Ford Focus

CraftySue

Looking at a ford focus 2004, noticed check engine light stays on, and theres a rattle in exhaust when revved. Dealer says he will sort these, car will come with a six month warranty, but I'll push for 12 months. Should I run a mile, or be happy once their fixed, and have warranty.

Anan1

Ask yourself what kind of a dealer would show a car with the check engine light on and you'll have your answer.

Alanstrainor

Walk. There are far to many cars to be had out there, to settle for something that's not in good nick is crazy. What /spec/price?

CraftySue

Focus 1.4 LX , 31,000 miles, hatchback, €10,300.

Alanstrainor

plenty of focus' around the place for less, and a lot of overpriced ones too.
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Ford/Focus/1.4-ZETEC/1137382/

CraftySue

Thanks for replies. Sorry I should have said I was based in limerick. Plenty of good deals in Dublin, but I am actually finding it hard in Limerick. Want to buy around Limerick, so if anything goes wrong, won't have far to travel to get it repaired.

Alanstrainor

The fact that the car had unresolved issues when it was taken out on a test drive is just unacceptable, and makes me wonder why they weren't fixed straight away. You can pick up a similar car for €2000 less, with similar mileage and good spec. Trust me any car dealership would be desperate to sell so haggle aggressively and if they dont budge, walk.
I dont suppose this motor is up on carzone? or something similar?

crosstownk

CraftySue wrote: »

Looking at a ford focus 2004, noticed check engine light stays on, and theres a rattle in exhaust when revved. Dealer says he will sort these, car will come with a six month warranty, but I'll push for 12 months. Should I run a mile, or be happy once their fixed, and have warranty.

I think you're right to look for 12 months - especially given the current faults.

However, it sounds like the catalytic convertor may be kaput (exhaust rattle). This could be also responsible for the engine light being on assuming that a 2004 Focus has a sensor downstream of the cat - maybe somebody here could confirm. Even so, there may be another fault causing excessive fuel enrichment that caused the cat to go - if this is the case and it's not fixed, the replacement catalytic convertor will not last too long.....

As already advised, best to go for one that appears fault free. I find it amazing that anybody selling a car would show it to a potential customer with faults as listed above. Surely if you intend to sell a car and get the best possible price and least amount of hassle (for both dealer and customer) then the car should be as perfect as possible.

BTW, how many kms/miles on this Focus...?

bazz26

Walk away, there are too many of these cars around to settle for one that has problems.

Here is a list of 03/04 Foci for sale in Limerick for sale at dealers on carzone.ie:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?adv_form_submit=1&fuseaction=search&MakeID=9&xMakeID=9&ColourID=&xColourID=&ModelID=78&xModelID=78&Doors=&BodyID=&Mileage_Max=&Mileage_Max_integer=Max+mileage+entered+was+not+an+integer.&Engine_Min=1400&Year_Min=2003&Engine_Max=1600&Year_Max=2004&Price_Min=&Price_Min_integer=Minimum+price+entered+was+not+an+integer.&CountyID=18&xCountyID=18&Price_Max=&Price_Max_integer=Maximum+price+entered+was+not+an+integer.&BusinessID=&xBusinessID=&IsPrivateSale=0&AutomaticOnly=no&FuelID=1&searchtext=&SortBy=MakeAsc&MaxRows=100&InsertPeriod=&ResultFormat=&submit=Find+Cars

CraftySue

Thanks for responses. I think I'll have to let it go. I'm just getting tired / fed up looking at this stage. It seems common enough in Limerick, that cars are not up to speck, when you go to view. Everycar I've went to view had something wrong - parts missing - so couldn't test drive, doors misaligned, funny sounds etc.

Darragh29

Anan1 wrote: »

Ask yourself what kind of a dealer would show a car with the check engine light on and you'll have your answer.

At least we can agree on something. Agree with Anan1, no car should be on a forecourt with an engine light on. I've had several customers who bought a car on a promise of something being fixed and it very rarely is, subsequent to a purchase. Get it independently checked by someone you trust before you proceed any further and get an engine diagnostic done as part of the inspection to see why the light is on....

Anan1

OP - Have you considered buying privately? If you do as Darragh says and get it independently checked it'd make more financial sense than buying from any dealer - particularly a dodgy one.

snowman707

I live in the mid west region not so far from Limerick

I have bought/checked over a number of cars over the years both for myself, family members, & friends . I find that most large garages tend to leave the vehicle in it's traded in state until sold. This is mainly due to the service area being stretcked to its limit (1 dealer I visited last week was 14 days behind)& also gives the option of selling the vehicle on, as a trade sale at a much lower price if the opportunity arises,

I also prefer to see a car in it's traded in state & would have no problem what so ever buying a car with faults as long as they were fixed & i received a written warranty.

OP: not so far from limerick & may be worth a visit or at least a phone call is Cavanaghs of Charleville
http://www.carzone.ie/car-dealers/Cork/Cavanagh's-of-Charleville-Ltd

with well over 300 s/h cars at present also ford main dealer & simi reg

Good luck with your quest

omerin

op the 1.4 ford focus is one of the worst cars i have ever driven! i had 1 unfortunatley for 2 years. the engine is so underpowered its a joke, struggling to get up hills, walk away and pick something else

ninty9er

omerin wrote: »

op the 1.4 ford focus is one of the worst cars i have ever driven! i had 1 unfortunatley for 2 years. the engine is so underpowered its a joke, struggling to get up hills, walk away and pick something else

I can't say it's the quickest in the world, that's vast over-exaggeration. It's not as slow as a 1.0l Corsa or a 1.4l Golf, that's for sure.

bazz26

snowman707 wrote: »

I live in the mid west region not so far from Limerick

I have bought/checked over a number of cars over the years both for myself, family members, & friends . I find that most large garages tend to leave the vehicle in it's traded in state until sold. This is mainly due to the service area being stretcked to its limit (1 dealer I visited last week was 14 days behind)& also gives the option of selling the vehicle on, as a trade sale at a much lower price if the opportunity arises,

I also prefer to see a car in it's traded in state & would have no problem what so ever buying a car with faults as long as they were fixed & i received a written warranty.

OP: not so far from limerick & may be worth a visit or at least a phone call is Cavanaghs of Charleville
http://www.carzone.ie/car-dealers/Cork/Cavanagh's-of-Charleville-Ltd

with well over 300 s/h cars at present also ford main dealer & simi reg

Good luck with your quest

From my experience of Cavanagh's I can see why they have over 300 s/h cars in stock. I was looking at a used Focus there about a year ago, when I enquired about it, the spotty young straight out of sales school lad spent 10 mins trying to find out if they had it in stock, another 10 mins looking for the keys and then bringing around the front, when it arrived it was filthy inside and out (cabage leaves in the boot ffs). Fair enough you might think but they had the car on their website for over a week so it could not have been too much effort to have the car in a presentable state before advertising it.

I had no trade-in and found a cleaner, lower mileage example with a FFSH at a VW/Audi dealer in the city with a reputation for being expensvie and having a poor customer experience, for €2k less than what Cavanagh's wanted for their piece of dirt. They also sorted a few small cosmetic things and had the ready on the day that suited me.

From that experience I wouldn't buy a car from Cavanagh's if they were the last dealer in the country.