2001 Ford Focus is this a bad idea?

Honestly I think your money would be better spent on a Honda than A Ford Focus.Those cars have a list of problems as long as your arm.Even if the Honda has more miles on it, it is a far better car than the Focus

Thank you. That's what i needed to hear. It's funny that you should mention a honda b/c I've been looking at one that my mom's neighbor is selling. She is an older woman and she took good care of it. It's a 97 civic with 70,000 miles for $3000. Can't beat that! bluebook is around $6600. Thanks again!

I would have the timing belt and water pump replaced on the Honda, after that it should be good for about 80k , if you change your mind Ill take the Honda.....lol

Well I'm still looking around a little bit. I'm actually looking for something 2000 and up. I think it's a good car but I don't like the way it looks. It's red and I don't like red cars. The paint is fading. The inside is very clean though. Never been smoked in. She actually didn't have the car up for sale. My step dad just asked her about it b/c he never sees her drive it. She told him she would sell it. I prefer a camry or corolla. Which are good cars too. What do you thnk about Altimas? I'm more into toyota, honda or nissan. I MOST DEFINITELY want a car that is going to be dependable and not dollar me to death. I have 2 kids so I have to look out for that first. But if I'm going to spend my money I also want something I like. I wouldn't mind an suv but they're gas guzzlers and gas is way too high right now. Here's another question. I have an 89 Toyota corolla and the car has been running hot. I replaced the radiator and thermostat... The car worked fine for a few weeks. Started running hot again so i checked the fan. It was coming on so it couldn't have been that. I'm a woman and I don't know THAT much about cars but I'm assuming that it got too hot and cracked the head gasket. The oil was milky so I had my oil changed and put this stuff in my radiator. (forget what it's called) Now I know this is not a permanent fix but I wanted something temporarily until I could decide whether I wanted to put the money into fixing it or buying another car. I've decided to buy another car. My friend wants to buy my corolla from me and I have let her know what is wrong with it. Her husband says that he knows how to fix the problem so it wouldn't be as expensive for her to get it fixed. The corolla has 182,000 miles. I've put in new spark plugs, radiator, radiator cap, thermostat, brakes, alternator and battery and all belts except the timing belt (which I'm sure does need to be replaced) It's a good car. It's quiet and I believe if she fixes this problem it'll last her another year (maybe depending on how much she drives it.) I'm selling it to her for $500. Do you think that's a fair price? She's my friend and I don't want her to buy into a lot of problems. What do you think?