so, I found a pretty decent condition '94 manual coupe with three past owners around here with 97k miles. they're asking $45k, but they said the price isn't firm. however, there are some things with it that make me uneasy.
the brake and clutch pedal are both light and travel far, but react different. the brake pedal is almost a bit spongy, but when it really gets into the pads, it firms up. the brakes still felt a little underpowered when I was really doing hard braking, though. not sure if it's a brake fluid issue, or if it was a brake pad issue that could have potentially been causing light fade. the clutch pedal was super light and almost resistance-less in the first quarter of it's travel, and then started getting a bit stiffer once past the 1/4 mark. however, when releasing the clutch, it's full release point would be well within that first quarter part where it was super vague and it was hard to really tell a biting point. not sure what causes that issue.
other than that, there are no service records except a clutch slave cylinder that was done on Oct 11, 2001 (I also just saw the then owner had it washed at the dealership on 9/11...wtf possessed him to do that on that day...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ). this leads me to treat it like a lot of the service hasn't been done. clutch, timing belt/water pump should most likely be replaced and from what I've been seeing, those are around $2000 jobs each. the most previous owner said he did all the coolant hoses about two years ago, so that'd be about $2k saved. aside from those, the windows were rolling up fairly slow, but they did eventually make it to the top so the window regulators could need replacing. the weather stripping on the passenger side was needing replacing because it was making a bit of noise around 65-ish and up. weirdly enough, the trunk button on the driver's side door didn't open the trunk. the climate control was a little erratic, the paint had a lot of swirling, and the struts on the engine cover and trunk both were completely useless. I also heard from someone that getting the injector o-rings replaced is also a good service.
as far as the good, the car tracked super straight, the manual steering felt super responsive and direct, it has a new stereo system in it with bluetooth, and the engine revved freely all the way up to 8k with the VTEC kicking in nice and smooth.
all that being said, I know perfect 1st gens go for around $45k, or so. would offering $33k cash be reasonable for how much work has to be done to it? also, what would cause those issues I mentioned with the brake and clutch pedal as well as the trunk button?
for a little bit of history to know where I'm coming from, I DD a '14 Focus ST that I bought brand new. not sure if anyone on here has driven one of those, but they have very immediate, almost overboostered, brake pedal feel and fairly strong clutch pedal feel. so, I'm not sure if those clutch and brake symptoms are just quirks of an older car, or if it's a legitimate issue that needs to be taken care of. any help with this would definitely be appreciated.
the brake and clutch pedal are both light and travel far, but react different. the brake pedal is almost a bit spongy, but when it really gets into the pads, it firms up. the brakes still felt a little underpowered when I was really doing hard braking, though. not sure if it's a brake fluid issue, or if it was a brake pad issue that could have potentially been causing light fade. the clutch pedal was super light and almost resistance-less in the first quarter of it's travel, and then started getting a bit stiffer once past the 1/4 mark. however, when releasing the clutch, it's full release point would be well within that first quarter part where it was super vague and it was hard to really tell a biting point. not sure what causes that issue.
other than that, there are no service records except a clutch slave cylinder that was done on Oct 11, 2001 (I also just saw the then owner had it washed at the dealership on 9/11...wtf possessed him to do that on that day...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ). this leads me to treat it like a lot of the service hasn't been done. clutch, timing belt/water pump should most likely be replaced and from what I've been seeing, those are around $2000 jobs each. the most previous owner said he did all the coolant hoses about two years ago, so that'd be about $2k saved. aside from those, the windows were rolling up fairly slow, but they did eventually make it to the top so the window regulators could need replacing. the weather stripping on the passenger side was needing replacing because it was making a bit of noise around 65-ish and up. weirdly enough, the trunk button on the driver's side door didn't open the trunk. the climate control was a little erratic, the paint had a lot of swirling, and the struts on the engine cover and trunk both were completely useless. I also heard from someone that getting the injector o-rings replaced is also a good service.
as far as the good, the car tracked super straight, the manual steering felt super responsive and direct, it has a new stereo system in it with bluetooth, and the engine revved freely all the way up to 8k with the VTEC kicking in nice and smooth.
all that being said, I know perfect 1st gens go for around $45k, or so. would offering $33k cash be reasonable for how much work has to be done to it? also, what would cause those issues I mentioned with the brake and clutch pedal as well as the trunk button?
for a little bit of history to know where I'm coming from, I DD a '14 Focus ST that I bought brand new. not sure if anyone on here has driven one of those, but they have very immediate, almost overboostered, brake pedal feel and fairly strong clutch pedal feel. so, I'm not sure if those clutch and brake symptoms are just quirks of an older car, or if it's a legitimate issue that needs to be taken care of. any help with this would definitely be appreciated.
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