2001 Focus
This car gets you from point A to point B. No frills. Everything on it still works. Engine gets great gas mileage and it handles relatively well. It's strengths: Gas efficiency, Low cost of initial purchase, Easy to drive and park. Weaknesses: Designed in Germany so the cup holders will only hold medium or smaller drinks. Windows operate only in key accessory and not in battery saver so if you park and pull out the key to exit and decide to roll up the windows, you need to reinsert key and turn. Corrosion resistance is not something this car has. Parts like the struts and the lower control arms were so corroded (rusted) that they needed replaced at 100K miles and it was a safety issue. so much so the strut rusted and broke from the upper mounting plate. Unloading the front end placed the person doing it in danger of it launching out from underneath. The alternator was a major pain to swap. Alternator part was cheap but getting to it was painful. Can't drop it from below due to components like exhaust in the way. From the top you have to remove components and bend a bracket. The valve cover gasket failed at 85K. Cheap and easy to swap but it would be nice if it did not fail. Other than that, I have it and plan to drive it until it explodes.
Verified Owner
