New 2000 Ford Focus ZX3!!!

[HydroJim]

I just went and looked at the car tonight! I'm only 15 and don't have my temps yet so I had the salesmen test drive the car for me. That's a little weird and I didn't like not getting to feel the car, but it seemed like a nice car. manual transmission was smooth as butter. Some minor rust but it's cleveland, and that's what happens here. The oil was black which concerned me at first, but then I remember that some oil is black while some is brown. It wasn't a burnt black, it had clarity to it, just a different color. Car smelled when I started it up the first time, but then the second time I started it the smell was gone after I let the car cool down. It wasn't a sweet smell and it didn't smell like oil. Almost smelled like if you cook something, take the food off, and let the residue burn. I assume that was just from sitting. some sort of build up in the exhaust. it sat for about a month at the dealer and who knows how long before that. I'm no mechanic, but I did a thorough check. The interior is super clean. So I hope I did good for my first car.

I put a $1000 deposit tonight and go to pick it up this friday. I got the car for $2700 which is quite a bit for a first car, but the car is valued at $4000 so I figured its a win win situation as long as I didn't get a lemon. I'm also very mature for my age so I'm not worried about crashing it or anything. How many 15 year olds are into hypermiling and aeromodding? haha

Specs:
2000 Ford Focus ZX3
2.0 liter inline 4
5 speed manual transmission
cruise control(I'm only using it for testing modifications)

I can't wait to get the car this friday. Too bad I can't drive it until I get my temps in december. But that won't stop me from sitting in it and thinking about driving it

here's a link if anyone wants to take a look: 2000 Ford Focus $2,695 - Mr. Auto Sales Inc. - Eastlake, OH 44095 Dealer

Sorry for the long post. I'm just really excited. I can't wait to start my project log. I'm hoping to have the car modded like the aerocivic by the end of this upcoming summer.

[focus1.6uk]

Congratulations on getting your first car It looks to be in good condition and it has a manual gearbox as well

The 2.0 Zetec has quite short gearing for good acceleration so perhaps a simple 5th gear replacement will drop your cruising rpms on the freeway for a few mpg extra

[jkv357]

Congrats. Drive safe.

Be careful concentrating too much on Hypermiling when you are learning. There's plenty to do and look out for when driving, especially learning, so don't sweat the MPGs yet. It's going to do well even with normal driving techniques.

Sounds like a good price - how many miles? I have a 15 year old that is already looking for a car, and we will be looking at a Focus - eventually.

[HydroJim]

It has a little over 84,000 miles. It was a good deal for the car, but a little more than I wanted to spend. Unfortunately, Anything under $2500 in the cleveland area is like swiss cheese when it comes to rust and this one was fairly clean so I figured It's better not to have to deal with rust repair. Plus, the interior is absolutely spotless. The only flaw is that the carpet is worn where the drivers feet sit because the person never got floor mats. Good news is that we have a lot of junkyards here in cleveland so I should be able to find parts for cheap when I need them.

The focus is definitely a good car. For a small car, it feels very high up and there aren't many blind spots. The manual transmission is smooth as butter and the handling is great. Probably one of the better cars made in the past decade.

[mwebb]

coolant smells "sweet" like a bakery type smell as it cooks off of the engine or emanates from the
tail pipe

before you complete this transaction have the selling dealer locate and repair the coolant loss .

key word here is BEFORE

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by mwebb

coolant smells "sweet" like a bakery type smell as it cooks off of the engine or emanates from the
tail pipe

before you complete this transaction have the selling dealer locate and repair the coolant loss .

key word here is BEFORE

I wonder hydro... how are you sure this is a good deal? You write, "I got the car for $2700 which is quite a bit for a first car, but the car is valued at $4000 so I figured its a win win situation as long as I didn't get a lemon." Did the dealer tell you it's worth $4K? You seem very smart and I would bet you have done your own research... but be careful. Why would a dealer be selling a $4000 fuel-economy car for $2700 when gas prices are perched up over $3.50/gallon and likely to go higher? What guarantees are they offering in writing? Anything?

[JakeC]

Congratulations on your first car! I remember the feeling of freedom, and quickly realized my love for driving after I acquired my first car.

I agree with mwebb, I would definitely have the dealer check out the smell. I had a coolant leak from the heater core in my Jeep. I did the repair myself and saved quite a bit of money, but to repair it I had to remove the entire dash, drop the steering column and figure out how to go about replacing it.

[HydroJim]

Don't worry guys. The smell wasn't a sweet smell. It was a burning smell. I've smelled the smell before. It was similar to when you start up a lawnmower after winter with old gas. It went away quickly and I assumed it was because the gas has been sitting in that car for a while. I've smelled leaking coolant before and it was different than that. If im wrong, I guess I'll have to learn the hard way and fix it. I'm not super worried about it.


California98Civic- the price is so low because the car was originally priced at $4500(kbb says the dealer value is $5000) then the dropped it down to $4000 which is the private owner excellent condition price. Then it went down somewhere in the $3000's. I forgot where exactly. And then it went to $2700 and I jumped on the deal. Sitting on the car for about a month was costing them money so they had to get rid of it. They're a penny pinching dealer, but I can't blame them because I would be too. they have an A+ rating with the BBB which shows not too many people were getting screwed by them.

[HydroJim]

Picked up the car today! It runs great! The only problem I had was that I forgot that you have to push down on the shifter before you shift it into reverse so my friend(who was driving the car home for me) and I were having the hardest time figuring out why it wasn't going into reverse. I finally remembered that the salesmen showed me how to do it when I went and looked at the car but that was pretty funny being stuck in the gas station parking lot trying to get out of the spot. So it was a pretty good day. I did find one negative in the car that I should have checked but the parking brake doesn't work. I talked to my dad(the best mechanic I'll ever meet) and he says that's a pretty common problem and it's easy to fix. So now I just have to wait for my dad to get in town(he works out of town for his new job) so that we can fix the parking brake and he can teach me how to drive a manual transmission.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by HydroJim

my dad(the best mechanic I'll ever meet) ... my dad to get in town... so that we can fix the parking brake and he can teach me how to drive a manual transmission.

Sounds wonderful. Congrats on your first car. And as a dad with a nine-year-old slowly picking up an interest in cars and modding, I certainly think it's way-cool that you have a relationship like the one you seem to have with yours... enjoy. I look forward to what you do to mod it.