Tups has not lost his Focus...

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Tups
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Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by Tups »

So, I ended up buying* my parents' old Ford Focus because I needed a car for commuting to work. Before I got an apartment close to work, I drove 250-300 km every day, so it would have not been reasonable to use the Escort. Also, my parents wanted to get rid of the Focus after dad bought a '05 Golf STW which needs a hitch and winter tires.

So, it's a 5-door Ford Focus from 1999 with 238,000 km (148,000 miles) in the odometer. However, the 1.6-liter, 99 hp gasoline engine has been swapped once and has about 60,000 km (37,000 miles) less than the body. When the Focus came out in the late 1990s, it was the best-handling hatchback on the market and it still shows. I also love the 5-speed manual gearbox. Thanks to the top trim level (Ghia), it has a leather steering wheel and shifter knob instead of those awful plastic ones you get in the cheaper models, the best radio/CD remote I've ever used, and some other things like A/C that make life just a bit easier. The summer tires are on alloys and the winter tires (good set of studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5) on steel rims. It also has a hitch for towing a trailer.

On the downside, it has some rust problems (thinking about fixing at least the ones in the body at some point, though). In addition, it burns a bit of oil (like one quart for 1,000 miles) and some other fluids (brake fluid, power steering oil) seem to disappear somewhere over time. Otherwise it's pretty okay. I changed the windshield couple of weeks ago and the exhaust pipe needed some welding last week, but now nothing serious seems to be wrong (*knocks the wood*). Some interior parts need reattaching, but it's not like anything is broken. One of the reasons I bought the car is that we've had it since new and I've been driving it since I got my license, so I know how it's supposed to work.

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(* We still haven't agreed on the price and it's not officially mine, but I'm thinking about something like 1,500 euros ($2,000) paid at a rate of 500 € per month or something)
2007 Ford Focus ST225
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by theholycow »

Congrats!

Why was the engine replaced?
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Tups
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by Tups »

theholycow wrote:Why was the engine replaced?
There was a problem with the exhaust valves. In fact, the old engine had already been fixed once, but the same problem reappeared about six months later. At that point, we decided that fixing the old engine again would be futile and got a new one from a similar Focus that had been crashed. The workshop didn't charge any extra for the swap since the original work was in their opinion still under warranty.
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by AHTOXA »

Many moons ago an ex gf had one of these she was boring from her parents to learn how to drive. Unfortunately I was the instructor as I was 18 then and has my license. It was a painful process. I remember the car having good pickup and power but the interior felt terrible. Overall it is a car I wouldn't kick out of bed, however, if it was a 5 speed.
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Tups
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by Tups »

Hehe, just when I got to say that the car works fine, both headlights went out, one after another...
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by tankinbeans »

I once drove a hideous 03 Focus wagon, as a loaner car. I remember it being buzzy and stinky (formerly owned by a smoker and never completely cleaned before going into loaner duty). It left a sour taste in my mouth for that generation. I liked the face-lifted version (U.S. years 04-07, I believe, and the current generation U.S. years 2012-present). I can't quite remember if the Europran model and U.S. model are the same again yet, or at least what year they became one.
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by bk7794 »

looks very cool. Interesting comparing it to the US market. I didn't think we had an option for a clock or headlight washers.

The shifter looks better than ours aswell.
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by potownrob »

nice whip!! definitely higher spec'd than at least our earlier foci; up until very recently, most of our OEM car stereos were junk, while europe was getting relatively more decent headunits. our cars were getting clarion and pioneer decks, but not the good ones. glad to see ford getting decent sony (as mediocre as they may be considered) decks here these days.
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Tups
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by Tups »

Installed new bulbs today, but now the alignment is completely off on the left hand side. I wonder if I broke something because the moving part inside the headlight feels a bit loose. Still, the electric level adjustment works just fine, so at least that's not broken. Well, I'll see if I can re-adjust it tomorrow at work with proper tools...

I don't think the clock and the headlight washers are options. Every car I've seen, with the exception of my Escort, had some kind of clock in it. As for the headlight washers, I believe they used to be mandatory for all cars in the past, but nowadays you only have to have them (and automatic level adjustment) if you have HIDs.

I've never had any problems with the car's interior (apart from it falling apart recently). Most other cars, even relatively new ones, feel cheaper.
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by rei »

Small, fun to drive stick hatch with creature comforts is pretty much all you could ask for : )
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by potownrob »

i do wonder how that 1.6 litre compares to the 2 litre or whatever we got here. i remember being pleasantly surprised by the 1.4 litre in the polo i drove in spain compared to our 2.slow engines, but that's the 2.slow...
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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Tups
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by Tups »

potownrob wrote:i do wonder how that 1.6 litre compares to the 2 litre or whatever we got here.
European 1.6 l Zetec-SE: 74 kW (99 hp) and 145 N·m (107 lb·ft)

American 2.0 l CVH/SPI: 82 kW (110 hp) and 169 N·m (125 lb·ft)

On a funny side note, my '82 Escort has a CVH (Considerable Vibration and Harshness) engine - it was brand new technology back then. I thought Ford stopped using them when more advanced engines became available, but I guess Americans are happy to use 1980s technology in a 2000s car...
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by bk7794 »

Tups wrote:
potownrob wrote:i do wonder how that 1.6 litre compares to the 2 litre or whatever we got here.
European 1.6 l Zetec-SE: 74 kW (99 hp) and 145 N·m (107 lb·ft)

American 2.0 l CVH/SPI: 82 kW (110 hp) and 169 N·m (125 lb·ft)

On a funny side note, my '82 Escort has a CVH (Considerable Vibration and Harshness) engine - it was brand new technology back then. I thought Ford stopped using them when more advanced engines became available, but I guess Americans are happy to use 1980s technology in a 2000s car...
we also had the option for a 2.0 DOHC Zetec engine. 130hp 135lb-ft of torque 183nm.
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Tups
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by Tups »

You know how I'm against warming up the car by extended idling? Well, last week the Focus locked me out while I was clearing ice from the windows and I had to wait for more than one hour to get the spare key. The car was pretty warm after that! :D
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Re: Tups has not lost his Focus...

Post by ClutchDisc »

Tups wrote:...last week.....I was clearing ice from the windows...
:shock: :o Ice? I'm still wearing short sleeves!
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