I like the 2002 Ford Focus

[GearheadTool]

I know, I know.. POS! POS! Well... If I can find an example without dog hair all over the interior and broken seats, maybe with a manual though the automatic I was once in was pretty nice, .. I think I would be tempted to buy one *at some point. They go for about $2000, right?

Peppy engine, nice sporty and SMALL car.

My question is, just how bad were they!

I always have an eye for cars. What was horrible about the FoFos, I can probably agree NOT to get a MY2000 in my lifetime, because those were reputed to be SO bad. But a 2002, 2003... ?

And, maybe, for old time's sake.. I would see if the timing belt had been done first.

(although I don't think that would dissuade me from buying the car.. just buying it, and having the T-belt done before I actually started driving it. Seems like that is kind of a big deal.)

 

[The_Jeff]

Go for it!

 

[Hokiefyd]

I don't think they're bad at all. A friend had an early 2000s Focus sedan and I drove it a few times. It was light on its feet and performed just fine. I didn't particularly care for Ford's obsession with the oval shape back then, and as I recall, the Focus had an odd mix of oval shapes and straight angles on the dashboard. But it was a good car.

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Go for it!


Not yet, eljef.

 

[KrisZ]

Make sure you get the Zetec engine. I like my 03 so far. The only gripe is the road noise, especially with winter tires on. Other than that it drives nice, the clutch is light but very easy to modulate and that Zetec engine, while not terribly refined, is very peppy for a four banger. It has no trouble cruising and accelerating slowly from 1500 RPM, something that my 95 Honda struggled with and I had to keep that engine above 2k RPM to be smooth.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

AVOID the SPI engine. You never did the T-Belt on the Volvo, my fear is you'd run an SPI engine focus until it dropped a valve and killed itself.

Get the Zetec. I was proven wrong in that it is not a ford CD4E automatic transmission. It seems the most common problem with them is they eat solenoids. Keep good fluid in the A/T and it shold last a bit.

Other than the occasional A/T issue and the SPI engine, they're pretty reliable little cars!

 

[GearheadTool]

Sounds like "Zetec" started in 2003 and 2002 was the last year of "the other one"...

I was in a 2002 and I liked how peppy/sporty it was. Reminded me of a Jetta. By the way, how are those? (99-06)

 

[TallPaul]

I just test drove a 2002 Focus Wagon and love it. It is not real quick with the 4-banger, but had enough pep for me, way more than my '92 3.0 V6 Aerostar has. It drove nicely, rode smooth, handled well, I really like it and would have bought it but for some issues this particular car had. For 169,000 miles the auto transmission felt very good, not slippage, shfted well. If you are going for a Focus, the station wagon is really nice looking and has a lot more cargo room (roughly I recall it's about 55 cf vs 12 - 18 for the sedan and hatch respectively).

 

[Rand]

spi engine was trash

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
I just test drove a 2002 Focus Wagon and love it. It is not real quick with the 4-banger, but had enough pep for me, way more than my '92 3.0 V6 Aerostar has. It drove nicely, rode smooth, handled well, I really like it and would have bought it but for some issues this particular car had. For 169,000 miles the auto transmission felt very good, not slippage, shfted well. If you are going for a Focus, the station wagon is really nice looking and has a lot more cargo room (roughly I recall it's about 55 cf vs 12 - 18 for the sedan and hatch respectively).

i think some are at reported 73 cf with back seats down.
also they are pretty cheap, rarer, usually are taken care of/good shape. even available (really rare) in stickshift/standard. also conversions have been made from auto to stick.
it will do him good if he decides to be single again/caries some stuff around.

 

[addyguy]

The Zetec was a great engine. Buddy had one in a 1998 Escort ZX2 for 10 years....ran like a top for 130k HARD miles.

 

[aquariuscsm]

If you get a Focus,get a standard transmission. Night and day difference! They do seem to last forever. I`ve yet to see or hear about a broken down Focus.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
I just test drove a 2002 Focus Wagon and love it. It is not real quick with the 4-banger, but had enough pep for me, way more than my '92 3.0 V6 Aerostar has. It drove nicely, rode smooth, handled well, I really like it and would have bought it but for some issues this particular car had. For 169,000 miles the auto transmission felt very good, not slippage, shfted well. If you are going for a Focus, the station wagon is really nice looking and has a lot more cargo room (roughly I recall it's about 55 cf vs 12 - 18 for the sedan and hatch respectively).


The transmission in them is a Mazda, which explains why it actually can reach 100k. Ford built some pretty crummy front drive autos.

I wouldn't mind a focus wagon. They seem to pop up on CL for pretty cheap since there isn't a high demand.

 

[Rand]

tell that to the mazda protege owners

 

[javacontour]

The Zetec 2.0 was introduced in the US for the 1995 model year release of the Contour.

It found it's way into Escorts and the Focus as the "upscale" engine for those cars until the SPI engine was dropped later years of Focus production.

Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Sounds like "Zetec" started in 2003 and 2002 was the last year of "the other one"...

I was in a 2002 and I liked how peppy/sporty it was. Reminded me of a Jetta. By the way, how are those? (99-06)

 

[javacontour]

FYI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Zeta_engine

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: GearheadTool
Reminded me of a Jetta. By the way, how are those? (99-06)


Focus to Jetta in 5 posts.

Its ChevyGearHeadToolBoy!!!

 

[tenderloin]

We have a 2002 w/Zetec/5 speed that has over 200,000 miles and going strong. On fifth child attending university vehicle. It has been driven all over the western US in all types of weather. Clear coat on metallic silver is starting to go but other than normal maintenance (brakes, tires etc). it is all good. Even interior knobs, handles etc are working fine. On second timing belt change (picked up at Amazon for cheap)

 

[Nick R]

Focus is good, can eat up rear suspension components sometimes. But yeah, AVOID THE SPI/Constant Vibration and Harshness engine. Zetec.

 

[Rand]

spi was available as the base engine in the LX through 2004

it was a total POS and known to have many issues and suffer sudden total failure. Also the auto transmissions around that time were not too reliable too.

Had 2 2004's w/spi I took care of.. both had transmissions die early..and one had an engine drop a valve.

The zetec was much much better.

the duratech that came later was even better yet.

a 2007ish zx3 with the duratech and 5mt is very light and can be fun.