Got a focus

[hiattwl]

The GT has been killing me on gas lately, had to get something better. The v6 I have is in poor shape and doesn't get much better mileage, 16-18 vs 14-16. Came across a 2002 Ford Focus LX 4dr at a local dealership for only 4700 with 86500 miles. Got a loan, and now I've got me a gas saver. I figure with the saved gas i can pay the $96 a month car payment and still have money left over, especially since it hopefully will be cheaper to maintain, the GT was nickle and diming me to death just keeping it running for daily driver use. I'm going to store it in my garage and drive it on rare occasions from here on out. I am considering selling it, but for now, it makes a good insurance discount to keep it on my policy as liability on it. If anyone thinks i should sell it, or are interested in it, hit me up. You can find details at http://www.waynehiatt.com/my_cars.asp

Later,

Wayne

 

[SeventyMach1]

Congrats on the new Focus. The old lady drives an '05 ZX-4 2.0 and it gets really good mileage.

 

[hiattwl]

Thanks. Did my first mod to it today, a K&N to replace the dirty paper filter. Need to do a tune up on it and some other minor changes. Probably will put synthetic oil to protect it and hopefully squeeze some extra mileage out of it.

 

[Killercanary]

Nice choice. My DD is an '02 focus ZX3 with an automatic. I get 350+ miles per tank on average, which is around 30-32mpg, and mine is mostly driven in the city. I've had no problems with it so far, and mine is in the 80K range. I just got back from autozone though with new sway bar end links are mine are toast. That's the only mechanical thing to go on the car.

 

[SeventyMach1]

And how did you diagnose that problem, Paul? Was the car acting weird while cornering ..... or popping?

 

[Killercanary]

It made an aweful racket everytime I hit a bump. It sounded like an old worn out pickup truck if you can relate to that. It'd bang on every sudden movement of the suspension. I got the new ones on last night and took it for a quick drive and the noise is gone. When I took the old ones out they didn't really have a lot of excess play in them, but the spherical joint at the bottom of the link did have some play in it. I'd never have guessed that with the small amount of play I found in them that they could have made as much noice as they did.

 

[hiattwl]

Mine has got a slight rattle that sounds like it's coming from the drivers side fender at about 60-70mph. It sounds like just a peice of metal may be rattling against the fender, has anyone had this problem?

Wayne