Buying a Focus tonight.... Advice?

[Louie Lungbubble 0]

Going with a mate to some car dealership / supermarket place tonight as a second pair of eyes while he looks over god knows how many (Foci?)

I've reccomended a 115 TDCi for his needs, but in the end I suppose it comes down to what they have in.

 

Are there any specific things to watch out for on the focus?

 

I know there's an issue with rust forming where the wing mirrors meet the body. Any other niggles?

 

Are there obvious things to be aware of when looking at / listening to, TDCi lumps? Deisels baffle me! :oops:

 

All suggestions much appreciated.

Cheers.

[PhatVR6 0]

my advice is....don't buy one!

[gibber 0]

Yeah a fello ford snob!

[Louie Lungbubble 0]

I'm not buying one. He is.

 

Christ, he was originally thinking of a Fiat Stilo :!:

[Neil VR6 0]

They're very nice to drive, better than than the Mk4 Golf which was their main competitor. The Zetec engines are nice as well. Shame there weren't any nice hot ones though

[Jim 2]

I've always heard nothing but good things about the Focus.. and they finally broke the tradition of unreliable, crappy Fords.

 

Got no specific advice but he should be plenty happy with it. The Ford TDCI engine is apparently one of the best you can get.. my mate recently had a new type Mondeo with that engine and I was absolutely bowled over by how punchy and quiet it was.

 

If you wanna get an idea of problems with them, I regularly use http://ww.carsurvey.org - lots of user submitted reviews detailing the problems they have had with a car, the dealers, etc... Alfa Romeo's cars make for entertaining reading ;)

[BigTartanJudge 0]

Hey all,

 

As some of you may know I work for a large car rental company, and the Ford Focus is one of our most popular vehicles on our rental fleet (albeit most of them 1.6 or 1.8 Zetecs but we also have some TDCi's and when working for my last company we had a few Focus ST170's !) because they are consistently good cars, reliable and cheap to repair (not that they need anything really as all are less than 6 months old). However, IMO they don't drive nearly as well as a MK4 Golf / Seat Leon etc. but there is nothing wrong with them at all.

 

The Mondeo TDCi's are very smooth and have a real torquey kick when the turbo comes in at 2500 rpm but one common complaint is that they stall VERY easily (need to really keep up rev's when pulling away).

 

The ST's are nice to drive and reasonably quick but need to be revved all the time. So there was a couple of nice ones, the Focus RS and ST170's are both quite respectable "hot" cars,

 

Cheers,

 

BigEastSideVWG60

 

dinkus: double post removed

[Neil VR6 0]

Shame they never made the RS 4WD or that would have been a real weapon. The RS's LSD is meant to make the front squirm really badly over poor roads isn't it?

[Supercharged 2]

They are fairly reliable, I had a new one on an X plate as a company car a few years ago, was a nice car but I had a lot of electrical problems - fuses blowing and e/w not opening etc and from what i've heard people are still complaining about these but if your buying from a dealer then the warranty will cover it.

 

The only other thing i've heard is the exhausts and brake are prone to going at 3/4 years old so if your looking at cars of that age have a good look underneath and give it a good brake test.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The Mondeo TDCi's are very smooth and have a real torquey kick when the turbo comes in at 2500 rpm but one common complaint is that they stall VERY easily (need to really keep up rev's when pulling away).

 

My Dad's TDCi had a recall done on the clutch to resolve that.

 

I used to drive the pool TDCi estate quite a bit and yeah they're pretty good. This overboost thing is a bit pointless, why not just deliver that level of boost as normal? Couldn't really feel it anyway.

I find the VW PD engines are punchier to be honest, but the Ford unit is good.

[bcstudent 0]

My sister's boyfriend has a 52-plate Focus TDCi, which he's had from new and done about 40k in. So far he's had no problems at all with it and it really is a peach to drive apparently. I got a lift back to Norwich from Heathrow in it once and was quite sutprised by the performance.

[Geo 0]

The focus are a great car, far better than the mk4 golf in terms of reliability and handling. Anyone who says they wouldn't buy one because it's a ford are living in the past. The days of under engineered, unreliable fords are long gone, these days they are among the best cars on the road.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

That's because they finally woke up and invested a LOT of money in D&R....and it shows. They even poached a top VW designer (visible in the current Mondeo), which shows their commitment to producing better cars.

 

My Dad's old 2.0 Ghia Crocus was a good drive but it does enjoy fully independant suspension, which should be considered when comparing it to the MK4 Golf, which doesn't have it. The MK5 does though and is easily on a par with the Focus' handling....just a shame VW took 25 years to cotton on to it.

 

And yep, they're reliable alright. My Dad did 70K in 2 years with his, which included trips to Italy, France and Germany. Never went wrong once, which is not the Fix Or Repair Daily we know and love, LOL!

[Geo 0]

They even poached a top VW designer (visible in the current Mondeo), which shows their commitment to producing better cars.

 

True, ford poached vw's interior and styling guys.

 

My Dad's old 2.0 Ghia Crocus was a good drive but it does enjoy fully independant suspension, which should be considered when comparing it to the MK4 Golf, which doesn't have it. The MK5 does though and is easily on a par with the Focus' handling...

 

And who do you think designed the rear suspension in the mk5 golf?? Yes you've guessed it! The same guy that did the focus.

 

So both companies saw where the competition was ahead of them and took the necessary steps to correct the problem. The worst thing about the old focus is the interior, the worst thing about the golf was the way it handled (in standard form at least)

[samm_cvr6 0]

no denying the focus is a better drive than the MK4 golf which I never really liked. But is an RS better than a Leon 225? I don't thinkso, better handling, but not all round. Ford are also using PSA group diesels aswell. Question is, will the new Focus ST be better than a MK5 golf? time will tell. I still prefer the PD's for that wallop of torque you get although I think it has to be said the new BMW 320d and Honda diesels have moved the game on a bit.

[dubster82 0]

Focus?

 

burn it.

 

hateful, hateful cars.

 

 

 

felt like the most plasticy car id ever driven. utter rubbish.

 

Buy a Leon. love em. :lol: