10/13/2023 0 Comments 2003 ford focusUpdating review 10 years later! I've owned my Focus nearly 13 years now and can't complain. Huge trunk great for travel.I love this car! The back seat is roomier than I expected and the front is very comfortable. The original Firestone tires were.well, junk, and after lots effort on the dealership's part, I gave up and replaced them with Pirelli tires at 8000 miles. I have the Zetec engine, it has lots of pep and I get 25 mpg overall and that's with over 20 stop lights between home and work. I bought this car new and it is just as much fun to drive over 3 years later. Some people, I am certain, will think I am certifiably insane. In fact, I like the wagon so much so, I am willing to repair my oil leak not by fixing the leak itself ($2k) and leaving the old engine and transmission in place, but by pro-actively installing a brand new OEM engine, remanufactured transmission, cross-members, struts, hub assemblies, alternator, water pump, power steering pump, radiator, new wires, and a few other items for $12K - rather than scrap the car and buy someone else's problem. But this is an economy car, not an F-18 fighter jet, and while I may yet wish for many gauges and a Heads-Up-Display with Infrared to see through snow, I am aware of the reality that you get what you pay for with that in mind, I like my Focus. Also, it's acceleration is not as quick as I would like, but for a vehicle in its class, I think it does well enough. To be honest, there are some things about this car I do not like, chiefly poor fuel economy (compared to yesteryear's Japanese imports), poor sound insulation from road noise, the front-end turn signal lights are too much in the center, and an instrumentation cluster that does not provide any useful and preventative information concerning the vehicles day-by-day condition. Having previously lived in a climate with extremes of cold and hot temps, I am not surprised that the motor mounts have begun to crack, increasing engine vibration. The original engine and transmission have served well over the last 7 years, though at 180K the engine has sprung a leak. Other than regular oil changes, fuel filters, air filter, struts and an alternator - all normal wear and tear items - I have experienced no unexpected hard part failures. I don't know what the previous owner did to the vehicle I bought it as-is and immediately had necessary but normal maintenance items performed. Where I live, everything is a long-distance commute. In less than 2-1/2 years I added another 60K, or a little over 26K per year. For example, in October 2015, I changed the timing belt at just under 120K. Given my propensity for clocking what many would call excessive miles per year, it is only understandable I have had a higher maintenance cost. In the 7 years I have owned the car I have added 120,000 miles for a total of just over 180,000 miles on the original equipment. I purchased my 2003 Focus Wagon used with just over 60,000 miles in June 2011 when the car was about 8 years old.
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