In 1998, Ford gave the world the new Focus, a worthy replacement for the Ford Escort that had been in production since 1980. Ahhhhh, 1980… Sorry, I was reminiscing. I experienced a four-door Focus as a rental car about a decade ago but it was nothing like this 2002 Ford Focus SVT Hatchback. This one is posted here on craigslist in beautiful, warm, sunny (not jealous, not jealous) Chandler, Arizona and they’re asking $7,900. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mitchell, G. for the tip!
CD Silver was one of the four colors available on the ’02 Focus SVT. The others were Pitch Black, Sonic Blue, and Infra-Red. The seller is the original owner of this little pocket rocket, one of 4,788 made and one of 513 in this color combo. They say it’s been an Arizona car since new and has never been smoked in.
The Focus was available in North America from 1999 for the 2000 model year until 2007, and came in a two-door hatchback, four-door hatchback, four-door sedan, and four-door wagon. The SVT version was first available here in late-2001 for the 2002 model year and lasted until the end of 2004 at which point they were replaced by the Focus ZX4 ST. This must be the era when car companies relied heavily on initials and numbers rather than names for their models.
You can see the incredible condition this car is in, it looks like new to me, at least from the craigslist photos. That’s real leather along with either blue or red cloth inserts. In this case, the owner made the right choice in my opinion. It’s hard to beat silver over red, or red and black in this case. A four-door hatchback SVT was available beginning in 2003 but I have to believe a two-door version is more valuable and just plain cooler. Here’s what the rear seating area looks like. We don’t get to see the rear cargo area, unfortunately.
The engine is Ford’s 2.0-liter DOHC inline-four with 170 horsepower and 145 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a six-speed manual, power is sent to the front wheels and this 60,040-mile car has had no accidents or other issues and is the one to nab if you’ve been looking for a clean example. Any thoughts on this Focus SVT?
IIRC, there was some discussion back in ’02 about how UGLY that dash layout was; well, I still think that it is horrible! Seeing as how one would have to see it every time they drove the car, I suppose that you would/could get used to it. Otherwise, it appears to be very well kept “pocket rocket”. GLWTS!! :-)
Then again, who cares what’s on the dash as long as everything is working properly..though it might be part of the reason Ford waited as long as they did to reintroduce the new hot shot Focuses (Foci? I dunno).
And you’re right too about the shape it’s in-it’d be a great commuter.
One of the cars’s I’d really like to own someday.
The hotel just North of Denver had one of these (in Black)
out front of the Ford dealer next door.I kept looking over at it,
& one evening I finally went over & looked at it closely,& was
asked if I wanted to take it for a test drive.I declined,as I really
didn’t know the area around there,& it was dark.
There was also a newer Mini a little farther down the road
that I sat in.I was really dissapointed at how cheap the interior was,
& the paint was already starting to wear on the driver’s door pull.
Finally test drove one in Eugene,Oregon,& was impressed
with the power & how well it handled.
I’ve been looking at these on craigslist,etc.,& have noticed
that the really affordable ones need a lot of work.
Oldest daughter’s high school and college car was a regular four door Focus. When I drove it, I was always impressed how firm and substantial it felt, especially since it was a basic econobox. I never drove an SVT version, but if it improved in performance characteristics, this should be a fun and fulfilling ride.
Agree, Bob. I used to own an ’03 with the 2.3 PZEV engine. I bought it in 2004 strictly to commute, but in all honesty, I was surprised how peppy and fun the car was to drive. And this is coming from a dyed in the wool muscle car era GM dude. I can imagine how much fun one of the SVT Foci (plural for Focus?) with a stick would be to pilot. My SE was very reliable. The only real issue I had was changing a couple of sensors, which the engineers of course generously buried, so that was a chore. Other than that, I changed the oil every 4 to 5k, struts, a couple sets of tires and did the 100k tune up and the car ran great up until I sold it with 121k on the clock. It was a good car, I definitely got my money’s worth.
I had an ’04 with the 2.3 PZEV and a 5-speed stick. Great little car, especially after I demolished the suspension when I drove through the ditch left by a washed-out culvert at 40 mph. Why? Because the full SVT Focus suspension, only $250.00 from Ford Racing, bolted right up. Handled great, got 35 mpg on the freeway, and ran like a top for 140,000 miles when I traded it for a rifle and $500.
This car was on Jalopnik’s NPND last Thursday. Two points were noted by commenters there. First, the shifter cables/linkages wear out and no replacements are being made. NOS replacements, if they can even be found, will be expensive and prone to break due to old plastics. Second, the intake runner manifold controller’s plastic gears will fail and no new replacements are available. Without the controller the car is slow and throws a CEL. Hard pass.
Purchase one for a commuter car for my daughter to go back and forth to your community college. Worst purchase we ever made! Name it, it went wrong. Didn’t ever last her first year. Funny thing is we traded it in on a Fusion which turned out to be one of the best cars we ever had. You just never know.
Don’t see many of these in this condition. They were fun cars, but not nearly as dependable as the standard foci.
My 06 5 speed is still running despite my daughter’s attempt to kill it, and she already killed a 4.0 Jeep, which isn’t easy.
My 2014 2.0 5 speed focus is the best car Ive ever owned, and the best handling by far.
Future collectibles will be 2012 and newer ST, or a RS if you have the $$.
Manual 2012-2018 Foci will soon be going up.
Pity Ford wasted the excellent 2.0 and design from 2012-18 by using the known bad DCT auto in the majority.
These will always resonate and be desirable due to the massive numbers of people hitting middle age that had one.
I sold a even rarer 04′ Focus SVT Euro edition 2 tears ago with 112,00 thousand miles .They were quick cars and going through the gears 90 mph came quickly. Mine was Competition Orange,very few in that color.
We’ve owned a total of 6 foci , all but one of them the best cars we’ve ever had. None of them a SVT but I wish. Personally I prefer the the dash in these to the latter models. The automatic in the mk iii is to be avoided. Otherwise fabulas cars. Even “normal” ones fun to drive. Just avoid the first gen “se” as those usually came with the old escort engine , not a bad little engine , but the 2.0 ztec designed in Europe much much more peppy. Never thought I’d be old enough to see a version of a car that’s my daily on barn finds though 🤣
We bought a 2003 4-door hatchback and kept it 20 years! Best car ever. Simple, dependable and economical. We put 230,000 km on it.