[ZTWsquared]

(05-30-2011, 11:10 PM)oldeguy Wrote: Gentlemen,
My 2000 ZTS is starting to show her age, with some rust, peeling paint and a lot of mechanical issues, including a nagging electronic gremlin that I've tried to fix for a very long time. I looking at purchasing a newer vehicle, for up to $5,000.00. I prefer a Focus, as I love the car, but things just added up too quick on mine. I have just a couple of questions.
1) since I have 14 inch snow tires, what year did they change the brake rotors to 15"?
2) Since I'm cheap, I'm probably looking at a 2000-2004 Focus, which year is best, as in what year did Ford iron out most of the 2000's little problems?

The larger brakes started with the 2005 model year - so if keeping the 14"s is a priority, up to 2004 is it ... in any event, your budget range won't get you far into the 2005+ model years anyway.

In the "prior to 2005" category, the 2004 ZTW was the best car we had - with the one major caveat is that Ford didn't install rear seat heat ducts for that one year ... bad enough for the rear seat passengers in winter, but even worse is that the hot air that would normally be going to the rear seat is directed into the underside of the centre console ... and so it gets exceptionally hot. If you get an '04 I heartily suggest a trip to the wreckers to get the rear seat heat ducts.

My '07 ZXW was the best Focus I had - but the odds are you won't see one for 5k.