Due to my wife's faith in the logic of "Newer is better", my 200k mile 94' Camry is no longer a part of the family. After the tranny started slipping really bad a month ago, "we" decidedthat instead of dumping money into a tranny rebuild or replacement, we'd be better off getting a new/newer vehicle. Originally we set out to by a 2010 Hyundai Elantra, but when we got to the dealer, the car was has really nasty dents on it that was not noticable in the pictures. The wife had just started her third week of her new job and this was not the time to have transportation issues, so we looked into othe options that the Hyundai dealer had. On the lot was a nice silver, 2012 Ford Focus (base model). Since my wife Fancied the Ford Fusion already, we decided to take a look at the Focus (which for that year looks like a mini version of the 2013 Fusion).
The sales man busted his hump to get the price of the focus down and get us approved. We test drove the car before all the numbers were settled. The car made a front end noise that in my past experience is cause by bad wheel bearings, a bad front end alignment, or certain low brands of tires when they are new (the focus has continentals on it). I asked the saleman about the noise and assured that it was the tires. The sound rythm seems to increase with the speed of wheel rotation.
We bought the car. My wife has experience buying a newer car were as I always drove buckets and shit boxes that make plenty noise. She had me drop her off to work on my day off and bring the car back to the dealer. The dealer determined by there mechanic that it is the tires. I brought the car to a friend of mine who is also a mechanic and has worked on cars since we were freshman in highschool. He determined it's the tires or the bearings. "How could a car that's year old with only a bit over 30k mile on it have bad wheel bearings?" I asked. He said that he's noticed over the years that car manufactures are using lower quality parts on there vehicles to keep you coming into the dealer more frequently.
Wish "we" were not so much into a rush to purchase because I've recently done research and found out that the focus had issues with front wheel bearings in the first year of this Focus, which is the 2012 model. I know well enough that it's a mistake to by the first year of any generation vehicle because that's usually the year were they are working out all the kinks.
How many of you out there think that it is possible that 1 year 30kmile bearings could actually ready to give up the ghost?
The sales man busted his hump to get the price of the focus down and get us approved. We test drove the car before all the numbers were settled. The car made a front end noise that in my past experience is cause by bad wheel bearings, a bad front end alignment, or certain low brands of tires when they are new (the focus has continentals on it). I asked the saleman about the noise and assured that it was the tires. The sound rythm seems to increase with the speed of wheel rotation.
We bought the car. My wife has experience buying a newer car were as I always drove buckets and shit boxes that make plenty noise. She had me drop her off to work on my day off and bring the car back to the dealer. The dealer determined by there mechanic that it is the tires. I brought the car to a friend of mine who is also a mechanic and has worked on cars since we were freshman in highschool. He determined it's the tires or the bearings. "How could a car that's year old with only a bit over 30k mile on it have bad wheel bearings?" I asked. He said that he's noticed over the years that car manufactures are using lower quality parts on there vehicles to keep you coming into the dealer more frequently.
Wish "we" were not so much into a rush to purchase because I've recently done research and found out that the focus had issues with front wheel bearings in the first year of this Focus, which is the 2012 model. I know well enough that it's a mistake to by the first year of any generation vehicle because that's usually the year were they are working out all the kinks.
How many of you out there think that it is possible that 1 year 30kmile bearings could actually ready to give up the ghost?
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