Zillon
Go Kart Champion
So, I was stupid. I bought into the whole New Ford thing and purchased a 2012 Focus last November because the vehicle I was trading ('06 Scion) was at a mileage point where it would start to depreciate like a rock if I drove it any longer. Also, I had a family member pass away in a car accident, and felt it would be prudent to drive something a little safer. I loved the design, features, and found the interior to be surprisingly high quality. I work in the automotive industry, so my knowledge of various cars is deeper than most, unfortunately I came up a little short-sighted on this purchase, even though reviews were positive and initial quality was excellent.
Not a bad looking car, really.
Anyways, aside from bad luck with a deer that ran into the side of the car on New Years Day this year, I've had a major issue with the front suspension clunking since ~600 miles, and it's dependent on certain road conditions and temperature, and also vehicle payload. On the Focus forums, there are numerous complaints with no real resolution from Ford regarding this issue. I'm at 16700 miles now, and pulling my hair out. I've had one Ford dealer say that it was normal/characteristic of 'european' suspension/weren't able to duplicate, and I even had the service manager and shop foreman give me attitude. The second dealer was unable to duplicate the issue due to fresh pavement in the area and also told me that even if there was an issue, they also wouldn't touch the car due to aftermarket springs and wheels (same dimensions as OEM wheels and tires).
Disclaimer: I do fully understand the implications of installing aftermarket parts.
So, without getting into the gritty details of how many different OEM parts I've installed, and tweaks and experiments I've tried on the suspension over the last year, I've now reinstalled the OEM bits, and the clunk is obnoxiously loud. I'm pulling a few strings to try and get a dealer to warranty the issue this time around, but since I've dealt with this without making any forward progress and I've now returned the car back to stock form, I'm ready to take the bath and get into something else.
I've always wanted a GTI, and I found a 2-door base manual leftover in Maryland for 22,599, which seems to be a pretty damn good price to start with.
So, for a 2012 leftover GTI, would you consider that a fair price? Also, would there be anything important that I'm missing out on if I were to go for a '12 versus a '13 in identical spec?
Not a bad looking car, really.
Anyways, aside from bad luck with a deer that ran into the side of the car on New Years Day this year, I've had a major issue with the front suspension clunking since ~600 miles, and it's dependent on certain road conditions and temperature, and also vehicle payload. On the Focus forums, there are numerous complaints with no real resolution from Ford regarding this issue. I'm at 16700 miles now, and pulling my hair out. I've had one Ford dealer say that it was normal/characteristic of 'european' suspension/weren't able to duplicate, and I even had the service manager and shop foreman give me attitude. The second dealer was unable to duplicate the issue due to fresh pavement in the area and also told me that even if there was an issue, they also wouldn't touch the car due to aftermarket springs and wheels (same dimensions as OEM wheels and tires).
Disclaimer: I do fully understand the implications of installing aftermarket parts.
So, without getting into the gritty details of how many different OEM parts I've installed, and tweaks and experiments I've tried on the suspension over the last year, I've now reinstalled the OEM bits, and the clunk is obnoxiously loud. I'm pulling a few strings to try and get a dealer to warranty the issue this time around, but since I've dealt with this without making any forward progress and I've now returned the car back to stock form, I'm ready to take the bath and get into something else.
I've always wanted a GTI, and I found a 2-door base manual leftover in Maryland for 22,599, which seems to be a pretty damn good price to start with.
So, for a 2012 leftover GTI, would you consider that a fair price? Also, would there be anything important that I'm missing out on if I were to go for a '12 versus a '13 in identical spec?
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