PIGEON1]

Ive got an 01 and I can't get enough of it. I have had it 11 months now and have put 61k on it in that time. It's now got 151.5k on it, and I have taken it everywhere and the only problems were and egr intake tube from the exhaust and a front right spring brke on me from the roads around here.

I wouldn't trade this car for any other car in the world...............I'm a FOCUS man for life.


Nos2Go4me...... I got the same red light tape around my dash like yours, aswell one across the passanger portion. That is so sweet that I'm not the only person taht has that.

[brandon6976]

mo_focus,Jun 23 2006, 12:22 PM Wrote:Foucs is a great car to buy for the price you pay for. Make sure you do get it used, that way it has already lost dep. value.
Don't think about selling it, bc there is no resale market for that car. It seems like no one wants it(which is a good point if you are looking for a used one)
I still have my 00 ZX3 and its been for sale for a long time. I'm also looking into selling the 01 ZTS, but i'm just scared to see how much i can get for it.
[right][snapback]194965[/snapback][/right]

hehe you have 2 and trying to get ride of em ??