"comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer" (00cyclonefan)
12/27/2016 at 21:51 • Filed to: None
7
11|
"comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer" (00cyclonefan)
12/27/2016 at 21:51 • Filed to: None | 7
| 11 |
2005 rental spec Focus is primarily a commuting appliance, gas it, maintain it, clean it when it gets annoyingly dirty.
Thanks to a holiday shutdown, not commuting this week, so she got a wash at the local pay and spray, and a handcrafted oil change and tire rotation (OK, nothing special, but I did it myself without power tools, and ‘handcrafted’ seems to add to the cache on things these days).
Gotta admit, I have a love/hate relationship with this bird, bought it 11 years ago as a used 2005 rental after Mrs. Comes over hit a deer with her previous ride, just needed something cheap-ish. Figured it’d last a couple years ‘til we traded it off for an upgrade. A few years down the road, looked at what it was worth, decided to run it until it died. Shouldn’t be long, right? It’s the cheap-o Ferd, and it was a rental in a previous life.
11 years and 120K later, I have a throttle position sensor in it other than oil/tires/brakes. There’s juuuust a few spots where the rust is coming to the visible surfaces. The CD player doesn’t work, but a tacked on blootoof FM transmitter does fine with podcasts.
I have spent years researching what my next vehicle would be, and at times have wished I could justify buying something else, but then I hop in the Focus, and get where I need to without any hassle, and not a lot of gas. I could afford to just buy something anyway, but part of me feels like I’d be short changing this little bastard, she ain’t giving up on me, I kind of don’t want to give up on her. Sure I could sell it off for a little something, but I know it probably wouldn’t get parked in a garage and although never babied, maintained pretty well for a car worth less than a couple grand.
I love reading all of the stories of the crazy projects you guys have, and all the trades and swaps, but for me, someday I’ll play around in that game, but for now....she may be a little shitbox, but she’s my little shitbox, and in the late afternoon sunlight after a nice wash, oil change, rotate tires and check the pressure, the chrome still shines and she ain’t too bad...not going to brag about it, but not going to complain, either.
Similar, but not mine, Focus for your time...noticing now in that pic how my antenna has gotten a little ‘droopy’ with age...
MonkeePuzzle
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 21:56 |
|
i know that feeling, wanting to be rid of a car to get something more fun, but the car just wont die.
congrats on picking a quality appliance :)
remember, driving a slow car fast is always better than a fast car slow
RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 22:03 |
|
I feel ya! My DD is a 2009 Accent hatchback, so I know the sentiment! :)
Matt Nichelson
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 22:04 |
|
I see nothing wrong with that. It’s been dependable and it gets you around. That’s really all you can ask out of most any vehicle.
XJDano
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 22:19 |
|
Yep.
Although the metro was really showing its age in the frame horns, and I knew I would be in the crumple zone if anything happened. I now have another beater, My wife’s Equinox she leased then bought. I just changed the oil and put new wiper blades on it. It’s full of work things, just like the metro was.
shop-teacher
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 22:22 |
|
Nothing wrong with that :)
Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 22:23 |
|
I know that feel.
although mine needs a bit of attention. Like struts/shocks, exhaust, minor brake work and a thermostat. Why did Ford bury the thermostat? A ten minute job on my wife’s T&C is a monstrous pain in the ass on my Focus. Thanks Ford.
|
comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
> Deal Killer - Powered by Focus
12/27/2016 at 22:33 |
|
Thermostat: make sure...actual temp problem, or CEL? I had a CEL and throwing a code for low coolant temp a few months ago, reset the code and it hasn’t been back. And hah, yeah, I tried that after I saw that the thermostat was more than a 10 minute jobber. Honestly, I could probably use some of the bouncy bits as well, noticed a bit of a squeak on one turn lately, but nothing like the hopping wheels going down the road you see sometimes.
Busslayer
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 23:02 |
|
I have two (2!) 2005 Focuses.
I bought the first one 5 years ago with 100k miles as a cheap get-me-to-work car. But I really like it now. I’m now at almost 160k miles with very little invested. Beside oil/brakes/ tires I have only had to replace the rod ends & sway bar end links. Oh, and a clutch master cylinder. The master cylinder was my fault though as I way over revved it trying to keep up with a GT500 and the clutch disk locked up. When I stepped on the clutch pedal it blew trying to force the over revved clutch plate open. I am absolutely abusive to it and it keeps on ticking. They really are decently fun little cars, at least compared with other comparable C cars. Here is a second gear burnout with 150k plus on the odometer.
Since I have had such good luck with it, I bought another one for my kids to drive this spring. This one has also been trouble free.
ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 23:40 |
|
You could always try spicing things up with some SVT Focus goodies. The seats would bolt in up front. Sadly the SVT suspension does not fit the sedan, but I still think they make better stuff for those and that gen Focus did have very good handling. At least my SVT did.
Had it for 10 years. Loved that car. Miss it dearly.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
12/27/2016 at 23:45 |
|
i know what you mean. i bought my car late 2003 (04 Lancer)
still got it, spent a bit more than what you have. but mine’s done a shitload more km’s. ticked over 633k km today.
Eric @ opposite-lock.com
> MonkeePuzzle
12/28/2016 at 00:28 |
|
The only thing that makes those unkillable Fords better is a third pedal... I had to actively decide to replace my last one because it just wouldn’t die. I hope my FoST is as reliable, because I’m aiming to drive her until the wheels fall off, electric cars become affordable, or autonomous cars make driving nothing more than a hobby.