Ford Focus or something else?

Are they any good? Anything i need to look out for? I will be looking at a low mileage 2004 one tomorrow for the missus as i had a field-to-car interface in her Astra resulting in it going to motor heaven. (no big loss there) She just needs something thats reliable with a bit of oomph should she need it so am wondering if anyone has actually owned one. She does about 50-100 miles a week

Any advice and/or alternatives would be appreciated. Budget about 5k-ish. No more bloody Astras tho as she has had 6 of the buggers!

Thanks in advance.

[yorkie_chris]

Friend of mine has one, it feels and sounds really tinny inside compared to the astra he had before, funnily enough before an unfortunate cars-to-stairs interface.

Mondeo or another astra, what's one more eh

[dizzyblonde]

My mum has one, it refuses to die, bombproof, gets used as a skip to go to the tip, gets a family in it, economical..yeah super. Its actually quite old now, being a Y reg.

Another thing is that Fords usually rot, but the Focus is in really good condition, and its parked outside all year. Theres not a spot on it

[G]

2004 focus... That the first of the new shape? Dreadful hateful things, the 1.6petrol struggle to get 28mpg.

Is it the astra/focus size your after?

I would recommend the fabia VRS, or a fiesta zetec s tdci. Both brilliant cars ad good value for money.

[fizzwheel]

We had a 53 plate 1.8 tdci duratorque 100bhp diesel.

Drove well, I really liked driving it. Engine was strong and pulled well. TBH couldnt really fault it at all. IMHO having driven that and similar age Astra's its much nicer place to sit than an astra and the handling is definately superior.

Didnt really have any major trouble. Just niggles at each MOT / Service.

The one thing to watch for is the suspension bushes on the back, they wear and its a bit of a big job i.e. high labour charge to replace them.

It was starting to rot around the front wing, but this was IMHO as a result of a bad repair as the rest of the car was rot free.

We'd had to have a new battery in order to cure a cold starting problem, but I see that as a wear & tear issue rather than a fundamental problem with the car itself.

It wanted new disc's and pads all round just before we part ex'd it, and I was getting right royall fedup with the p*ss poor service from the Ford dealer I was taking it to. Couple that with the last service / MOT it had it needed £700 worth of work doing on it we decided to chop it in for something else and a bigger car was required as we have two dogs.

If I wanted a cheap reliable car that handled / drove well I'd definately get another Focus. I'd be inclined to stay away from the 1.6 litre petrols though, Liz's friend has one and its heavy on jungle juice.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Friend of mine has one, it feels and sounds really tinny inside compared to the astra he had before, funnily enough before an unfortunate cars-to-stairs interface.

Mondeo or another astra, what's one more eh

Mondeo is a lil too big for the missus, shes the sort that finds a space, and gets out to let me park it

Also let me get this straight, my accident was a field-to-car interface not vice versa...the field hit me. I just couldnt get out the way quick enough.

Originally Posted by dizzyblonde

My mum has one, it refuses to die, bombproof, gets used as a skip to go to the tip, gets a family in it, economical..yeah super. Its actually quite old now, being a Y reg.

Another thing is that Fords usually rot, but the Focus is in really good condition, and its parked outside all year. Theres not a spot on it

This is what i like to hear thanks dizz.

Originally Posted by G

2004 focus... That the first of the new shape? Dreadful hateful things, the 1.6petrol struggle to get 28mpg.

Is it the astra/focus size your after?

I would recommend the fabia VRS, or a fiesta zetec s tdci. Both brilliant cars ad good value for money.

I mentioned the Skodas ( i like them) and she just blatantly ignored me! She is still stuck in the 80's when Skodas were known as 'skips'. I ruled out Fiestas due to the fact eveytime i took one for a spin (A) i hit me head getting in and out and (B) seat didnt go back far enough (im a lanky streak o pi$$)
If the mpg is bad on a 1.6 it aint gonna be great on the ST170 we looking at either is it LOL

[the_lone_wolf]

2004 is still 2nd shape I think, they're on 4th gen now. No point asking about oomph unless you say what engine she's looking at...

1.8 TDCi 53 plate is a fine motor, tows the two bike trailer happily and in gear torque is nice, beware dual mass flywheel (clunk on startup) and timing belts (Ford say 100k, they tend to snap at 80k)

Other than that it's fuss free motoring

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

We had a 53 plate 1.8 tdci duratorque 100bhp diesel.

Drove well, I really liked driving it. Engine was strong and pulled well. TBH couldnt really fault it at all. IMHO having driven that and similar age Astra's its much nicer place to sit than an astra and the handling is definately superior.

Didnt really have any major trouble. Just niggles at each MOT / Service.

The one thing to watch for is the suspension bushes on the back, they wear and its a bit of a big job i.e. high labour charge to replace them.

It was starting to rot around the front wing, but this was IMHO as a result of a bad repair as the rest of the car was rot free.

We'd had to have a new battery in order to cure a cold starting problem, but I see that as a wear & tear issue rather than a fundamental problem with the car itself.

It wanted new disc's and pads all round just before we part ex'd it, and I was getting right royall fedup with the p*ss poor service from the Ford dealer I was taking it to. Couple that with the last service / MOT it had it needed £700 worth of work doing on it we decided to chop it in for something else and a bigger car was required as we have two dogs.

If I wanted a cheap reliable car that handled / drove well I'd definately get another Focus. I'd be inclined to stay away from the 1.6 litre petrols though, Liz's friend has one and its heavy on jungle juice.

Thanks Fizz thats what im after. We looked at a cheapie one and whilst looking at paperwork we noticed the last MOT had an advisory concerning the rear bush's. We did look into it, parts cheap enough but labour wasnt pretty! (nearly £500!) Also apparently when the bush's go other things tend to follow close behind. Found all this out totally by accident lol

[the_lone_wolf]

I was quoted £70 to replace the rear bushes by the local Ford main dealer!!!

Sounds like I should have taken them up on it, if only they hadn't said the brake and clutch fluid needed doing as well (they'd been done by an indy not 6 months beforehand)

Great car, terrible dealer...

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

2004 is still 2nd shape I think, they're on 4th gen now. No point asking about oomph unless you say what engine she's looking at...

1.8 TDCi 53 plate is a fine motor, tows the two bike trailer happily and in gear torque is nice, beware dual mass flywheel (clunk on startup) and timing belts (Ford say 100k, they tend to snap at 80k)

Other than that it's fuss free motoring

Originally Posted by Amplimator

If the mpg is bad on a 1.6 it aint gonna be great on the ST170 we looking at either is it LOL

The rest sounds just jubbly to me! Will need a tow-bar fitted eventually too. Fuss free motoring is exactly what im after. Cheers.