Please help me find a new car!!

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: Fmr12B

Originally posted by: TangoJuliet
Well guys you are looking at a proud owner of a 2009 Ford Focus Coupe SES. I snagged it for $17,460 plus tax and whatnot. Now, they were kind of pressuring me to get the extended warranty on the car since I drive so many miles a year (25-30,000). I told them yes, but I am starting to second guess myself if it was a good choice to do so. I also added a remote start for $100.

Pictures!

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Back out of the extended warranty!

High mileage newer cars rarely break down as freeway miles do not wear a car down - start/stop city driving is what breaks car parts and causes unreliability!

See that is what I was thinking as well. I believe the car comes with a 3 year 36,000 basic warranty as well as a 5 year / 100,000 mile on the drivetrain, 5 year / 60,000 miles on roadside and 5 year / Unlimited miles on Rust

The extended warranty bumps it up to 4 years / 100,000 on the basic warranty I believe he told me. I keep going back and forth on the warranty - on one hand if the car breaks down from all the driving then I'm covered - but on the other hand I'm probably going to blow through the miles in 2 and a half years or so.

Originally posted by: Quintox
Good lookin' car

Thank you.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I didn't even know they made a 2 door focus anymore. I'm out of the loop. Looks good, just needs a manual trans 😉.

 

[Arkaign]

'Grats, cool car.

I have the same thing, only 2008 and Red w/5spd 🙂

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp
My brother works for Toyota in Ann Arbor, MI at the R&D Facility.

Ford, and namely the Focus is at the top of their "worry" list, as it's more reliable/better value than what Toyota has to offer.

Ford is making some good cars these days, even if they all aren't the most attractive. (Focus) I'm excited for the euro model to get here.

But, I personally would get the Jetta, mainly just because of the MPG/reliability of the engines. (Although, you have to worry about everything else in a VW)

Using Gasbuddy, the cheapest unleaded here in Dallas is currently $1.54, while the cheapest diesel is $1.99.

So, say you drive the Jetta with a combined 35mpg, it will cost $5.67 to drive 100 miles.

Now, say you drive a Civic or Focus with a combined 30mpg (I do much more than this with my '08 Focus Coupe, but it is a shade lighter and a 5-speed), it will cost $5.12 to drive 100 miles.

Sometimes Diesel is more than a dollar more expensive than Unleaded! At the current disparity, it would cost more than $50 more in fuel every 10k miles to drive the 'efficient' TDI than it would the Civic or Focus. Not a huge bunch of money, but it's there.

So you see, the MPG of Diesels is either exaggerated in terms of value, or sometimes the difference is actually in favor of the car with lower MPG, but cheaper fuel.

From what I've read, assuming you aren't flooring it you can do better than 35mpg. Especially on the highway, where I've read that many people average 55-60mpg. A focus or civic will never hit that. If you're doing a lot of highway driving it's worth it. Not to mention the motors will run for a billion miles.

(1)- No, the fuel economy is not that good.

http://www.popularmechanics.co...rs/4284188.html?page=2

City avg. was ~32, highway was ~45, both with light-foot driving. The Prius stomped its guts out in real-world fuel economy.

(2)- Even if the motor lasts a really long time in the Jetta, everything else will fall apart or explode on you, costing $$$$ constantly 🙂

I'm a former VW owner, never again.

 

[xaeniac]

Nice decision. I like and the focus should be very reliable for years to come.

 

[bananapeel42]

GOOD BUY OP. what the hell is with all the VW fanboi's here? jesus christ man.... are you kidding me a Jetta better for reliability? HAHAHAHAHAHAH

Jetta is a fine car, but if you're comparing it's value to a focus, civic, etc. it just doesn't compare in the LONG TERM.

Diesel for one just costs too damn much now so the extra 10-15mpg are completely nixed by the .50 + price hike per gallon you have to pay. Also, the motor may be fine, but 100k miles and have fun fixing everything else under the sun.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Well done. That was the best buy from my perspective. I like the leather, looks very nice with the white stitching. :thumbsup:

 

[TangoJuliet]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
Well done. That was the best buy from my perspective. I like the leather, looks very nice with the white stitching. :thumbsup:

Thanks, I like it as well. 🙂

 

[suse920]

Fantasic buy. If i was in the market for compact cars it would be focus, or fit. Best of luck with it

 

[joesmoke]

thats a really nice looking car. congrats! the focus seems to have improved quite a bit since i had one as a rental.

 

[Arkaign]

Now that you've spent some time in it, what are your thoughts? 🙂