Focus C-Max - Opinions

yop

Folks

My missus is expecting so need to change the 3 door Focus to something with 5 doors and a bit of room.

I was thinking about a 1.6 TDCI C-Max.
She does about 6k miles per year so maybe a diesel might be overkill so if anyone got a petrol version who might give their opinion on this.

Any opinions on the C-Max in general? She loves the Focus, we have had it 9 years now.

Will be spending 8k max so I think I will manage to get a 2006.

So really the questions I am asking

Are the C-Max as good as the Focus?
Is the 1.6 petrol power wise and economical and would getting a TDCI be over kill?
Size wise, are they much bigger than the Focus.

Is there any other models (Renault Scenic don't like) which I am forgetting.

Thanks

Stevie Dakota

Owning a Focus and having driven a C-Max I see no point in the C-Max at all. I think the 1.6 Focus is bang on for what you need, nice to drive and reliable. I have 2 kids who have plenty of room in the back of mine and the boot is fine for buggies and clutter.

yop

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Owning a Focus and having driven a C-Max I see no point in the C-Max at all. I think the 1.6 Focus is bang on for what you need, nice to drive and reliable. I have 2 kids who have plenty of room in the back of mine and the boot is fine for buggies and clutter.

Ok, thats interesting now. I would have thought that the C-Max was bigger! I must check the stats now on the size of both.

yop

Just to update the stats on this

The boot in the C-Max is 510 litres, the standard focus is 385. So plenty of extra pram room

The C-Max is 1 inch longer.

leex

Having owned a 00 Focus once upon a time and rented a C-max on holidays I'd say the main obvious space gain is in headroom. Having a family of 2 ourselves and having gone through the buggy/pram stage I suggest considering a Focus estate if you want to stick with Ford and low'ish engine sizes.

Alun

I have one, and the boot is bigger indeed although to my mind the extra volume comes a lot from extra height rather than depth, so maybe take the pram along for a test drive before buying.

It also seems roomier inside (extra headroom?) to me than normal Focuses I've been a passenger in, which would make sense as it's slightly taller too. Overall the differences are quite subtle but all add up to a better package IMHO.

leex

leex wrote: »

Having owned a 00 Focus once upon a time and rented a C-max on holidays I'd say the main obvious space gain is in headroom. Having a family of 2 ourselves and having gone through the buggy/pram stage I suggest considering a Focus estate if you want to stick with Ford and low'ish engine sizes.

Similar money to a Focus estate, stays in Ford family, arguably safer and with a huge boot but with extra road tax:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/LX-STEEL/201029198925169/advert?channel=CARS

yop

thanks lads.

My missus loves the high seat position, maybe because she is a nosey bird

Have the Mondeo ST myself leex so one Mondeo in a house is plenty lol

Churchy

My wife's C-Max is much bigger inside than a Focus.
Boot can swallow a buggy & usual paraphernalia when about and about with kids.
High up driving position is a plus but probably the best advantage is that the seats are higher up ,making loading and unloading kids into the child seats easier.
I wouldnt worry about a Tdci for 6k miles a year the 1.6 petrol is fine and very reliable.

yop

Thanks Churchy, thats a very good bonus as my wifey is petite so that wud make life easier for her.

Thats good to know about the petrol, what I have noticed though that the VRT is much higher on petrol C-MAX as opposed to the diesel. 55+ mpg on the diesel, she wud barely need to fill it once per month lol

dr.fuzzenstein

Have a 1.8 TDCI Cmax, servicing costs may be higher, make sure it doesn't have a particulate filter as there's a tank of stuff to be refilled, if buying second hand make sure it's serviced and timing belt has been done.
Love it for the room, mpg is about the 50, but because it's taller and heavier it won't be as sharp around tight corners but it's no truck by any means, in fact I've been told that compared to other MPV's it handles quite nicely.

yop

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Have a 1.8 TDCI Cmax, servicing costs may be higher, make sure it doesn't have a particulate filter as there's a tank of stuff to be refilled, if buying second hand make sure it's serviced and timing belt has been done.
Love it for the room, mpg is about the 50, but because it's taller and heavier it won't be as sharp around tight corners but it's no truck by any means, in fact I've been told that compared to other MPV's it handles quite nicely.

Am looking at the 1.6 diesel, keep the road tax down on it.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

dr.fuzzenstein

yop wrote: »

Am looking at the 1.6 diesel, keep the road tax down on it.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

Had a look under the hood of the 1.6l diesel, it seems to have a completely different engine.
The 1.8 lump is the same as found in ancient Escorts since the 80's and near indestructible, not sure about what the 1.6 is or where itr comes from, anyone here know, curious myself.

yop

I would suspect that the Focus "standard" and C-Max have the same engine?
A review there says its French?

http://www.stevelarkins.freeuk.com/ford_focus_tdci_review.htm

dr.fuzzenstein

Says it has a particulate filter, unless that is going to result in lower road tax, don't go for it.
The filter needs an aggregate to run which is supplied via a separate tank which needs to be filled up every now and then and that's not cheap.
Also, if you're doing short runs (anything less than 30-40 km motorway) the diesel filter will block up and needs to be cleaned/replaced.
I would stay at least several miles away from diesel particulate filters until the technology improves.
I bought the 1.8 precisely because it doesn't have such a filter. Actually, check out this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055509032

cadaliac

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Says it has a particulate filter, unless that is going to result in lower road tax, don't go for it.
The filter needs an aggregate to run which is supplied via a separate tank which needs to be filled up every now and then and that's not cheap.
Also, if you're doing short runs (anything less than 30-40 km motorway) the diesel filter will block up and needs to be cleaned/replaced.
I would stay at least several miles away from diesel particulate filters until the technology improves.
I bought the 1.8 precisely because it doesn't have such a filter. Actually, check out this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055509032

+1
Yeah that 1.6 is from PSA (Citroen and Peugeot). The filter is an issue with them alright. - Well, on the 407 it is for sure. Generally known to be a good engine though.
Interesting point about the 1.8 - good to know. :cool:

Stevie Dakota

DPF's are the work of the devil. Avoid!

dr.fuzzenstein

cadaliac wrote: »

+1
Yeah that 1.6 is from PSA (Citroen and Peugeot). The filter is an issue with them alright. - Well, on the 407 it is for sure. Generally known to be a good engine though.
Interesting point about the 1.8 - good to know. :cool:

Not just the filter, the aggregate tank needs to be topped up every 80-100k kilometers and that looks likely to cost several hundred euros
So running one of those can quickly become massively expensive.

cadaliac

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Not just the filter, the aggregate tank needs to be topped up every 80-100k kilometers and that looks likely to cost several hundred euros
So running one of those can quickly become massively expensive.

Eloys fluid in the tank and the tank is very hard to get at too, apparantely.

bazz26

Eloys additive refill cost me €220 incl VAT for my S40 1.6d at 80k miles which uses the same PSA engine.