What we did this summer... (car content)
 

We got our son a 2002 Ford Focus about 18 months ago for school/work. He smashed up the front end last winter and we had it fixed for $1600. The car has 184k miles on it, but it's in great shape, most of the miles were highway miles and it's got a stainless steel exhaust, nice interior, no oil leaks or oil burning, no rust, etc...

This summer I drove the car one day and noticed that there was a clunking from the front end and the ride was worse than I remembered. The brakes started grinding, so we took it to our local mechanic and and replaced the front rotors and pads, rear shoes and said that the front struts/sway bar links and rear shocks needed to be replaced and quoted us around $900 for the work.

I ordered the hardware and we tried to replace the parts, but after that many miles, they weren't budging, even with PBBlaster, heat, impact wrench, prybar, etc...

A local tire shop replaced all of the parts and also replaced a front tie rod end for $300 and said they had a heck of a time getting the old parts off the car, so I'm glad we had them do it!

Anyway, I drove the car afterward and I'm very impressed with the improvements! The car runs great and it handles the curves just great! No more noises and it's smooth on our rough roads. When stepping on the brakes hard, the front end doesn't drop and the cornering is excellent.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this economy car and hope we can get many more miles out of it as it's very economical to operate and it's got airbags, ABS, etc... It's a hatchback, so my son can easily carry his guitar and amp.

I hated spending the $, but the improvements were unbelievable! The car rides like a new car again! It's always nice to get more for your money than you were expecting!

I was sure someone would reply "that old car isn't worth fixing"...

I see it as a good learning "moment" for your son. I think the Focus is a good buy for what it is.

I almost bought one before the Protege but it was just too small.

Labor costs vary. Wayne's favorite Porsche repair facility quoted me almost 200 to replace a rear Boxster control arm and another 180 for alignment. Another alignment guy trained by the first alignment shop (now out on his own) did it all for 180.

Wayne,
We both like the Protege, especially the MazdaSpeed version! The Focus has been a great car for Dan and it easily hold his guitars, amps, etc... It's very good in the snow with the Bridgestone Blizzaks on it!

The shop included the alignment for $300, so i was very happy with that. Runs and handles like a new car now!