Are ford focus 1.4 saloon good cars??

holly21

Hi, I am just wondering if anyone can give me a bit of info on ford focus saloons 1.4? have me eye on one and need a bitteen of advice whether they are fuel efficient and good mechanically wise,
please and thank you.

RandomAccess

The old model or the newer one, what year?
Don't know much about them myself, but if you provide more detail someone may provide an answer.

Mr Benevolent

They're even less fuel efficient than the 1.4 hatch. Mechanically they're the same.

BrianJD

I've had a 1.4 Hatch Focus and changed to a 1.6 Focus saloon, (Both the Latest Shape) The 1.4 I found was quite sluggish and because it's a fairly heavy car, I thought the 1.4 too light for it and was fairly heavy on the juice. I am finding the 1.6 much better with the fuel economy.

guil

have a 05 saloon, its terrible on petrol and if ya get an early one expect trouble with the boot and the frost plugs on top of the head

holly21

RandomAccess wrote: »

The old model or the newer one, what year?
Don't know much about them myself, but if you provide more detail someone may provide an answer.

its a 04 one..getting a good price on it, its down from 5000 to 3500.its very tempting!!

EPM

BrianJD wrote: »

I've had a 1.4 Hatch Focus and changed to a 1.6 Focus saloon, (Both the Latest Shape) The 1.4 I found was quite sluggish and because it's a fairly heavy car, I thought the 1.4 too light for it and was fairly heavy on the juice. I am finding the 1.6 much better with the fuel economy.

+1

Had a 1.4 hatch - useless powerwise to the point of being downright dangerous at times

Leonard Hofstadter

A 1.6 has a whopping 33% more power and there are loads of them around, it's what you call a no brainer:)!

the_barfly1

Agreed, because of the weight of the new model foci, you have to upgrade to the next engine size if you're looking for the power you're accustomed to.
I own a 01 focus zetec hatch which only has the 1.4 engine, ive driven both the 1.4 and 1.6 of the 05+ shape and my little baby is just as quick as the 1.6, was talking to a few ford salespeople and they all seem to agree that the older shaped focus provided more bang for your buck..
/tangent
Anyways you say its a 04 you're looking at, which model is it? If its the bog standard lx you'd be looking for at least 1.6 or 1.8 in the saloon shape i reckons

congo_90

Recently drove new shape focus to get it home for a friend. I wouldn't recommend it. It's so slow i believed there had to be an issue with it! Old focus are great but i like the focus diesel in the old shape.

Sofiztikated

holly21 wrote: »

its a 04 one..getting a good price on it, its down from 5000 to 3500.its very tempting!!

Thats not a spectacular price, to be honest. The €3500 is just slightly below what would be expected for the same year hatch, which is a lot more desirable than the saloon.

IF you have to go for it, offer €2800, and be prepared to walk away. Anything over €3000 is throwing your money away.

Car wise, they are ok. Heavy, hard enough of petrol as its a small engine pulling the heavy car, I have the 1.4 hatch, and its mean enough of stuff, and the saloon is heavier.

EPM

That's a quite low tbh. A 6 year old Focus for 3k? I'll have ten please. They are getting cheap, but not that cheap if in any way decent.

Ush1

EPM wrote: »

That's a quite low tbh. A 6 year old Focus for 3k? I'll have ten please. They are getting cheap, but not that cheap if in any way decent.

I got a 04 1.4 hatch for 5k. Only 36k on the clock aswell.

EPM

Ush1 wrote: »

I got a 04 1.4 hatch for 5k. Only 36k on the clock aswell.

Thats a more accurate price in fairness.

Not saying you wont get one for 3k but for an average condition/mileage car it's too cheap

Ush1

EPM wrote: »

Thats a more accurate price in fairness.

Not saying you wont get one for 3k but for an average condition/mileage car it's too cheap

Maybe, but aren't the saloons a good bit cheaper generally than the hatch?

EPM

Ush1 wrote: »

Maybe, but aren't the saloons a good bit cheaper generally than the hatch?

Not 2k cheaper

bazz26

Saloon versions of the MkI Focus are worth a decent bit less than hatchbacks (not thousands mind you), as they are not as practical or easy on the eye. The MkII Focus saloon is more handsome than the MkI saloon but still worth a little less than a hatchback.

Both are utterly gutless in 1.4 litre and a false economy over a similar 1.6 litre imo.

willbur

i bought a 04 ford focus 1.6 ghia auto saloon about 4 months ago it has
all leather seats heated seats in the front/ air con/which was great when the car was like an oven the other day abs standard other things as well
but i gave it its first long run down to thomastown and back at the weekend and petrol usage was very good as i dont go over 55mile per hour
anyway it passed it nct in january 2010 just before i bought it , and i am very happy with it:cool:

Henry Ford III

the_barfly1 wrote: »

....I own a 01 focus zetec hatch which only has the 1.4 engine, ive driven both the 1.4 and 1.6 of the 05+ shape and my little baby is just as quick as the 1.6....

No. There's a big difference. 75 or 80bhp vs 100 or 115bhp.

The difference in pickup is very marked.

Henry Ford III

guil wrote: »

have a 05 saloon, its terrible on petrol and if ya get an early one expect trouble with the boot and the frost plugs on top of the head

Frost plugs are on the engine block, not the head.

guil

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Frost plugs are on the engine block, not the head.

is there not a few in between the spark plug holes

Plug

They are on the head, 2 of them between the plugs or maybe they are as you described. They give trouble because of the washer jets leaking in water from the bonnet and rusting.

guil

do the jets leak or is it the joints, i hvaent got round to taking a proper look yet