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I've been a lurker for maybe a week, found it was pretty nice in here. Anyway, my dealer emailed me Tuesday to tell me that the build date for my ZX3 (silver) is set for Mon. 28th I had placed my orginal order on Dec. 2nd '99. Expected delivery is around Mar. 17th. Hopefully the worst of the winter weather here in Iowa will be over in a few weeks. (although truth be told, we haven't had much of a winter this year)
Hearing about all of you who own a stick is making me rethink my decision to get an automatic. My next focus will be a stick I thinking....6-9 months... I don't want to miss out on any fun! The driving school thing sounds cool too!
twiddling thumbs till car arrives,
Gabe
carlady/host
Still haven't heard back from my dealer about the watch. Rayates, I looked up Casio Baby-G shock watches on the net and found the price to be around $65. I was aware that the G-shocks were around that price. I wish it was a regular G though as opposed to a baby-G since the baby-g's are smaller and are more for appropriate for women. Heck, if it's free I wont complain, I can't believe people are bidding on the one at E-bay.
In regards to the brochure, yes it sucks. It would have been nice to see how the colors actually look on the car. The little blurbs about the people made no sense to me and I really could care less about them anyway. I did fall in love with the ZX3 when I saw that center fold of it in the brochure though. It's now hanging on my bedroom wall. Also, I thought the commercial about the ZX3, the one where the people were stuck in the car so they had to crawl out of the hatch, was clever.
In regards to the Sony Edition, didn't VW have a promotion like that as well? They had a few like the Jetta Trec with the bike and wasn't there one with a kayak or something like that? Guess
Sorry to hear, but I still wonder. I understand why the dealer is holding out. They don't profit on warranty work to my knowledge. Who's the insurance adjuster??-extra warranty coverage or your own auto insurance? I'd still call the area Ford Rep and ask him what is what, that it just doesn't make sense. Did you call him? Did you take it to an reputible independant collision shop and ask their opinion, or guess you can't because its not drivable.
Think maybe we're all learning on this.
Pat
And at the same time i was driving it...weird ha?
But i came to realize that im not alone anymore. I've 2 focus zx3 in sight here in NY city: a silver one and about 15 mins away from my town i saw a black one. The black looks pretty cool it was my first choice bet i had a black mazda already, and change is good. About that watch. Where is mine?
http://www.autopedia.com/html/HotLinks_Lemon.html
It covers the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Uniform Commercial Code, as well as lemon laws for all 50 states.
Gabe
I think I vaguely remember one of those gremlins, - what a funny idea!
I remember an oleg cassini matador also by AMC which had copper buttons on the seats as well. same result.
but this is definitely way off topic here...
-Joe
Now we all like to save a little money but someone has to pay for the mechanic and the parts. And in this and probably many other similar situation is all the other Focus buyers that are paying for the repairs.
Now I ask you, is it ethical to ask Ford to pay for damage you know you caused? Or should we accept responsibility for our actions and pay the cost of our actions?
It's an interesting question specially if you consider that one of the main topics in this group is what we paid for our cars. We all try to get the best deal and ensure that the dealer and Ford make as little money as possible on the car we purchased. After we buy the car we ask the dealer and Ford to pay for repairs that we, the owners, caused. At that rate its no wonder that cars are as expensive as they are.
After a little experimentation, I found my optimal seating position, one in which the somewhat obtrusive headrest doesn't cause me any discomfort. I'm a little on the short side (5'7"), so I cranked the seat up to its highest setting, pushed the headrest all the way down, and angled the seatback two notches back from upright (as the brochure recommends, by the way). Now that I've driven the car for a few days, I've found this position to be very comfortable, as well as allowing me excellent visibility.
I really agree with the poster who commented on the tightness of the Focus's seals. The doors on the ZX3 really feel solid, even more so than the doors on my 1994 Camry Coupe. I enjoy the nice "thunk" I hear whenever I shut them. One potential downside to the excellent air-tightness -- if you get a bad odor inside the car somehow, it's apt to stick around for a while!
A while back, a few posters wrote about the window cranks being poorly placed and difficult to use. I haven't really found this to be the case. The only problem I've had is when I put a thick stack of maps in the map pocket on the driver's side; while they were there, I kept rubbing (and cutting) my left middle finger against them when I'd open the window. Easily solved -- I moved the maps to the passenger's side map pocket.
So far, I'm enjoying this car just as much (if not more than) the 1990 Escort GT I bought ten years ago. Interestingly, I didn't pay that much more for the ZX3 than I did for the Escort GT a decade ago; either Ford is pricing the ZX3 VERY aggressively, or they're saving a bundle on Mexican labor costs, or both!
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/fordfocusplace
Please check it out and join if you like what you see. My goal is to make this club the most popular Ford Club on Yahoo! Right now there are 109 members, tons of pics and links and a discussion forum. If you run a Focus webpage or can supply aftermarket parts/upgrades, please post your link here! This is the fastest growing Ford club on Yahoo! Only 172 more members are needed to take over the top spot.
Thanks!
Eric
Second of all, the cost to make a car is NOT determined by the invoice price. Obviously, all figures have been calculated before a selling price is set. Or else Ford or any other companies would have been out of business already.
You're telling me: "We all try to get the best deal and ensure that the dealer and Ford make as little money as possible on the car we purchased."
So since my dealer agreed to sell me the Focus below invoice price, do you think they're losing money from this deal? And if some naive buyer pays MSRP for the Focus, is Ford going to refund that buyer some money (because it's "unethical" to rip him off)?? And if another Focus owner doesn't have any warranty work done during the coverage, is Ford going to refund him money? NO.
If you really want to dig into this, the pothole, NOT me, actually caused the damage. I pay taxes to live here which pays for all city work. Is the city going to pay me for the damage caused by the pothole which they didn't fix? NO.
Now when I first went to purchase this car, I realized the price set on it. I agreed to pay this price, whether in anybody's standard is a low or high price. Since i paid this price, I will get the most out of it. If you think the Focus is expensive ("At that rate its no wonder that cars are as expensive as they are."), then you should have bought a cheaper car.
In this time and life, nothings fair. What's ethical and what's unethical? You win some, you lose some. That's the way it works. So if you want to dish out $500 or in Bjammin's case $700, because it's "unethical" to have the damage fixed under warranty, then be my guest.
It should get more horses out of our focuses,
10-15% more (143-150 hp.)
For couple hundred bucks,sounds great,how it works?
If you have it ,how it affected your gas economy.
It could be very useful, imagine your focus loaded with four passengers and AC turned on,that's where couple more horses would be very handy.....
My point is that in todays society we are no longer in charge of our actions because its someone elses fault and there is something wrong with that. Just ask McDonalds that paid out to the lady that put a cup of hot coffee between her legs and got burned. It wasn't the ladies fault she got burned it was McDonalds fault because they served hot coffee.
As to the city paying for the damage on your car. I know that in ANN ARBOR Michigan the city has paid for damaged caused by potholes. If the city had been notified by someone of the hole and had more than 24 hours to fix it. Not sure that holds true in other areas.
Also there is a difference between design problems that causes damage and accidents that cause damage. I for example own a 96 AWD Safari Van. This vehicle is known for the fact that the front end wears out very quickly because it is designed in a way that put high stress on the front end parts that are not designed to handle it. The dealer replaced the parts which cost me about $450 the first time 13,000 miles later the same parts needed to be replaced. That time they were covered because of the design problem and low mileage, not by any accidental damage caused by me.
To address another point, I don't think the Focus is too expensive but you must admit that the cost of a new car has gone up at a faster rate than inflation and added options. In 1975 (I know I am dating myself here) I paid $6000 for a fullly loaded Chevy Impala Wagon that car today would probably sell above $30,000. An increase way above the rate of inflation. What caused this added increase? Sure profit margins are higher but legal fees and lawsuits did their part as well. Which brings me back to my original point: we are responsible for our actions and should pay the damage we cause.
Stepping off my soap box now.
I also think you're being way too hard on Cefurod for accepting the repair being done under warranty. Ford and the dealer look at this as being fair and considerate to the customer. This is good public relations which definitely sells more cars and therefore brings the cost down. The dealer is treating a customer well. I suspect you'd complain pretty loud if they treated you poorly. If I were Cefurod I'd be glad I bought the car from the dealer and the manufacturer. This spells repeat customer. More cars sold=lower cost.
carlady/host
i just ordered my zx3...now the anticipation is killing me. any advice for when i go in to pick up my car, sign the papers for financing, etc.
I was also curious...don't we get anything free? I know Acura gives polo shirts, key chains; others give little models of the car being purchased.
mandoz-steer clear of all potholes, dips, speed bumps, and anything else that might harm your new baby. Even then, you might not be out of the clear.
I believe that the auto industries should be making a vehicle that should withstand the everyday hazards of the roads in this country, be it in the northeast, south, southwest, or northwest. We are talking about the roads themselves, not items dropped on the roads. A new car should be able to hold up to what ever the normal road conditions are in the country it is marketed.
This goes for the Ford Focus. How long did Ford test it and under what conditions. Are the suspension parts heavy enough for the road conditions they will encounter? I know these are engineering questions. I, as a consumer, face the real world every day. Should I refrain from driving my Focus (or any other vehilce) in Buffalo where there are potholes big enough to eat a Focus? Don't think so, therefore I have to trust that Ford will design a well engineered vehicle and also back up their product.
Therefore, while I have to do my part in looking out for the BIG potholes, they have to do their part in preplanning for the potholes that I can't miss because of other hazards.
Hope some of the bosses of those engineers read this post.
Pat
I was watching 20/20 and they did a story about replacing broken windshields. They had 3 different windshield replacement companies come out and replace a cracked windshield for them. During the procedure 20/20 secretly videotaped the guys doing the work to see if they did it correctly. It turned out that all 3 companies did it incorrectly. Which means that the windshield could have easily fallen out. Now I'm scared, I really hope the Ford body shop knows what they are doing so my windshield doesn't fall out.
Thanks for any insights.
BHT
you might have better luck. if you want info for the person i dealt with, email me: mandoz@hotmail.com; he's a good guy/no pressure/will give you the same deal he gave me. good luck! since i'm ordering mine, it won't be here till may. :-(
I assume the demand for the ZX3 has allowed the dealerships to charge MSRP or close to that. Don't let that discourage you. The ZX3 is a great car. By the way, I purchased mine from Hilltop Ford.