Does anybody know anything about Ford Focuses?

[Blackdog455]

So i would have to pay the difference on top of what i owe for the new car i bought?

 

[dasfinc]

i always thought it was different. Heres a scenario.

I have a $20,000 car and ive payed off $8,000. So i owe $12,000.

I want to buy a $14,000 car. The difference is $2,000.

The dealership looks over my car i want to trade in and says its worth $10,000. So i take them up on the offer and trade my current unpaid car in and now if have $4,000 left to pay off on the car i traded it in for.

I know thats a real scratchy scenario, but ive never bought or traded in a car at a dealership. Is this in any way how it works? or would i owe $6,000 cause of the $2,000 difference?

Here's a better way to look at it.

You have a $20,000 loan, and you've paid off $8,000, so you owe $12000 left.

You want to takeout a $14,000 loan. The way it 'works' essentially is the dealership buys your truck for $10,000, and 'roll' the $2000 difference into the new loan, so you now have a single loan for $16,000. This is a $4,000 hit/increase, and would be a poor idea *I know its just an example, but for the OP and the poster*

Sadly this is how dealers make their money...

 

[Blackdog455]

how much would you have to pay then for a $14,000 car? if your scenario was the scenario.

sorry if these are all stupid questions. Ive never dealt with a dealership before.

 

[dasfinc]

how much would you have to pay then for a $14,000 car? if your scenario was the scenario.

sorry if these are all stupid questions. Ive never dealt with a dealership before.

16,000

There is no money coming out of your pocket, they would 'roll' what you owe into your new loan.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Provided you don't owe more than it is worth, if you still owe money on your car you are by far better off to sell it privately and buy whatever you want.

Even if it is paid for it is the best way to go IMO.

 

[Blackdog455]

ahhh, that makes more sense. thanks.

 

[adsm08]

I know that its a PITA to put an engine in one.

 

[exbass94]

Friends wife has an 06, also no abs. The only problem she has had with it is driveshaft gaiters, which was repaired under the warranty.

What the hell is a "driveshaft gaiter?"

 

[darkspork]

It's 2.0L Duratec (has timing chain instead of timing belt like the Zetec) with manual transmission. Transmission is strong, no grinding or whining, it's a one owner car and it was owned in a small town so it's probably mostly highway miles. I'm not so much worried about the ABS anymore after today, it's very icy outside and I found that the snowbank was the only way to stop my Ranger coming up to a stoplight with a stopped car in front of me. I think the main advantage ABS poses is maneuverability in a skid and stopping distance on dry pavement and rain. I've owned cars w/o ABS but that was in California (no snow), I've driven vehicles without it up here but they are entirely different beasts (1999 Suburbans, Ford Excursions, Ford F250, and HMMWVs). My "close call" from today has shown me that good dedicated winter tires are more important that ABS for snow and ice. If I don't trade my Ranger I will strongly consider getting dedicated snow tires (even though the almost new ones on it are severe weather rated).

When I was in driver's training (6 years ago) it was in a Ford Focus and I remember it had 100,000+ miles on it. I remember being impressed by the fact it takes so much abuse and still drives fine at that mileage.

As for the issue of understeer, I'm aware of this. My wife has a Honda Accord and I've driven other FWD cars in snow, one thing that helps to correct understeer is a quick tug on the handbrake (and a little bit of gas to counter induced oversteer). The test drive in the Focus was mostly on hard packed snow or a few inches of ice and while there was some understeer in the deeper snow it wasn't bad.

In terms of tacking the debt onto the loan, I owe about 7360 and they are giving me 7500 for it. Sales price on the Focus is 6495 (the price they listed it for, they wouldn't budge on it but would budge on the trade in), so out the door with registration and fees I'll be paying 6465 (no sales tax since I already paid sales tax on my Ranger and that's applied toward the sales tax of the Focus).

I do understand that I won't get through floods or severe blizzards in it, but I try not to drive on those days anyways.

To FeelinFroggy:
SES is not the base model, S is. The only models above SES are SVT and ST. My Ranger is an XLT, it has a 4.0L V6. The 4.0L engines as far as I can tell are rock solid, but there's no cost-effective way to bring their average gas mileage to 25mpg. In fact, the best I've seen from it is 23mpg, and that was going downhill on I80 into California. I'm pretty confident gas prices will get close to $4/gallon again. I like to drive, it's one of my favorite things to do, and I want to be able to afford to do it.

Thanks everybody for your input. I doubt I would have got as much support if it were a Civic EX I was originally considering (people want too much for them, and I'd rather have a timing chain than timing belt, also a hatchback is a strong preference to me). I also thought about a Neon SXT but those seem hard to find with MTX.

 

[dirtcowboy]

I bought a 2000 ZX3 in Sept 2000, brand new. I still have it and it's one of my fav rides. Not a single issue with the car in 10 years of use.