Hello All,
I just recently joined this forum but I've been learning from this site and its many experienced owners since I began helping my 26 year old son, Drew, search for a good used car in April of this year. He had to scrap his old 1998 Buick Century in L.A. and needed a car for his newly accepted position at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Since I recently retired and had the time, I offered to help with his search.
My research mainly consisted of online resources such as auto magazines, top used car lists and several auto forums. I also took occasional test drives of local vehicles and talked to friends and family. I eventually narrowed the search down to a few top options: Honda Civic/Accord sedans and coups along with the Hyundai Elantra GT, Kia Forte5 and Ford Focus hatchbacks.
I eventually recommended the Focus SE hatchback to Drew because of its combination of affordability, very good gas mileage and how practical it is. But the deciding factor for me was my test drives when I noticed how the Focus paired very good handling with a very good ride quality. I know this is a rare combination in any car and especially rare in an affordable and high mpg compact car.
Drew wound up buying a black 2016 Focus SE hatch I found that had 33k miles for $10,600. He's had it for about a month and loves it.
I was actually so impressed with the Focus that I traded in my high mileage 2002 Chrysler 300M Special Edition sedan on a used black 2013 Focus titanium hatch with 51k miles for $12,900 a few weeks ago. My wife, Mary, and I both love this car. It has all the 'luxury' features we enjoyed with the 300M such as heated leather seats, electric widows/locks, cruise control, good stereo sound system, auto climate control and a sunroof while getting much better gas mileage and being a heck of a lot more fun to drive.
I've already modded it with a Magnaflow axle-back exhaust system and plan to add either a K&N or Injen cold air injection mod once I figure out which one has the best combo of added hp and mpg; any member input on this subject is more than welcome.
I'm looking forward to learning more about my son's and my Focus here on the forum.
Later,
Tim
I just recently joined this forum but I've been learning from this site and its many experienced owners since I began helping my 26 year old son, Drew, search for a good used car in April of this year. He had to scrap his old 1998 Buick Century in L.A. and needed a car for his newly accepted position at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Since I recently retired and had the time, I offered to help with his search.
My research mainly consisted of online resources such as auto magazines, top used car lists and several auto forums. I also took occasional test drives of local vehicles and talked to friends and family. I eventually narrowed the search down to a few top options: Honda Civic/Accord sedans and coups along with the Hyundai Elantra GT, Kia Forte5 and Ford Focus hatchbacks.
I eventually recommended the Focus SE hatchback to Drew because of its combination of affordability, very good gas mileage and how practical it is. But the deciding factor for me was my test drives when I noticed how the Focus paired very good handling with a very good ride quality. I know this is a rare combination in any car and especially rare in an affordable and high mpg compact car.
Drew wound up buying a black 2016 Focus SE hatch I found that had 33k miles for $10,600. He's had it for about a month and loves it.
I was actually so impressed with the Focus that I traded in my high mileage 2002 Chrysler 300M Special Edition sedan on a used black 2013 Focus titanium hatch with 51k miles for $12,900 a few weeks ago. My wife, Mary, and I both love this car. It has all the 'luxury' features we enjoyed with the 300M such as heated leather seats, electric widows/locks, cruise control, good stereo sound system, auto climate control and a sunroof while getting much better gas mileage and being a heck of a lot more fun to drive.
I've already modded it with a Magnaflow axle-back exhaust system and plan to add either a K&N or Injen cold air injection mod once I figure out which one has the best combo of added hp and mpg; any member input on this subject is more than welcome.
I'm looking forward to learning more about my son's and my Focus here on the forum.
Later,
Tim
