Would a 2004 Ford Focus make a bad daily driver? People seem to be saying bad things about the early 2000s Focus online

Would a 2004 Ford Focus make a bad daily driver? People seem to be saying bad things about the early 2000s Focus online.

>I

just get a civic for 3k.

Nice meme, faggot. Now can you answer my question?

Avoid the 2.0 SPI like the plague
t. first car was an '01 2.0 Focus

>3k civic
>meme

hang yourself you nigger

It's a meme when you inject it into every god damned thread involving car questions. I'm open to the idea of getting a Civic, but I'm not a fucking autistic faggot about it.

Also, do you even have a car?

US spec looks weird. Why are the indicator lights hiding behind the grill like that?

Idk I don't daily mine I have a 2002 SVT Focus it has it qwerks runs great but I work on Audis for a living so working on my shitbox is no big deal

Pretty much this as well, 03 SVT. I do electrical work, so chasing some of the bugs out of the SVTs aging wiring isn't a problem here, and I do my own wrenching as well.

Not saying to get an SVT, the bitches are getting harder and harder to get parts for.

first gen focus had more than its quirks. I'm assuming you're on the US side of things.

>OEM engine mounts have some weird hydraulic fluid that has a very short lifespan, engine mounts can be run through in as little as 10-15k unless you go aftermarket
>Throttle body in the mk1 (2000-2002.5) had a plastic butterfly valve, which Ford recalled and replaced with an aluminum lined one. However, not only did they replace the TB, they replaced the TPS and the TPS harness, meaning you have to replace all 3 or try to source parts for the shitty plastic original one
>The thermostat housing is made of plastic, so when your valve cover gasket inevitably goes (not if, when, maybe every 50-75k) it will drip hot oil down onto the thermostat housing, warping and cracking it, causing you to have a coolant leak as well as an oil leak.
>The Zetec is notorious for finicky vacuum lines, the IACV going bad, and my personal favorite, the engine becoming a grenade

>For whatever reason, the engine is made in such a way that it is prone to dropping valve seats, at which point the engine becomes an internalized shrapnel grenade, and when that valve seat hits the piston it becomes a frag grenade, leaving you stranded on the side of the road as it catapults your car's engine into fiery valhalla.
What a way to go.

wew, i got carried away.

Since you're shopping the mk2 instead of the mk1, you'll need to look out for the engine (if the 2.0 zetec, the 2.2/2.4 were designed differently and don't have the valve seat problem), the thermostat housing, and the engine mounts. My mk1 was still an incredibly fun car to drive.

Yup I feel you my interior is near mint condition so I don't have to worry about that but fuck me if I have to find random suspension/engine components unique to it or god forbid the engine goes. When I see one being part out I try to get some spare parts

Same, outside of a tear in driver seat the interior is in fantastic condition. I do need to hunt down a quarter panel though. I'm debating on buying one of the none running zx3s around me for 100-150 bucks and taking both cars to a shop and having the do cut and weld in a new one. Doing that would be way cheaper than the bullshit 1200 dollars I've seen for new ones.

If you get a Focus, get an SVT. It's actually a great car.

Non-SVT Focii are the epitome of throwaway American cars. Like the '00s version of the first gen Neon. I remember points in time when the roads were flooded by those things and I haven't seen a Neon and maybe only a couple Focuses in the last year.

That's because Rally America bought up all the Neons.

Word of the wise from an SVT owner, they are very fun to drive but finding parts will be a nightmare, especially for the exterior

t. someone that had to replace a fender and both bumper covers

Go one year up and get a Duratec Focus wit ha manual. Much better cars.

Try to get a facelift one.

My first car was an 04 SPI focus. It's still running just fine however I have heard bad things.

OP I don't know where you're reading the focus is in general a great little car. I daily a 2005 ZX3. I chose an 05 to 07 because they run on chain not belt for timing. I beat the fuck out of mine and it still keeps ticking on. If you don't mind the belt instead of chain it should be a great little car. Even early ones seem to be well galvanized.

Not super powerful though but if you expect power out of this you're delusional. Handles decently for a shitbox, not that comfortable, not 100% maintenance free but it's not bad. Good little car is my consensus.

The 2.3 from that era is a peppy little thing. The PZEV engine has a non serviceable air filter. When it's clogged, you must replace the entire housing @ cir. $400. Most folks go aftermarket intake at that point. But my daughter's 2004 ZX5 at 180k still shows life on the clog-o-meter.

The PCV hose likes to collapse with age and is a royal PITA to replace as it involves removing the intake manifold.

Suspension noises sound expensive, but most can be solved with new sway bar links and tightening everything down really well.

Not the easiest car I've ever worked on, but now that we've chased the oil leaks, it's a decent daily.

>Would a 2004 Ford Focus make a bad daily driver?

Yes, Ford have shit reversibility that doesn't get better with age. Go German or Jap and save a fortune in repair bills.

It wouldn't make a good daily driver...

>>For whatever reason, the engine is made in such a way that it is prone to dropping valve seats,
No, that's the SPI. Not the ZETEC, the ZETEC isn't even an interference engine unless it's SVT spec.

OP, if you're getting an '03-'04 get the 2.3L Duratec. It responds really well to mods and can make more power than the SVT.