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Should I keep 3rd car??

xaeniac

xaeniac

Golden Member
Just purchased a low mileage 2009 Mazda 5. Have a 2005 Ford Focus ZX5 w/ 69000 miles and a 2001 Focus ZX3 w/ 138,000 miles. Naturally if I were to sell I would get rid of the '01 Focus due to higher mileage and number of doors compared to the 2005. I can afford to keep all three cars, but do not know if I should. Foci are in great condition and I have kept up with maintenance on both. Just not sure what I should do. Any insight?
 
xaeniac said:
Just purchased a low mileage 2009 Mazda 5. Have a 2005 Ford Focus ZX5 w/ 69000 miles and a 2001 Focus ZX3 w/ 138,000 miles. Naturally if I were to sell I would get rid of the '01 Focus due to higher mileage and number of doors compared to the 2005. I can afford to keep all three cars, but do not know if I should. Foci are in great condition and I have kept up with maintenance on both. Just not sure what I should do. Any insight?
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I'd sell it unless you have a specific need for it.

I have a a kind of 3rd car beater I keep around. I drive it now and again in the winter, and it always gets driven monthly by some family member needing a car. My brother just picked it up tonight for a few days. So for me, it would be worthwhile keeping, but if it is just going to sit, I would sell it and put a few bucks in my pocket
 
Basically I would drive the 2001 when I did not have the kids with me or ran errands around town. All the cars will get driven, i'm not sure if it's worth keeping a third car around or not. Just asking for opinions whether I should keep it or not. No snow here, so don't have to worry about rust issues. 5 and Zx3 are mtx and zx5 focus is atx. not that it really matters. just additional info. extra maintenance insurance and the like. Not sure if I should keep it or not.
 
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I own five cars. They are all paid for and I find that each serves a need. IS-F and Cayman S for daily drivers. Maxima as a beater. SLK for a convertible. LX570 for people/stuff hauling. I'd keep them as you never know when one has to go to the shop. If one car needs new tires, brakes oil, etc., I just switch over to another car until I have the time to go to the shop. That's extremely convenient to me given my busy schedule. You'd get almost nothing in exchange for selling your third car, yet there is some utility in keeping it around.
 
xaeniac said:
Just purchased a low mileage 2009 Mazda 5. Have a 2005 Ford Focus ZX5 w/ 69000 miles and a 2001 Focus ZX3 w/ 138,000 miles. Naturally if I were to sell I would get rid of the '01 Focus due to higher mileage and number of doors compared to the 2005. I can afford to keep all three cars, but do not know if I should. Foci are in great condition and I have kept up with maintenance on both. Just not sure what I should do. Any insight?
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Err why did you buy the 3rd car?
 
madoka said:
I own five cars. They are all paid for and I find that each serves a need. IS-F and Cayman S for daily drivers. Maxima as a beater. SLK for a convertible. LX570 for people/stuff hauling. I'd keep them as you never know when one has to go to the shop. If one car needs new tires, brakes oil, etc., I just switch over to another car until I have the time to go to the shop. That's extremely convenient to me given my busy schedule. You'd get almost nothing in exchange for selling your third car, yet there is some utility in keeping it around.
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Where do you live to have the space?
 
It would mainly depend on cost. See how much ur insurance goes up or down if u drop that car.

What is current cost to insure, register, stickers, smog w/e else u need?

Some of my friends have 3rd-4th cars and it only cost them about $200 to insure all year around and $185 in stickers. But in return they save $100 on each of the other cars because of 2 drivers/4 car policy. It ended up costing them next to nothing to keep.

Sent from my Nexus One
 
All three cars just for you? Or you and your wife? If it's just you, two cars should suffice. If for you and your wife, 3rd car can come in handy. Keep it for awhile and see if you have any use for it. If you get tired of upkeep and insurance costs, you can always sell it later. It's not like 10 yr old car is going to depreciate much more.
 
Kids? So if you have a wife and you both drive, keep the third one to have something in case one's under repair. If you only regularly use one car, sell the third. I have one vehicle too many (wife won't let me sell the conversion van though it only gets driven a couple hundred miles a year) and it's just not worth it. I'd just about give it away at this point just to get rid of it even though it runs pretty well.
 
Naustica said:
All three cars just for you? Or you and your wife? If it's just you, two cars should suffice. If for you and your wife, 3rd car can come in handy. Keep it for awhile and see if you have any use for it. If you get tired of upkeep and insurance costs, you can always sell it later. It's not like 10 yr old car is going to depreciate much more.
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^ this.... I was assuming this was a third car just for you. If you have another driver in the household I would definitely say keep it. I have 4 cars for 2 drivers and I sometimes find myself without a vehicle. I guess I am too kind to family members; borrowing them a vehicle ...... that and the fact I seem to be screwing around fixing or fixing up another one
 
Yeah it's my wife and I. Guess my decision is to keep it for a while and see how I feel in a few months.
 
The 01 Focus has an engine that dies at about 150k which was exacatly where my buddies died. well known valve/head problem so I'd dump it before it dumps you not to mention all the other gremlins w a new production car
By 03 they got the kinks worked out
 
desy said:
The 01 Focus has an engine that dies at about 150k which was exacatly where my buddies died. well known valve/head problem so I'd dump it before it dumps you not to mention all the other gremlins w a new production car
By 03 they got the kinks worked out
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is the valve head issue with dohc or sohc engine? There is a difference. And if it is a common issue reference it on a forum? I have never heard of this issue before.
 
I like the beater aspect. Also, if you are in to fixing your own stuff, a spare car is definitely nice to have. At this point, I have to take it to a dedicated mechanic because it is my daily driver. I'd rather pay a few hundred and get it back within 24 hours, than to try to spend day and night getting my DD to run.

Also, from a beater aspect, if you were to go run a dirty errand, it's generally nice not to have to get your DD all dirty. For me, playing sand volleyball can make a mess of my car. If I had an old beater, I'd likely drive that instead.
 
Its the 2L sohc

It seems that I have experienced a common problem, a valve seat dropping in the #3 cylinder. Like others, I see this failure related to a manufacturer fault. Not very happy with premature engine failure like many others. Based 3 previous Escorts, I had hoped to get more than 190,000 miles out of this engine.

I had no idea this was such a common problem until my mechanic identified this, then calling around for used motors, and hearing the salvage yard owners identify how many vehicles they had on inventory with expired engines, some with less than 150,000km....

Then discovered that this is a common problem, yet no recall, and there are known design faults which Ford knows about, yet...no recall. Technical Service Bulletins have been written for Ford mechanics on this problem. Parts of the valve, or connecting rod, can become loose and fall into the cylinder. Usually it is the number 3 or 4 cylinder. Was quoted $4750 for a replacement, rebuilt engine

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2001/engine/engine_failure.shtml

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2000/engine/blown_engine.shtml

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2002/engine/engine_failure.shtml

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2001/engine/

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/
 
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I would get rid of the 3rd car. It would be one thing if you had 3 different kinds of cars with different capabilities ..... but in your case, you have 3 small cars that all can handle similar functions....

Like .. .if the 3rd car was a pickup truck ... it would be worth hanging onto maybe....

Unless ... if you got kids who are turning 16 soon ... then worth keeping the old one for them maybe?
 
Give it to a family member or sell it dirt cheap to a friend in need. You'd be surprised at the joy you'd give to someone that really needs a vehicle.
 
desy said:
Its the 2L sohc

It seems that I have experienced a common problem, a valve seat dropping in the #3 cylinder. Like others, I see this failure related to a manufacturer fault. Not very happy with premature engine failure like many others. Based 3 previous Escorts, I had hoped to get more than 190,000 miles out of this engine.

I had no idea this was such a common problem until my mechanic identified this, then calling around for used motors, and hearing the salvage yard owners identify how many vehicles they had on inventory with expired engines, some with less than 150,000km....

Then discovered that this is a common problem, yet no recall, and there are known design faults which Ford knows about, yet...no recall. Technical Service Bulletins have been written for Ford mechanics on this problem. Parts of the valve, or connecting rod, can become loose and fall into the cylinder. Usually it is the number 3 or 4 cylinder. Was quoted $4750 for a replacement, rebuilt engine

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2001/engine/engine_failure.shtml

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2000/engine/blown_engine.shtml

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2002/engine/engine_failure.shtml

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/2001/engine/

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Focus/
Click to expand...


I got a zetec dohc 2.0 engine; probably a different engine, though I am considering selling it more now since a number of responses. I just shampooed the carpets. I will pray about it for a week or so.
 
madoka said:
I own five cars. They are all paid for and I find that each serves a need. IS-F and Cayman S for daily drivers. Maxima as a beater. SLK for a convertible. LX570 for people/stuff hauling. I'd keep them as you never know when one has to go to the shop. If one car needs new tires, brakes oil, etc., I just switch over to another car until I have the time to go to the shop. That's extremely convenient to me given my busy schedule. You'd get almost nothing in exchange for selling your third car, yet there is some utility in keeping it around.
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Wouldn't two cars suffice if one broke down?

I don't know about you, but adding a third car in Florida and paying insurance / tags on it for a year is more money than a one week rental should I need one.
 
I had the 2.0 SOHC motor and yup it dropped a valve.. not once but twice. First time we caught it before it got to be a problem. It was running rough around 120K. Second time it dropped it at 160K, right after I filled her up with a full tank of expensive gas (4.00 / gallon in 2008) - i didnt even make it out of the gas station. .

First time it was the #2 cylinder, 2nd time it was the #3 cylinder and mind you it dropped it properly, unlike the first where it was just running rough and still held on.

The Ztech is a better engine, but I hear it is not without its faults. I miss my focus 🙁
 
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