Stic-o's Econobox: 2010 Focus SES Coupe | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Stic-o's Econobox: 2010 Focus SES Coupe

Stic-o

Elite Movie Star
Elite Explorer
Joined
September 1, 2002
Messages
14,226
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1,378
City, State
Lake View Terrace, CA
Year, Model & Trim Level
'91 Navajo '99 X '19 Rngr
With the f150 paid off and costing me $400 bucks in gas a month to use it as a daily driver...it was time for a change. :thumbsup:

1st off, NO the F-150 is not going anywhere, it has just been retired from DD duty.;)

So here she is.

2010 Ford Focus SES Coupe

Features:
Sterling Grey on Stone interior
2.0L/143-hp/136-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4
4-speed Auto (Couldn't find a decent manual:()
2600lbs
4.20 gears (yes that's right)
24-city/35-highway
Moon Roof
SYNC
Bluetooth
Power everything
Heated Mirrors
Air Bags Everywhere
215/45/17's on 17" 15 spoke Aluminum rims
Blacked out lights

Upgrades
K&N drop in filter
Plasti Diipped Badges
Lunchbox resonator delete
Autolite A103's
 

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Enjoy it! We have an '08 Focus SE Deluxe 2 Door and it's been a great car. We average about 37 mpg out of it (5 speed) and it's been very reliable.
 






Thanks, i'm thinking I should get at least 30 out of it.
 






4 bangers are great for pounding out the pavement. I only commute about one day a week in my Explorer- just to slosh the fluids around and keep the battery charged.
 






That's not a Mazda 3... :p:

I like this better anyway!
 












Took it it to Ford today. Had a drivetrain vibration and still under warranty for the powertrain. Turns out it has a bad trans mount and a front cover oil leak that the dealer hid I bought it from. You know the drill, they steam cleaned the engine compartment. All covered though.
 






Can you please show the math how a car payment, added insurance, property tax and tags saves 400 per month? You do know this thing still eats about 150.00 per month in fuel--at least if the truck was using 400.00.

Sorry, I see a lot of people who say " I can't afford the gas" go out and buy a small car, only to find themselves further in the hole at the end of the month.

They fail to consider the higher insurance, higher property taxes, and the fact the smaller car still eats maintenance, often at a higher cost.

I just do not see how "adding" another car can save 400.00 per month, which is how the first post reads.

While it is true the fuel savings might help a bit to pay for the car, and you do gain a second car, it will no way save $$
 
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Can you please show the math how a car payment, added insurance, property tax and tags saves 400 per month? You do know this thing still eats about 150.00 per month in fuel--at least if the truck was using 400.00.

Sorry, I see a lot of people who say " I can't afford the gas" go out and buy a small car, only to find themselves further in the hole at the end of the month.

They fail to consider the higher insurance, higher property taxes, and the fact the smaller car still eats maintenance, often at a higher cost.

I just do not see how "adding" another car can save 400.00 per month, which is how the first post reads.

While it is true the fuel savings might help a bit to pay for the car, and you do gain a second car, it will no way save $$

The gas, car payment and ins. Are less then the gas in the 150. The more gas goes up the better it gets. The 150 is going to need new tires in the next year. That's $ 1000. I can preserve the 150 instead of driving it into the ground as a DD. Insurance really was crazy expensive on the 150, taking the driving mileage down on it just about paid for the focus ins. My proptery taxes have nothing to do with my cars.
 






While it is true the fuel savings might help a bit to pay for the car, and you do gain a second car, it will no way save $$

That's a pretty broad statement. I bought a cheap Saturn SL2 for $1500 about 2 years ago (I've since sold it and drive my VUE now). At the time, with he cost of fuel and the distances I was driving, I saved roughly $70/month in gas by driving it to work over the concrete/asphalt roads instead of my Explorer. If we tack on insurance of the additional car, I saved about $40/month. And that's just in fuel and insurance savings.

But, operating a light 4 cylinder car is cheaper overall. On that car, I could get a set of tires for about the cost of 1.5 tires on my Explorer. Plus a FWD econobox has engine oil, coolant and transmission fluid while my Explorer has those plus transfer case fluid, rear diff fluid and front diff fluid. Quantifying that savings is a little tougher.

I sold the SL2 when I bought my wife a new Escape (sold it for $1800- that's $300 more than I paid for it) and I took over driving the VUE. I like the VUE much better over the SL2. It doesn't get quite the same mileage (the SL2 got 34-37 mpg while the VUE gets 26-31 mpg) but its nicer overall than the SL2. We bought the VUE new so it's been paid off for a long time- and it's been very reliable in the nearly 100K miles its been driven. The VUE is basically a FWD car- just with large tires and a big rear hatch.

And then the best thing that I like- having a spare car. Since my Explorer and VUE are both sort of old, they might need some wrenching from time to time. It's very nice to know that you don't need to start one evening after work and get it all finished up before you can head to work the next morning. I've bummed more than my fair share of rides prior to getting a spare car because i couldn't finish it up in time. I recently spread a starter replacement on my Explorer over several days because of some wrong parts and because I had that luxury to spread it out. Or I can purposely take one car offline to tackle a large project (drop it off at the fabricator to get a bumper built, strip the interior out to give it a good cleaning.......). Or you can take your time finding that perfect replacement part instead of relying on what the local part store has.

I've been 100% sold on the idea of a commuter car for years. When I lived in KS, I had a track car that I could drive on the street (in KS you can drive just about anything in the street) but I'd made pretty uncomfortable to drive on the street- no AC, no interior, race seat, lightweight flywheel and race clutch. It was nice to have a car with a full interior and a working AC to drive to work.
 






Got my plates finally..

But what do you do when you don't have a front licence plate mount and don't want to drill into the bumper?

Toggle Bolts ;)
 

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When are you changing out those hideous wheels?






And selling them to me.
 






Great idea using toggle bolts!

The plate totally kills the look though :(
 












Decided to play with the latest craze today...

Plasti dipped the rear badges.;)
 

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