Ok, here's my take.

I have a sedan. The edge of the trunk lid rubs against the bumper cover and I now have three or four rub marks in the paint. The hatch on my 1990 Mustang LX-SC used to rub against the body/quarter-panel area at the opening.

I had a hesitation/surging until today. The car would surge lightly while driving and accelerating and it was more pronounced with the a/c on. The dealer reprogrammed the PCM today and no more problem.

I too have a funky smell. Not quite like oil and perhaps more like the cosmoline that was sprayed over the engine compartment for shipping purposes or something similar. It will (mostly) go away.

I don't have the other problems you have. Get them fixed.

I would like an IS300, but that's not going to happen anytime soon (or probably at all), but I can dream. My goal is to put my money in an asset that provides a return on investment.

The focus is a relatively inexpensive car that is fun to drive. IF you can have these items fixed and you don't want to waste/spend more money on a more expensive vehicle, then keep the Focus. If you can really affort a more expensive car then by all means get one, but remember the Fall-time is not the best time to sell a car and the Spring-time is.

[ 08-22-2002: Message edited by: G1-Focus ]</p>

 

I've flogged my silver SVTF since day one and the car remains flawless.
I do have to warm it up first though. Isn't that normal? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
I went light to light with a silver Viper this morning. He laughed but still gave me one of these

I have no self discipline when it comes to having fun in my SVT.

 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by DanamaxSVT:
I went light to light with a silver Viper this morning.<hr></blockquote>

riiiight.

 

Good luck, mine's been flawless.

[ 08-23-2002: Message edited by: akorn ]</p>

 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by DanamaxSVT:
I've flogged my silver SVTF since day one and the car remains flawless.
I do have to warm it up first though. Isn't that normal? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
I went light to light with a silver Viper this morning. He laughed but still gave me one of these

I have no self discipline when it comes to having fun in my SVT.<hr></blockquote>

just kidding..fellow mods...

really though...you cant talk about racing on the focal jet.

 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by emulous:

1. Missaligned hatch which now has a dent where it meets the roof, just from opening it.
2. Squeaky breaks.
3. Major clunk shifting from 1-2.
4. Interior trim falling off and/or warping.
5. Sunroof plastic sounds like it's gonna break every time it's opened.
6. Hesitation problems when driving with the a/c on.
7. Sticking gas pedal.
8. Funky smell coming from the engine.
9. Can't drive it until the engine temp. has warmed up, otherwise, get hesitation, surging and no response.
10. Loose/shakey side view mirror.
11. Squeaking seats.
12. Flaking paint on the brake calipers.
<hr></blockquote>

How many miles do you have?

1. Fix. Under warranty
2. **** happens. Either try the "tighten the lug nuts" trick, or the "break heavily while going in reverse" method. That or get non-metallic pads.
3. Get the best SVT dealership in your area to look at this. Many have this
4. Fix. Under warranty
5. Sunroof does have an odd sound to it but its perfectly normal for composite rails.
6. All small displacement cars are affected by the AC pretty heavily
7. Get that checked out. Under warranty
8. This goes away.
9. Can't drive until warmed up? Mine drives just fine even with the high startup rpms. You just don't need to use the gas pedal as much.

10. Fix. Under warranty.
11. Search for squeaky seat fix here. Just requires some lube sprayed into hinge.
12. It happens. If its excessive, get it fixed under warranty.

Maybe your car was built on a friday...

Overall though, I personally wouldn't be too freaked out with your set of issues.

 

dude....i've tried to fix my squeaky seat and every hinge in the car is prolly the most well oiled part of the car and it STILL squeaks. It has since day one and is SUCKS. it doesn't squeak when the seats (rear) are down though....bunch of crap.

 

I had a mis-aligned passenger side door that rubbed against the back of the front fender - body dept was able to fix it.

Actually the hesitation thing seems to be almost nonexistent some times, and bad others. Today I got a new tank of 91 octane and seemed to be worse than usual.

So they do have a fix for the surging? I heard that it was imminent, which is great.

I think instead of getting something else, go to the dealer and see how they can help. Print out that list and escalate there and to Ford if you don't get taken care of. Good luck with it, in any case....

 

I was unaware that our calipers were painted? I dont think they are. And the hesitation is normal in all small cars with the AC on. So get the underdrive pulleys. They work for me.

 

Make: FORD
Model: FOCUS
Year: 2002
Service Bulletin Number: 15509
Bulletin Sequence Number: 630
Summary Description:
SOME VEHICLES MAY EXHIBIT AN EXTERIOR MIRROR THAT IS LOOSE OR SHAKES WHEN DRIVING. *TT

 

Funky smell is still there on mine after 7000 miles. I think it's less prominent, but it may just be that I'm used to it now. It's certainly not gone. Dealer couldn't find any reason for it and just told me it was normal

 

It's great that they have a service bulletin on the mirror problem. That way they can replace it and you can have a new one that shakes too. Been there done that!

 

i have funky smell too....it smells like something is leaking/burning.

 

My car smelled like oil?? at first. It seemed to come from the air ducts??? Went away. Just as a point of interest on the mirror shake, I was test driving a $58k AMG SLK Mercedes, and get this, when you turned the radio up the drivers mirror vibrated with the radio bass.

Knowing about our mirror vibration conversations I just had to laugh.

 

Not exactly oil. More like a really oily fart, or a mixture of oil and stale sweat socks. It's a faint smell, but of the sort you can't help but notice

 

The smell I've been getting is more like water...as if there's some H2O on the engine block...but when I check the coolant res there's no change in level. Anyone else get this ver of "THE SMELL"?

BTW I get the mirror buzz...let's me know I've hit 90 MPH. Clunky 1-2 shift, yeah but I only hear it if I have the window open. Hesitation is getting better, but was never bad here in Socal...we've had a very cool summer. IMO, all vehicles suck with the AC on. Here's a new one...my plug cover has a blob of green paint on it...after two months, I gotta get off my lazy ass and have 'em get me a replacement.

 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by garyrich:
Not exactly oil. More like a really oily fart, or a mixture of oil and stale sweat socks. It's a faint smell, but of the sort you can't help but notice<hr></blockquote>

oh...so sort of a mildew smell. huh well I thought it was because water had gotten down into my cabin air filter and mildewed it....but if its already in the system I guess the stale air could just blow out anyways....at least it doesn't last.

 

Well someone stole my svt..and boy did they have fun!The car is a total wreck,insurance took care of it though..so I'm moving on to a Mazdaspeed protege,should be a fun car to modify..later folks and have fun!

 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by garyrich:
Not exactly oil. More like a really oily fart, or a mixture of oil and stale sweat socks. It's a faint smell, but of the sort you can't help but notice<hr></blockquote>

And it's more pronounced and higher speeds, where you keep the RPMs up longer. I really noticed it when I was scooting along at 120. It kinda scared me at first...I thought it was the seals burning!

 

when i first got my focus i had probs to, interior light didnt work, moonroof no worko, this is the best one, when i hit the windshied washer water would come out from my interior light, i wanted to keep it just because it was halarious, ne way, everythings fixed now.

 

I'll give you $14k for it.

I can have most of those problems fixed within the first day or two.

 

The first to second "Clunk" is an EASY $20 + Labor fix. It is common to ALL manual-tranny Foci under HARD shifts.
It is simply a sloppy set of bushings, which are fairly easily replaced w/ Poly-Urethane Bushings, (I used Prothane from Tony D at NewEdgePerformance). It is a set of bushings for the "Tranny/Motor-mount" The stock ones are not optimal for HARD shifts. They are designed to reduce vibration. Good, Solid Poly-U bushings will solve THAT problem Completely.

 

I was finally able to take my car to the dealer today, had to make the appointment 1 month ahead. Ironically, today is exactly 3 months since I bought the car. While the service rep was very courteous and didn't rush anything and walked out to my car and let me show her everything I was talking about.

I was told that all brakes squeak because they are not allowed to put asbestos in them anymore. Funny, cause at our last G2G, the guy 5 cars behind me during our drive, asked me later in the day when we went to go get the keg if those were my brakes he heard squeaking.

She stated that the dent in the hatch probably came from the factory and that they will arange with a body shop to get it fixed. I thought it was very cool, that I didn't get the line, you've had the car for three months, it's your fault.

I was also given the line that the a/c draws a lot of power and this is normal. I stated that I grew up in Miami and have always used a/c and yes reduced power is normal, but what is happening with my car is not normal.

The sunroof didn't make the sound while at the dealer.

She also said the paint on the calipers is only to keep them from rusting during shipping from the factory.

I can't believe service reps still give this b.s. to customers. Does she really think that this is my first car at age 28? Although I guess I looked a lot younger to her, because she asked me twice about being 21 for the rental car.

Speaking of the rental car, I expected to get a lame car as a free rental, which yes it is a 2001 Ford Escort Sedan, but the car is filthy, I mean disgustingly dirty on the inside, the seats, the dash, the windows look like they haven't been cleaned in months. Pretty sad if you ask me.

I ended up giving them a list of 14 items, so I'll keep you guys posted on what the results are on the first trip to the dealer for something other than an oil change.

The more and more I drive this car, the more I like it, but I'm not gonna put up with too much crude from the dealer. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

 

Originally posted by Grimjack:
Well someone stole my svt..and boy did they have fun!The car is a total wreck,insurance took care of it though..so I'm moving on to a Mazdaspeed protege,should be a fun car to modify..later folks and have fun!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">How the hell did they steal it? the SVT has securilock...which means you cant start the car unless you have the keys in it...

 

no-one stole my girl!but someone did use my handle though,oh well changed my password and everything is ok.just wanted to clear that up.(a mazda??!!i don't think so)