ford focus or audi a3

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by TSM

Not really, the known issues with the BKD engine are to do with the DMF and the early ones had porous heads but that was only for the very early ones.
My car is on 120k+.
The 2.0L 16v is a 6speed and a little smoother than the 8v. Personally I would go for the 2L.

Are we on about the diesels here? I know nowt about petrols.

the 2l shreds oil pumps and IIRC balancer shaft chains. DPFs are all a nightmare on bloody everything and want ripping out as soon as possible.


If is was me I'd buy an octavia, you can get as new as 2010 with the PD engine instead of the common fail.

[NTECUK]

Unless you do long trips, avoid DPF oil burners.
Get a Golf.

Originally Posted by NTECUK

Get a Golf.

Agreed. For resale values alone. Better than the A3 anyway.

From the left field, have you considered a 1.6 litre Mazda 3? Excellent cars.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by kiggles

But the ford focus is amazing value for money. With a budget of around 3000-4000. I don't plan to sell the car for 10 years or more so once the car is how I want it, I can continue heading towards that about that HP4 I always wanted. Only thing is if i bought a ford, its just a car, but the audi will be personal taste. Someone knock some sense into me?

For £3-4K which year Focus and A3 are you looking at? I think some of the comments posted so far may refer to models you won't be looking at. It will help everyone if we comment on the correct model you are looking at.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Are we on about the diesels here? I know nowt about petrols.

Chris OP says he wants a petrol in his first post.

OP - here is a good source of info

Audi / VW forum on Pistonheads

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/f...=86&mid=404544

Ford Forum on Pistonheads

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/f...129&mid=404544

We've had two Focus' or Foci. I'd not buy another, OK they are good to drive, but both ours fell to bits around us. The Mk1 Focus we had simply rusted away it was riddled with Tin worm when I part ex'd. The MK2 Focus CMAX we had, had major electrical issues that the Ford garage couldn't diagnose or work out what the fault was ( it stopped charging the battery and then all the accessories such as the heated windscreen stopped working )

As I said above, both went through suspension bushes like a fat kid in a sweet shop.

3 - 4K budget is going to get you into a similar age car to the two I owned... Do you research and be picky there are a lot of Focus' out there in your budget. Dont buy the first one you look at.

As for DPF issues as said elsewhere, dont buy a Diesel with a DPF and then use it for the school run or short journeys, it will clog up and you will get trouble.

Id buy VAG car in a heartbeat. But you can find horror stories on the internet about anything if you look hard enough..

[Sir Trev]

Focus petrol 1.6 units (non-Ecoboost) have woeful torque so may not be up for the towing side. Granted I live in a hilly area but I got so fed up of my nearly new 1.6 TI-VCT 125hp hatch I px'd it after a few months even though it was usually only me in it commuting. Now have a Focus 1.6 Ecoboost 150 which is WAY better and very nice to drive.

I agree on the comments re Golf vs A3. I'm on my third golf, each time I have not even considered the A3. My Gran had an A3, which I drove quite a bit and when she stopped driving I had the option of taking her A3 or keeping my golf. I kept my older, higher mileage, golf

It was no contest, the A3 only has space for 2 adults in the back, the golf has space for three, I can fit three people and three push bikes into the golf, (or two people and four bikes). The drive position on the A3 is slightly off centre, i.e. the pedals are inward of the steering wheel, so you are twisted slightly, which gets uncomfortable on a long journey.

When looking for my current golf (MKIV 1.9l diesel 130 PD) I researched all the engines for the most reliable, and there was quite a bit coming up saying that the 1.4 and 1.6 petrols were not very reliable, but they probably changed before the MKV smaller petrols which, I assume, are the age you are looking at (2003 to 2007 IIRC), I'd check that they sorted the problems from the older engines. The 2.0 8v petrol in the later GTI were under powered and broke a lot more (I can't remember exactly the things that went) then the older 1.8 and 1.8t 20v engines. The 2.0 engines would be used from 2001 to 05/06 or so, they only changed them to meet new emissions regulations.

At the sort of age you are looking at the 130 bhp 1.9L diesel engines are by far the most reliable, the 2.0 petrols were pretty awful. The newer 1.6 might be better, but the previous generation didn't really make it past about 130-140k miles. 200k+ miles 130 bhp diesels are not uncommon, assuming the are well kept and the body work is not rotten.

Ford focuses are the single most common car on the UK's roads, with 1.6m registered cars, about .3 million more then the next most common, the vauxhall astra (or maybe the corsa, don't remember but they are all up there). Golfs are 5th, and I think the rep mobiles make up 5-10, the A3 doesn't feature in the top ten. The focuses are really good cars, but common as mud.

TL;DR
Focuses are good cars, but are common. cheaper to run then the equivalent VAG car. A3 are more exclusive, but not much space inside. Golfs are a the best version of the Golf, a half way house between the A3 and ford focus.

[tonyt]

Ford Focus..................

Yeah agree with tonyt Focus. Nothing exclusive about a Golf or an Audi just count how many hundreds you see on the roads every day they are like maggots on a corpse every ware much like so called exclusive BMW and Merc

I think Focus is the better car, golf 1.9 has the best Diesel engine but the early units were best they got sloppy with build quality towards the end but still way better than the 2.0 crud. Nothing quality or reliable about German cars these days.
Ford on the other hand have made great inroads in quality and reliability.

I like the design of the Focus to and with a nice set of alloys they look good plus they handle better than both the golf and the a3.

You won't get a diesel focus that will have as good a power plant as the VW 1.9 though it's a great little engine shame VW ditched it in favour of the unreliable 2.0.
I have had two passats a golf and an A6 all with this engine and it was faultless shame however plenty of other stuff on the cars was not as reliable.