Just bought a '01 Focus
lloyd329
09-15-2004, 10:54 AM
Hello all,
Nice site!!! I've read some posts and starting to wonder if I made a good choice on my recent purchase. The wife and I just purchased a sporty looking (rear spoiler) 2001 Silver Focus SE. It only had 33000 miles on it. The vehicle was in excellent shape interior and exterior, except for a ding here and a scratch there. Nothing a little touch up paint couldn't take care of. It's 3-4 years old, of course it will have a ding here or a scratch there. I did research on the VIN number and actual vehicle. I checked into the 2001 module and didn't find out anything I should be worried about. From what I read on here about the 2001 maybe I should be a little worried. The VIN number research showed that it had been a fleet vehicle for the past 3 years and the dealership at which I purchased the vehicle just bought it at an auction a month before . I spoke with my neighbor, who worked as a mechanic at a major Ford dealer in the past, and he said it sounded like the vehicle belonged to soemone who worked at Ford and was purchsed at a Ford Auction in New Jersey (I think that was the state he said. We live in Central Pa.). The salesman gave me the car on a Friday night to use until I was done working on Saturday. (So I don't confuse anybody. He gave it to use to test drive overnight before we even decided we wanted it. That was a plus for the salesman) It drove great and I can't notice any un-ordinary noise. My wife liked it and I took it back on Saturday and told the salesman I needed until Monday to decide. On Monday I informed him we were interested.
We've had it for almost a month. We put a little over a 1000 miles on it so far (Wife drives 60 miles round trip to work). We are both in our mid-30's and don't plan on beating the Focus up like I did to an '88 Escort I bought new when I was 18 years old. Personally, I am not a Ford person (Chevy and Dodge only) and was hesitant on buying it. I originally went to the Ford dealership to look at a different used vehicle they had advertised. The salesman asked me if I was interested in a Focus. They had a '02 and the '01 I purchased. The only difference the '02 had was that it was blue, 39000 miles (6000 more than the '01), and wasn't sporty looking (no rear spoiler). My Wife wanted something that looked sporty. Heck, you can put a rear spoiler on a Winabego and she would probably like that too. I can't remember if it had fog lights like the '01 did. They wanted $200 more for the '02 than the '01. I did some more research with three different pricing sites (KBB, Edmonds, and NADA). Averaged them out and managed to get the dealershipp to drop down a measily $200 bucks (I had to do financing through them so I couldn''t use the "cash advantage" wheeling and dealing). I was happy with the $9200 price tag. My highest price was actually $9200 but offered them $8900. I figured they would meet somewhere in the middle. I looked at the "same" vehicle on the internet, at other dealers, and in the local car shopping magazine and figured $9200 wasn't that bad. The big catcher was the 33,000 miles. Heck, it was hardly broke in. Is that a bad thing or good thing? From what I read on here it could be bad. Oh yeah, forgot to mention one thing. The dealership gave us a 3 year/1000,000 mile powertrain warrenty too!!! According to them, they only give this type of warrenty to used vehicles that meet their 115-point check list. All responces are welcomed.............
Lloyd329 :screwy:
Nice site!!! I've read some posts and starting to wonder if I made a good choice on my recent purchase. The wife and I just purchased a sporty looking (rear spoiler) 2001 Silver Focus SE. It only had 33000 miles on it. The vehicle was in excellent shape interior and exterior, except for a ding here and a scratch there. Nothing a little touch up paint couldn't take care of. It's 3-4 years old, of course it will have a ding here or a scratch there. I did research on the VIN number and actual vehicle. I checked into the 2001 module and didn't find out anything I should be worried about. From what I read on here about the 2001 maybe I should be a little worried. The VIN number research showed that it had been a fleet vehicle for the past 3 years and the dealership at which I purchased the vehicle just bought it at an auction a month before . I spoke with my neighbor, who worked as a mechanic at a major Ford dealer in the past, and he said it sounded like the vehicle belonged to soemone who worked at Ford and was purchsed at a Ford Auction in New Jersey (I think that was the state he said. We live in Central Pa.). The salesman gave me the car on a Friday night to use until I was done working on Saturday. (So I don't confuse anybody. He gave it to use to test drive overnight before we even decided we wanted it. That was a plus for the salesman) It drove great and I can't notice any un-ordinary noise. My wife liked it and I took it back on Saturday and told the salesman I needed until Monday to decide. On Monday I informed him we were interested.
We've had it for almost a month. We put a little over a 1000 miles on it so far (Wife drives 60 miles round trip to work). We are both in our mid-30's and don't plan on beating the Focus up like I did to an '88 Escort I bought new when I was 18 years old. Personally, I am not a Ford person (Chevy and Dodge only) and was hesitant on buying it. I originally went to the Ford dealership to look at a different used vehicle they had advertised. The salesman asked me if I was interested in a Focus. They had a '02 and the '01 I purchased. The only difference the '02 had was that it was blue, 39000 miles (6000 more than the '01), and wasn't sporty looking (no rear spoiler). My Wife wanted something that looked sporty. Heck, you can put a rear spoiler on a Winabego and she would probably like that too. I can't remember if it had fog lights like the '01 did. They wanted $200 more for the '02 than the '01. I did some more research with three different pricing sites (KBB, Edmonds, and NADA). Averaged them out and managed to get the dealershipp to drop down a measily $200 bucks (I had to do financing through them so I couldn''t use the "cash advantage" wheeling and dealing). I was happy with the $9200 price tag. My highest price was actually $9200 but offered them $8900. I figured they would meet somewhere in the middle. I looked at the "same" vehicle on the internet, at other dealers, and in the local car shopping magazine and figured $9200 wasn't that bad. The big catcher was the 33,000 miles. Heck, it was hardly broke in. Is that a bad thing or good thing? From what I read on here it could be bad. Oh yeah, forgot to mention one thing. The dealership gave us a 3 year/1000,000 mile powertrain warrenty too!!! According to them, they only give this type of warrenty to used vehicles that meet their 115-point check list. All responces are welcomed.............
Lloyd329 :screwy:
lloyd329
09-15-2004, 11:07 AM
Forgot to mention that it has the Zetec 4 cyl 2.0 16 valve motor too.
Mustangman25
09-15-2004, 04:37 PM
Sounds like a fair deal to me. I paid $5000 for my 2000 ZX3 with 64K miles. As for reliability, some of the earlier Focus' (yours and mine for example) have had some issues in the past, especially considering it was a new platform then. (Focus came out in 1999 in Europe) I haven't had mine recalled in the 2 months I've had it, but I've read that it's been recalled 13 times! But the price, performance (the Zetec is a pretty strong motor) and looks won me over...when I was researching it, Consumer Reports always praised it, but it couldn't be recommended because of it's reliablity, which I believe was described as 'average.' I wouldn't be too worried about anything concerning the car. Just take good care of it, and enjoy it!
landyacht
09-16-2004, 01:08 PM
I used to sell for Ford Canada, so let me offer a few comments.
1. Good buy, the price is good especially considering the miles on it!
2. Good call on the warranty, that's a good thing!
3. I would have the vehicle checked with OASIS, Ford's recall center just to make sure that all the recalls have been done on the car. There were 3 for the 2001 Focus' if i remember right.
The Focus in my opinion is the greatest compact car on the market. It's the only car in it's class that i fit in front and back seats (i'm 6'4") with head shoulder and leg room. It handles like a mid sized sedan, has a good power band, and the ergonomics are top notch. It's fun to through around, and is excellent on fuel, especially with the manual transmission, which is geared extremely well with great clutch feel.
Congrats on your car!
1. Good buy, the price is good especially considering the miles on it!
2. Good call on the warranty, that's a good thing!
3. I would have the vehicle checked with OASIS, Ford's recall center just to make sure that all the recalls have been done on the car. There were 3 for the 2001 Focus' if i remember right.
The Focus in my opinion is the greatest compact car on the market. It's the only car in it's class that i fit in front and back seats (i'm 6'4") with head shoulder and leg room. It handles like a mid sized sedan, has a good power band, and the ergonomics are top notch. It's fun to through around, and is excellent on fuel, especially with the manual transmission, which is geared extremely well with great clutch feel.
Congrats on your car!
lloyd329
09-19-2004, 05:11 PM
Anybody know the phone number to OASIS? Also, being a salesman for Ford Canada, is that a good buy for US $ or Canada $? ;)
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