Ok, I just finished test driving an 02 infra red svt. Now after have a very close look at the car I noticed that there were scratches on the exhaust header cover. Almost as if the car was in an accident. Yet the car was not saftied or have a wrecked/ rebuilt title. The car sales man says that it could have been from the factory, but I have a funny feeling that there is more to it than that. Also the heat sheild underneat the car was held on by hose clamps. What kinds of things should I look for when buying a used Svt? What are some real common problems?
Are the 02's bad to get, as they were the first ones off the production line? Any help would be great.

How many miles??? You would probably want to find out if the clutch/flywheel have been replaced, as they tend to be a problem. if you do a search, you will find alot of TSB's (technical service bulletins). I have an 02 and have had a few minor querks with it but nothing major, and overall love this car.

my 02 is holding up good ....even with me beating it even once in an while...the heat shields always come loose and thats why they have hose clamps on it and i dont kno about the scratches on the header cove r previous owner may have done this

is this the one. http://www.canadatrader.com/result/detailinfo.aspx?ID=13095679&pgno=1&srt=1

you could check the vin # at sgi to see if it was in an accident.

Yea thats the one! Do any of you guys have the link to one that was in B.C a few weeks ago?
It was blue, and they were asking only 15k. But its no longer on the trader site.

Is 18k kind of high for an SVT? I went to Kelly Blue Book and an SVT in excellent condition with 20,000 miles would have a high blue book of 15k

18K is kinda high for a used SVT, even a low milage one should be around 15K or lower.

All the ones i have seen (here in canada) are around the $16,000 range. They seem almost more rare here. What do they go for in your home towns? Maybe I'll make a road trip.

Yeah, here is the link from the one I was talking about

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=188885956&dealer_id=95426&car_year=2003&search_type=both&make=FORD&sponsorModel=&distance=100&model=FOCUS&address=98467&advanced=&certified=&max_price=&bkms=1129122739216&min_price=&first_record=51&end_year=2005&start_year=2000&isp=y&pager.offset=50&lang=en&cardist=10#vdptop

I bought my '02 SVTF with 16,000 miles on it back in February and only paid $10,500 for it. The KBB retail on it is still $12,500 and it now has 31,000 miles. [:D]

$16K Canadian is $13,661.90 US as of this morning's currency trade rates...

I autoX my 2002 almost constantly through the spring, summer, and fall and I have had zero problems. About 150-175 runs plus year-round driving, and I don't baby it.

Rock solid.

Originally posted by Carrera26
$16K Canadian is $13,661.90 US as of this morning's currency trade rates...

...I was waiting for someone to say this...

As for the hose clamps, that is the official, even dealer-sanctioned fix for the loose heat sheilds - don't sweat that.

^^^Beat me to it...