I'm debating on trading the SVT in for something else (will list what I am looking at later). This transmission issue and the little nags here and there are annoying me to no end. So I pose the question/poll...

Should I just eat it and trade it in? Here are the FACTS.


The car needs a new thermostat and probably at least 1 hose.
The car needs a new battery.
The car needs a new alternator.
The car needs some body work to fix some door dings, a rust spot and various paint chips on the bonnet.
The car needs (and yes I need it) the audiophile radio head unit reinstalled back in the car.
The car needs the heat shield rattle fixed.
The car needs a near passenger fog light housing due to yellowing/dulling.
The car needs a new front lip.
The car needs new front passenger suspension.
The car needs a new passenger fender.
The car needs a new clutch master cylinder. (the one on the firewall that leaks into the cabin)
The car needs a tune up.
The car needs transmission work.


Some of that is cosmetic but I'm OCD and I cannot live with messed up stuff.

====================

Pros and cons.

PROS

I LOVE MY CAR!
It is incredibly fun to drive.
It can be more fuel efficient if I drove it slower and easier. [neener]
It looks great.
It is comfortable.
It makes an awsome noise even stock.
It is different than pretty much anything else in this category barring the R32 Golf.
Trading it in will allow me a cheaper interest rate.


CONS

It is becoming expensive to maintain with all these mechanical issues all at once.
It isn't as reliable as my other Focus'. (Foci)
It isn't as fast in a straight line as I'd like. (JRSC please!)
While it was on my "man I wish I owned one" list it isn't on my "I've always wanted one since I was younger" list.
Not much room for power upgrades without tearing out the top end of the engine. Not my cup of tea. And I don't like Nitrous.
No active car clubs like I was in with my Camaro.
I owe $11k still and my interest rate is 24.9%. My credit isn't good but any car I trade it in for will automatically have $6-7k added to the note.
Lastly, it isn't a '99-04 Mustang GT/Cobra.


====================

Cars I'll be looking at:

1999-2004 Mustang GT (1999 Cobra)
2005-2006 Mustang V6 5spd
2002-2005 Lincoln LS
2003-2006 Hyundai Tiburon GT V6 6spd
2002-2004 Impreza WRX
1999 Nissan Maxima SE 5spd
2003 Nissan Maxima SE 6spd
2004-2005 Nissan Maxima SE

if you go with anything then id say go with a 2002 mustang cobra. those are sick with the 32 valve. but you will be sacrificing gas mileage. The thing wtih buying a used car is there could be problems just like your focus has. Id trade it cause of the money and intrest thing.

A seven year old focus, with many problems, and owe 11K. Time to start watching the Suzie Orman show. I realize the heart is in the car, but must face the real life of economics. May be tough to trade unless you can disguise the problems

holy interest rate!!!!! i have considered the same but with all cars you have your problems, i say keep

x2 for keeping! I have prolly spent about $10k in parts for my car, and those arent ven performance parts. Still have a few problems, but its getting better!

Drop any emotional feelings about it (ie love or hate)
Your are obviously in need of working out the financial issue first!
It sounds as if you are currently upside down on it, therefor KEEP IT

Keep it safe
Keep it running.
Pay it off

Find out if there are any Credit Unions available to you.
If you were in the Military, check out USAA.com
Your next car loan should be secured at a bank or financial institution before stepping on the lot. Loan at 24.9%APR? WTF!!

yeah that interest rate is crazy. I would say keep it and get it paid off asap!!!! Don't get yourself into another long term loan.

beside's the 99 cobra is under powered...if you're going to trade your focus in you should get a terminator 03-04 cobra.

Wow are you upside down on svtf?? Did you try to refinance the loan? If they are giving you 6-7% now you should be able to refinance to lower rate so u can pay it off faster and then sell it.

... that's a really tough call since you owe so much on it.

Honestly, I don't know how you would finance a new car for 6-7k over the value of the new car, the entire point of a car loan is the car is the collateral for the loan. It's the same reason no bank will give you a mortgage for over the value of your house, if you default on the loan they can only get back the value of the car by repo.

If you didn't owe so much my first suggestion would be to trade it in a Mazda 3, they are running 0% for 5 years on them! But there's no way that deal will fly if you can't close out the current loan.

I think your only real option is to refi the loan to get that crazy interest rate down and fix it up.

Check into a bank personal unsecured loan, they normally rape you on interest for those compared to a collateral loan (car or mortgage), but when i say "rape you on interest" i mean like 10-15%, so even that's better then what you have!

did you buy the car on a cash advance from credit card? how the heck did you get such a high interest rate??

What can i say, i missed my first focus after i totaled it, and i ended up taking a loss to get back into a focus.

I cant imagine what would happen if i got rid of my SVTf, i just love it too much.

if you go with anything then id say go with a 2002 mustang cobra. those are sick with the 32 valve. but you will be sacrificing gas mileage. The thing wtih buying a used car is there could be problems just like your focus has. Id trade it cause of the money and intrest thing.

The 2002 Cobra is out of my price range. Assuming I trade it I cannot have the new car's price be over $9k before I tack on the upsidedown amount of the SVTF.

A seven year old focus, with many problems, and owe 11K. Time to start watching the Suzie Orman show. I realize the heart is in the car, but must face the real life of economics. May be tough to trade unless you can disguise the problems

I had a choice between walking or buying a car at Drivetime. The van I was driving was a time bomb. My credit was not good enough to get anything else. I'm not stupid with money, I just had no choice. Walking to work versus a car, the choice was simple.

Drop any emotional feelings about it (ie love or hate)
Your are obviously in need of working out the financial issue first!
It sounds as if you are currently upside down on it, therefor KEEP IT

Keep it safe
Keep it running.
Pay it off

Find out if there are any Credit Unions available to you.
If you were in the Military, check out USAA.com
Your next car loan should be secured at a bank or financial institution before stepping on the lot. Loan at 24.9%APR? WTF!!

My financial issue will only improve once a car loan is paid off and my delinquent medical bills drop off my record. My credit score is below 600, that is not good in the eyes of normal financial institutions.

yeah that interest rate is crazy. I would say keep it and get it paid off asap!!!! Don't get yourself into another long term loan.

beside's the 99 cobra is under powered...if you're going to trade your focus in you should get a terminator 03-04 cobra.

If I do keep it once my wedding and honeymoon are paid for I am going to start massively paying it off.

And the '99 Cobra was underrated by Ford and thus recalled and tuned to produce the 320bhp. Most of those Cobras have been recalled and fixed. And more so they are rather cheap now.

Wow are you upside down on svtf?? Did you try to refinance the loan? If they are giving you 6-7% now you should be able to refinance to lower rate so u can pay it off faster and then sell it.

I already asked my bank (Bank of America) to refinance the loan. I was denied and now have an inquiry on my credit.

What can i say, i missed my first focus after i totaled it, and i ended up taking a loss to get back into a focus.

I cant imagine what would happen if i got rid of my SVTf, i just love it too much.

I love my car, but not enough to want to keep it. I'm just thinking outside the box.

... that's a really tough call since you owe so much on it.

Honestly, I don't know how you would finance a new car for 6-7k over the value of the new car, the entire point of a car loan is the car is the collateral for the loan. It's the same reason no bank will give you a mortgage for over the value of your house, if you default on the loan they can only get back the value of the car by repo.

If you didn't owe so much my first suggestion would be to trade it in a Mazda 3, they are running 0% for 5 years on them! But there's no way that deal will fly if you can't close out the current loan.

I think your only real option is to refi the loan to get that crazy interest rate down and fix it up.

Check into a bank personal unsecured loan, they normally rape you on interest for those compared to a collateral loan (car or mortgage), but when i say "rape you on interest" i mean like 10-15%, so even that's better then what you have!

did you buy the car on a cash advance from credit card? how the heck did you get such a high interest rate??

Funny thing is I calculated it, if I purchased a car for $10k, tacked on $6.5k and changed the interest rate on what I would get with a bank to even a conservative amount (9%) I would still pay less than what I pay now monthly if I choose the right year amount for the loan.

I bought my car at Drivetime, that's why the interest was so bad. They were literally the only place that approved me for a loan.

===================

Today I was thinking about it and I'm leaning towards keeping it. However, I will still be walking to work because I have the sneaking suspicion that the transmission is shot and I cannot afford to fix it.

lease a new Mustang GT

[QUOTE=VonKaiser;3374787]The 2002 Cobra is out of my price range. Assuming I trade it I cannot have the new car's price be over $9k before I tack on the upsidedown amount of the SVTF.



There was no 2002 Cobra so it would be pretty hard to find one.

I saw do it as long as you dont get any of those mustangs. and FYI if you go with the V6 you will be disappointed about performance. Ive seen them on the Autox course and als they do is oversteer then understeer, oversteer then understeer, the whole time.

I say trade in for a WRX or a Altima SE-R

Keep the focus

[QUOTE=VonKaiser;3374787]The 2002 Cobra is out of my price range. Assuming I trade it I cannot have the new car's price be over $9k before I tack on the upsidedown amount of the SVTF.



There was no 2002 Cobra so it would be pretty hard to find one.

Whoops, I forgot they didn't produce them for a bit. Either way any Cobra past '99 is unobtainable for me anyway.

I saw do it as long as you dont get any of those mustangs. and FYI if you go with the V6 you will be disappointed about performance. Ive seen them on the Autox course and als they do is oversteer then understeer, oversteer then understeer, the whole time.

I say trade in for a WRX or a Altima SE-R

I'm a fan of Mustangs, and that includes the 2005+ V6 among all the GT's. With a 5spd they are fun--not as much as a GT obviously but on the street can still be fun. FYI, I worked for a Ford dealer from 2004-2009 doing dealer trades so I've pretty much driven (the hell out of) every car from those years along with countless used cars.

The WRX is a great car if I find one that wasn't abused. While I love Nissans and have owned a ton of them I do not like Altimas at all.

You might as well keep it. Anything you try to trade it for and refinance you will so deep in the whole. Any dealer you swap it to will give you way below bluebook. Plus any new car you get you won't know the history on. I have bought, sold, and worked with enough dealers to know that they will make deals seem good up front but you are getting screwed in the end.

When i traded my SVT in (which i wish i didn't now). I left it with bald tires, dented hood, and messed up spoiler. All that took about 2k of the book value of my car. even though they would have put about 800 into the car to make it Lot ready.

Just keep it, try to refinance it. Trust me No payments is the way to go!!!!

I'd keep it! My 2004 SVT has about 120,000 on it. I keep thinking I'll trade it in, but the only car I see that I'd trade for is a 2011 Mustang GT - or maybe a 2011 V6. I'm going to have to cross that bridge sometime, I guess.

Trade it in

VonKaiser, if you can get approved for a lower interest rate on a unsecured loan via a bank, thenk I would get rid of it if only to get out of that crazy high interest loan.

I love my SVTF, a lot. But honestly I kick myself, anytime it needs work, for not getting rid of it.

I didn't want to take on another vehicle payment, so i put almost 2900 into it back in Feb, for timing belt, and various pullies, water pump, new Spec clutch, high flow cat (my stock cat died, back half of the core broke off and clogged my exhaust).

I am about to drop over 600 for parts to replace my stock SVTF suspension, all bushings, the ball joints and outter tie rod ends.

The damn thing is barely worth the $3500 I will have put into it at 118k miles, and still need an alignment after all the suspension work, and new tires.

For as much as I love the thing, I really should have gotten rid of it. I keep throwing money at it thinking if i get this next round of work done it will last me till 200k.

With the work you need, plus that loan, if you can get out of it, do it!

I'm the first maybe
What are the transmission problems?
That's the only reason i said maybe
What's up with the outragous interest you are paying?
Would you get a lower rate on another car...if yes then it's another "sell it" vote

Other stuff I've done all myslef except body work

Keep it. The roll over is going to kill you on a trade-in. Your going to be so upside down on your next car, you'll never be able to get out from under it. Just take your time, fix the mechanical issues, then get into the cosmetics. None of the cars you have listed are going to be worth the harm your going to do to your credit. I would however suggest you look into refinancing your car. It may add a year to your payment, but it will save you money in the long run.

+1[thumb]

VonKaiser, if you can get approved for a lower interest rate on a unsecured loan via a bank, thenk I would get rid of it if only to get out of that crazy high interest loan.

I love my SVTF, a lot. But honestly I kick myself, anytime it needs work, for not getting rid of it.

I didn't want to take on another vehicle payment, so i put almost 2900 into it back in Feb, for timing belt, and various pullies, water pump, new Spec clutch, high flow cat (my stock cat died, back half of the core broke off and clogged my exhaust).

I am about to drop over 600 for parts to replace my stock SVTF suspension, all bushings, the ball joints and outter tie rod ends.

The damn thing is barely worth the $3500 I will have put into it at 118k miles, and still need an alignment after all the suspension work, and new tires.

For as much as I love the thing, I really should have gotten rid of it. I keep throwing money at it thinking if i get this next round of work done it will last me till 200k.

With the work you need, plus that loan, if you can get out of it, do it!

Again, keep it and refinance. This is exactly my story as well. I have about 120,000+; last thing was a $2,000 clutch de luxe... The brakes are next. One of the reasons I joined the forum was to pick up my interest in the car because I really don't want to trade it in after spending so much $$$ on keeping it up. and it's paid for...

there were 2002 cobra's but only in canada, whats your budget look like?

My car is still sitting at my Ford dealer. It hasn't been looked at yet, hope to have it looked at tomorrow. One of the service advisors drove it and said it might be the shift linkage. I doubt it but I'll hope that that is the cause because that is cheap compared to a new clutch/transmission. lol

VonKaiser, if you can get approved for a lower interest rate on a unsecured loan via a bank, thenk I would get rid of it if only to get out of that crazy high interest loan.

I love my SVTF, a lot. But honestly I kick myself, anytime it needs work, for not getting rid of it.

I didn't want to take on another vehicle payment, so i put almost 2900 into it back in Feb, for timing belt, and various pullies, water pump, new Spec clutch, high flow cat (my stock cat died, back half of the core broke off and clogged my exhaust).

I am about to drop over 600 for parts to replace my stock SVTF suspension, all bushings, the ball joints and outter tie rod ends.

The damn thing is barely worth the $3500 I will have put into it at 118k miles, and still need an alignment after all the suspension work, and new tires.

For as much as I love the thing, I really should have gotten rid of it. I keep throwing money at it thinking if i get this next round of work done it will last me till 200k.

With the work you need, plus that loan, if you can get out of it, do it!

I'm leaning towards keeping it just because once it's paid off it's paid off and I can do whatever I want to it since I will have no car payment. Secondly, once its paid off maybe I can overhaul the mechanical bits and make it like a new car and drive it for another 100k miles.

I'm the first maybe
What are the transmission problems?
That's the only reason i said maybe
What's up with the outragous interest you are paying?
Would you get a lower rate on another car...if yes then it's another "sell it" vote

Other stuff I've done all myslef except body work

The transmission hasn't been diagnosed yet because my Ford dealer is taking it's sweet time getting to my car. That's the price I pay for getting a huge discount. The interest is because I bought the car @ DriveTime, they are a dealership that approves everybody regardless of credit--literally there was a guy before me that had 3 repos. THREE! I would get a lower rate if I could even find a bank to tack on that upsidedown amount.

Keep it. The roll over is going to kill you on a trade-in. Your going to be so upside down on your next car, you'll never be able to get out from under it. Just take your time, fix the mechanical issues, then get into the cosmetics. None of the cars you have listed are going to be worth the harm your going to do to your credit. I would however suggest you look into refinancing your car. It may add a year to your payment, but it will save you money in the long run.

I was denied for a refinance at my Bank. I'm going to move my money over to a credit union soon and apply again in about 3-6 months.

Again, keep it and refinance. This is exactly my story as well. I have about 120,000+; last thing was a $2,000 clutch de luxe... The brakes are next. One of the reasons I joined the forum was to pick up my interest in the car because I really don't want to trade it in after spending so much $$$ on keeping it up. and it's paid for...

I don't want to trade it because I DO like the car so much, however the payment and interest are a bit high. I'm hoping after the wedding and honeymoon are over and paid for I can pay the car off before 2012.

there were 2002 cobra's but only in canada, whats your budget look like?

My budget would be (before taking on the $6-7k upsidedown) anything under $10k and 65k miles. I don't want to buy a car with more miles than my SVT with exception if it has a Ford Modular V8 or a Nissan V6 since they run for-bloody-ever.

if you want reliability i would not buy the cars you mentionned above..

well the tiburon is probably reliable but i droke it and it sucks really bad.

the maximas are so big... they are for parents even though they got power.

if you want reliability i would not buy the cars you mentionned above..

well the tiburon is probably reliable but i droke it and it sucks really bad.

the maximas are so big... they are for parents even though they got power.

I like the Tiburon GT, my friend owned one with a stick and it definitely did not suck. I've also owned 2 Nissan Maximas and they are not "parent" cars. They are quick reliable sedans that don't cost an arm and a leg.

But this being a moot point, I doubt I'd be able to get anything at this point. This is more of a pipe dream now. Just pray for me that my SVT just needs the shift linkage fixed and not a new clutch/transmission.

The verdict is in, I need everything done on the transmission short of the transfer case. Clutch kit, throw-out bearing and all that jazz. Also going to need a flywheel most likely. At least all this work including the flywheel is only going to cost me $1056 driveout. I'd say I got a decent discount since that does include labor too. Still, it is bloody expensive to me because I'm not a rich man.

The poll and topic can be closed now. Thanks for all that partisipated.

I like the Tiburon GT, my friend owned one with a stick and it definitely did not suck. I've also owned 2 Nissan Maximas and they are not "parent" cars. They are quick reliable sedans that don't cost an arm and a leg.

But this being a moot point, I doubt I'd be able to get anything at this point. This is more of a pipe dream now. Just pray for me that my SVT just needs the shift linkage fixed and not a new clutch/transmission.


well thats my opinion... i disliked the handling on the tib... it felt unconnected with the road compared to the svt and not as precise.

maximas have a soft ride. they have power yes + luxury. the handling is true big sedan.

its always a matter of opinion. i prefer cars with precise and communicative steering. i want to feel what im rolling on. i also prefer compact nimble and solid cars.

Wow, you owe almost as much as I owe for 2010 Focus. You shouldn’t even consider a new car unless you got a big down payment, and if that was the case you would still be better off paying on what you have.

Wow that interest rate is insane.

I say trade it to make some less payments. Sorry to Say.

I love my SVT as well, but looking at the facts, paying that much and paying to fix it isn't worth it.

But I do agree the Tib is on the bottom of that list for me as well.

For the straights ... those mustangs are it.

The subie though would give you a big smile every where you drive. On the road or the track.

Have you considered the newer nissan altima coupe? since you are going nissan for half of your choices.

-Ray-