fishbone Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Early model meaning what? We had a 2002. I think that was the 1st gen Focus. Stuff that went wrong on it by 60K IIRC before we sold it (had it for 2 years): -leaky thermostat -leaky valve cover gasket -wiper motor would no longer park wipers correctly. It was a relay/fuse problem -fuse panel started acting up and had to be replaced -stock 6 CD changer stopped ejecting CDs right, volume knob started acting up -wouldn't start up on first crank on winter mornings, would stall sometimes. Replaced fuel filter (replaced every 15K? WTF?), helped a bit but still had issues. And that's the things I remembered off the top of my head, I may have forgotten a couple Otherwise the car was great for stuffing stuff in, handled surprisingly well, cheaply built meant easy to work on/take stuff apart. Even all of the above given, I still kinda liked that car. It was the wife's car and she downsized. Got a Mini Cooper S Had it for a year so far and zero issues, even with more miles on it now than the Focus. Knock on wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueWhiteBoy Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 I guess 2000 to 2003/4, hahahaha I heard that it was a fun little car, but I kinda had a feeling that the reliability would probably be questionable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Focus used to be my favorite rental car, back when I was travelling on business. Great steering, decent handling, and I swear they had more interior room than my '96 Contour. No idea about reliability on the Focus, but my '96 Contour made lots of trips to the dealership with issues, including 5 recalls. I loved that car, but the Ford dealership service experience was absolutely miserable, every time. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I agree, I too liked our Focus. You could pack a surprising amount once you folded down the rear seats. It was easy to work on too because, well, everything was straight forward and cheaply built. I had to remove the rear bezel on the hatch door and to take off the panel on the inside it was literally just 4 pop-its. Two more screws later and I was poking my hand out the car Great gas mileage, even with the autotragic 4-speed. We averaged 26 in town and 33 on the highway. Now the Mini is right around 23 in town and 30 on the highway and wants premium too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piripi Posted November 20, 2010 Share Posted November 20, 2010 Miata if 2 seats ok celica or civic otherwise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted November 23, 2010 Share Posted November 23, 2010 Any Panther chassis. Just be sure to avoid former taxis, livery, and police cruisers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueWhiteBoy Posted November 23, 2010 Author Share Posted November 23, 2010 Tempting, especially if I could find police colors, maybe put a large clear plasticy ski rack on there. The gas mileage seems pretty bad though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refuge Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 I have been thinking about buying the benz and selling my subie. Times are tough for me and I need a beater that is reliable (unlike my subie- it seems). What do you think about this benz in the neighborhood? Its the 300D 1982 for 9600$ not including tax. He says its original miles at 76K. The interior and exterior are HOT. All original and no rust. Leather interior. Its Automatic though. Is this a rare deal that I should take up? It seems garage kept. Are parts hard expensive and easy finds? Is this thread-jacking? Maybe I should have just P'Med you W123 series Mercedes diesels are hard to kill for sure, but among the W123s I favor the 82-85 300D turbodiesels over the anemic 77-83 240Ds or non-turbo 77-81 300Ds. The one advantage of the 240D is that you could get it w/ a 4-speed manual in the U.S. whereas all of the 300D sedans, 300CD coupes, and 300TD wagons were only available w/ the 4-speed automatic in the U.S. (You Euros got manual 300D/CD/TD, but we didn't.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cincy05LGT Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Volvo 850 or 240DL. I bought my 850 six years ago and sold it last year for the same amount. 263k miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 If you want cheap and reliable and easy to fix, imho I would not buy that Benz. It is old and regardless of miles, plastic and more importantly rubber ages no matter what and I am not so sure about parts availability and prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShrinerMonkey Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 Tempting, especially if I could find police colors, maybe put a large clear plasticy ski rack on there. The gas mileage seems pretty bad though. Not a bad as you would think, especially on the highway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Refuge Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 If you want cheap and reliable and easy to fix, imho I would not buy that Benz. It is old and regardless of miles, plastic and more importantly rubber ages no matter what and I am not so sure about parts availability and prices. Your probably right. I guess I should hop in something different. Thread starter: check out The 1991-96 Infiniti G20 1985-89 Toyota MR2 1988-91 Honda CRX What do you peoples think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosAngelesLGT Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 ^MR2 = useless car. May as well get a motorcycle for a DD. Oh, 1995 Ford Escord 4dr wagon. SUPER EASY TO WORK ON. SUPER EASY TO FIND PARTS FOR. SUPER EASY TO KEEP FROM MODDING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactojesse Posted December 2, 2010 Share Posted December 2, 2010 I have been thinking about buying the benz and selling my subie. Times are tough for me and I need a beater that is reliable (unlike my subie- it seems). What do you think about this benz in the neighborhood? Its the 300D 1982 for 9600$ not including tax. He says its original miles at 76K. The interior and exterior are HOT. All original and no rust. Leather interior. Its Automatic though. Is this a rare deal that I should take up? It seems garage kept. Are parts hard expensive and easy finds? Great car, but that's way too much money for a 300D, even if it is one of the desirable 82-85 turbodiesels. Out west, clean W123 body diesels are a dime a dozen and available for $2-4k. The station wagons (300TD) and coupes (300CD) usually fetch a premium, but the sedans (240D and 300D) are cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracer-X Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Oh, 1995 Ford Escord 4dr wagon. SUPER EASY TO WORK ON. SUPER EASY TO FIND PARTS FOR. SUPER EASY TO KEEP FROM MODDING. You say that but I have had 6 Escorts (cars) and of them 3 were wagons. Of those wagons one had a 50 shot of nitrous in it and another had a turbo in it bigger then the LGT has. Of the other Escorts that I had one of them had a turbo bigger then the one in the wagon and has now been turned into a stripped, gutted, and caged race car. Back on topic...I have no suggestions. Jump on it, Let's do it, Ride it, My Pony... EL4NFZT7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosAngelesLGT Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 I have had many Escorts :lol:Me too but I prefer the women! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.