yakimushi

Well, I bought me a car yesterday! It just happened that the first dealer I went to had this sweet little Focus SVT sitting out front. I hadn't been looking to buy and SVT, just a ZX3. But I guess I got lucky because this car is pretty much spotless, only has 20k miles, and I negotiated a 75,000 premium drivetrain warranty into it. And that was after knocking $2500 off thier asking price. Oh yeah, it's fully loaded too.

Anyways, I know you people just came in here for this pics so here they are:











I've only had it for a day but I LOVE this car. My old car was a 1991 Tracker with 175k mi on it. This new car feels SOOOO fast compared to my old one. I wasn't too keen on the red at first but it's grown on me a lot.

Thanks for looking!

Kurant

SVT Focus is a nice car, IMO.

I work with a guy who really dominates the SCCA Club races up here with his SVT Focus. Don't know him very well, but I used to watch him run when I had my M3, those little SVT's are bad boys.

NIce purchase!

KirStang

170hp. Go you

Do they have 5 or 6 speed gear boxes?

I hear focuses handle *really* well, is that true?

mosha

Best of luck with the focus. Looks like you have had some leakers in the past on that driveway.

yakimushi

Hmmm... SCCA races? I might have to look into those. Or would I need a rollcage?

The gearbox is a Gertrag 6-speed. It's very nice but I'm not used to having to shift so much.

The leaker is my dads '89 Blazer that has 218,000 miles on it. At this point he's just waiting for it to die so putting more oil in is easier than replacing seals.

Lockjaw

lol you don't screw around when looking for a new car. And good negotiation skills.

merkerguitars

I gotta say you got a damn nice car for a damn nice price....I usually don't like focuses...but damn that is pretty sweet...

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Jackebear

I like your car too.

Well done...have fun with it.

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yakimushi

Bad news... found a punture in the tire after I brought it home, tire was flat after getting to work this morning. Horn doesn't work either, and hard starts in the morning.

The car was being driven by an salesman there so I'm starting to wonder if this is really a Ford Certified vehicle.

wrongfullyaccuzd

Sorry to hear the bad news.
I have a question.
A dealer once told me that the engine was too much for the little frame to handle, making it somewhat unsafe. How do you feel, having driven it?

tspikes51

That's what you get for buying a Ford... I love my Escort though, and I guess since the Focus was the replacement, it may be alright.

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powerclown

Nice car you got there.

yakimushi

I feel a hell of a lot safer than driving my lightweight, high center of gravity, too short of a wheelbase, tin can Geo Tracker

I don't know, I haven't had any issues with the car being too powerful. I've heard these cars in the winter will have you scraping poop out of your pants, but we'll just have to wait a couple months to find that out.

I've driven it through most of the twisties near my house. By twisties, I mean roads with sharp curves in them. I want to take a road trip out to Athens Ohio in a couple weeks to really test the handling, power, and capabilities. The 50 from Chillicothe to Athens is nicely twisty with enough long straights to get past any slow moving hillbillies or old folks.

powerclown, that is too awesome. I'm printing that to put up next to my computer!

HeLLVieW96

i work at the ford dealer here in town, those are fun little cars to drive around. good times. sounds like you got an awsome deal too.

Halx

Focuses always bug me 'cause they have their turn signals between their headlights... just like crown victorias. At night, I always slow down and let them pass... only to discover it wasn't a cop, but a punk kid!

Well, let's a good looking car you got, anyways.

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Paradise Lost

Very nice looking car, but I've always heard to stay away from Ford Focus's... Shrugs.
Btw, you ever think about cleaning up your driveway some? :P You have this great looking
house, and car in the picture, then this really super greasy driveway taking up the other 1/3rd
of the pic :P

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todd

Man, i'm jealous.
I want one.

Lockjaw

The Focus had some head gasket issues early on IIRC but they got it fixed up and they have been one of the more reliable cars you can buy ever since. And IIRC they've won quite a few awards since they've been out as well.
Personally I think it's the best American compact car you can get. The Cobalt might take that honor now but that remains to be seen and when the Focus gets moved over to it's new platform in a few years it won't be a question anymore.

TM875

Focus saved my life.

Besides that, the frame can certainly handle 170hp. I've heard of guys who've put nearly 500rwhp into a Focus without any major frame mods.

As for the problesm...go back and kick the dealer's butt.

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slimpi66y

sorry to break it to ya buddy, but a friend of mine got one and at 30K (approx 21G miles) it started to have overheating problems, braking system failures, wipers problem and whatnot...

jamessh1

The best american hatch on the market, and in the car and driver testing it even beat out the honda civic hatch if i recall correctly. keep us updated on the repairs, I remember having a bunch of problems with my car the first week i bought it, and basically no problems in the last year and a half.

Ramega

Awesome! SVT makes fun stuff, I drive a '96 Cobra. I can't wait to see what SVT does with the new Mustang.

Even the SVT Contour was a bad little ride.

nospam

When my wife and I were looking at cars we looked at the Focus...

The only cosmetic thing I don't like about it is the antenna, front and center of the "roof" of the car. I have seen an aftermarket part that shortens it. Probably reduces receiption but looks a little better.

Congrats on the car...I've heard the SVT Focus is fun to drive.

RallyEX

They are OK, but could use a bit more. As for SCCA races, they seem to do well, however they tend to get tipsy in hard and off-camber turns. I have actually seen a focus on two wheels through an uneven slolam at an SCCA Autocross, and it scared the living crap out of me.

Great looking car, mang. I really love the color, and it's very clean... Hope you don't have any more troubles with it, as it is probably the best looking/performing domestic hatchback at the moment.

yakimushi

Sorry to take so long to reply to the rest of you, been crazy lately.

lightmayo, your friend probably had an '00 or '01. '02 and later resolved all of the major issues. Mine's an '02, and its an SVT

Everyone else, yeah its fun to drive! In fact, being nimble has already saved my ass once. Unfortunately... I got my first speeding ticket too. 86mph in a 65mph zone on I-75 southbound in Dayton. I was late for work and had lots of room on the tach, soooo... I get to go to traffic school to have the ticket erased.

In a couple weeks I'm taking a trip to Athens, OH just so I can get the car on OH-50 from Chillicothe to Athens. It's full of twisties and hills, whee!

fearwall

The Focus RS over in Europe is basically the same thing, but putting out 250HP through an AWD drivetrain. I don't know how a frame would be unable to handle a given amount of HP. You can overpower brakes and transmissions easily though. But neither of those are really weakpoints in the SVT focus.

humpy012

I didnt like the focus SVT when it first came out, but I have realized it is truely a nice sport compact.

iceburn

I have an 01 Focus ZX3. non svt. It's great though. You don't go super fast, but it's so agile, it's a lot of fun to get around in. I bought the sports package because that was all that was available, so the tires are a little wider, and it's got pretty wheels.

I've had it since nov. 2000 and have put 92k on it.... commuting up/down HWY 1 in central CA mostly. Fun driving. about to pay it all off finally.

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castex

Sweet car. Congratulations

actinic

Nice car. I forget the link/post but someone posted a video where this person dropped a 500hp (I think) engine in a Focus...man did it go like stink

Lockjaw

That was probably the Cammer V8 RWD conversion Ford Racing Products did.

But yaki you might want to keep that SVT Focus just heard some news today that the SVT program might be in danger of going away so an SVT anything could be worth some decent cash one day.

Lestat

Nice looking car! I love the color.

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Esoteric

Nice car, congrats! That should last you a long time, I'm sure it gets great gas mileage too.

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thadon

sweet little ride, I'd take a SVT or a SRT 4 for a quick little commuter

moneypit

question-- did the Focus RS or something like the SVT make it over to Australia and New Zealand?