[quote=InDebtInDC;136250]No disrespect, but apparently the people who made those suggestions have no idea what they're talking about. For an average car, I would say hand on to it. But for the Focus, good riddance.
With all due respect, how many of those people actually fixed a Focus with their own hands? If they did, I don't imagine they would sing the same tune.
I honestly don't know. I worry about many things about our cars but living in Boston now I hate his car. I worry about DH all the time. But he says it's the driver and not the car, and he's a good winter driver growing up in Canada without AWD or even a big car, he drove a jetta.
Do you know if there's a leak? Is there coolant on the ground when you park overnight? If you're not sure, please take the car in ASAP for a coolant pressure test. What they'll do is simulate operating condition by pumping 15-20 PSI into the radiator and see if it springs a leak.
Nope, the hole is above the minimum level. The A/C and heat stop working and we refil it. We just keep on filling it up. It seems fine as soon as we top it off. We've taken it in and no one's mentioned anything.
It may be any number of things: wheel/tyre out of balance, something in the drivetrain that's loose, bad engine, bad clutch, bad gearbox, anything. There's no way to know without seeing.
Can you describe the shaking?
The shaking is just the steering wheel, etc. I think it's because the rim is leaking air so the car feels off balance. I'm not sure. We're ordering new rims but I ordered the "wrong" finish so we have to return it and get a new rim. It leaks so the tire is good but it becomes "flat". Otherwise the tires are aligned and balanced and rotated regularly.
1. This is normal. Brakes and discs/rotors usually need replacement every 30k, sooner depending on driving habit.
-told that brake pads and rotors usually last 60k miles. My corolla lasted one chage of pads and the rotors/pads were replaced at almost 90k finally.
2. A lot of Fords have problems with the ignition switch, as reported by the person with the F150 above.
-
the key jammed one night.
3. Fuel pump failure rate is also high in the Ford. To prevent premature failure, never drive with less than 1/2 tank. The fuel cools the pump and low fuel = hot pump.
DH was super careful, but the fuel gauge broke and he wouldn't read that there was gas in the tank. And then the pump broke too!
4. What does "clean engine" mean? Misfiring spark plug = something wrong with the ignition system. You need to check spark and timing to make sure it's working probably.
-they just cleaned the engine. They basically redid the whole engine or something. It stopped the banging noise in the engine.
5. Unfortunately this is common on American cars. The electronic accessories start to go after 5 years.
6. I would say this is normal depending on use. If you load/unload a lot, suspension is going to go sooner than later.
-the struts went at like 40k. I think it was ridiculous.
Sorry but I swear this car just frustrates me. Problem one, never buy first year of a new car. Second, it's a FORD. DH loves the hatchback so he loves the car. BUT he's also realized how much we've spent comparatively on the two cars.
I don't know why but the people on the blog suggested not picking up an older used car and said I was stupid. I'm going to keep thinking and mulling it over.
Living Almost Large: Dumping good money after bad...