O/T 2001 Ford Focus SE

I have a chance to buy a 2001 Ford Focus SE . It has the 2.0 Liter Splitport ,single cam engine in it . The car is in very nice A1 shape, inside and out , except for a dent in the back drivers side quarter panel. Apparently, the motor is bad . They say it runs , but hammers ( knocks ) real bad . The car only has approximately 113,000 miles on it . I've heard that the motors only last a little over 100,000 miles. I can buy the car for $850.00 , have motor changed for app. $350.00 . Put in my name for $50.00 and hauled home for app. $ 50.00 . I've heard that motors for this car can run from $500.00 to over a $1000.00 . The guy that had it also told me that there was a recall on those cars because of a " internal filter " problem as he called it , which would make the car studder for a second and sometimes it would get so bad that the car would stall out completely and die . Local dealership supposedly fixed this problem for free , but a year later it started back again .

My questions are these - Is this a good buy ? Will I regret it ? Also , has anyone ever owned one of these cars ? How was it ? What is the recall or internal filter deal about ?

Any and all help is appreciated .

Thanks ,
Whizkid

yea, they had trouble that year, exhaust valves drop and take out a piston. My son-inlaw and grandson are rebuilding one now. They are great cars in all other respects.

I have a 09, with standard drive and average 38-39mpg on my daily commute to work.

Its worth $2/300 at the salvage yard,,, why would you pay more for it...
Its 10 years old why would you think you will get away with just a engine...
Why would someone spend $1500 to install a engine and not replace the support parts (hoses, tune up, cam belt etc) Add another $500 to your estimate... You must know someone who works for P-nuts $350 to R&R a engine :roll:

Its called a gamble,,, odds don't look to good at $850

I Own a 01 My daug has an 02 Great Cars... I really Like ours... has 110K No problems other than the usual batts etc:Bought new Larry