Focus good for high milage?

woody33

We are thinking of getting an older Focus, 00 reg or something in that price bracket, hopefully with the belt done and some NCT left. Is a Focus good for higher milages if taken care of? We test drove one and liked the way it handled, but that particular one had too many other things needing repair, tyres, window regulator etc. (And the application of Cockpit Shine put us right off.)

bazz26

Most cars if looked after properly will do high mileage no problem. Thing is though that generally the Irish do not look after their cars properly, even more so these days when alot of people don't have disposable income to spend on the maintainence of their car.

Things like tyres, batteries, timing belts, brake pads, etc are consumables and will require regular changing when they come to the end of their useful life.

Leonard Hofstadter

The Mk1 Focus is an excellent car. It really is a car that can do everything: it's spacious and safe, it is cheap to run, it is brilliant to drive and yet it will run like clockwork when you look after it.

Even when they do get problems they are never anything too complex or expensive to put right.

OP you can well afford to be fussy with regards to your choice of Focus - there are tons of them around, so there is no reason for you to settle for a substandard car. Try and get a 1.6 - the 1.4 is the only weak link in these cars - it's perfectly reliable but it is about as fast as grass growing.

dr.fuzzenstein

Had an '04 Focus diesel, a 99 diesel, an '09 Transit Connect diesel (same engine) and right now an '06 Cmax diesel.
All these 1.8's are based on an ancient design, and very rarely go wrong.
All the ones I had went up to 130-180k kilometers with no problems whatsoever and I'm not exactly driving Miss Daisy, so they can take a bit of stick.
Only problem I found on them is the pipes between the turbo and the engine air intake can burst, leaving you down on power and consumption goes up, but it's a very easy fix.
Other than that, I didn't have a single thing go wrong on me over the last 7 years of using multiple Focuseseseses, including many (DOG SLOW!) 1.4 petrol rentals.

*edit:

Beware Ford alloys, they do not like abuse of any kind, jack up the car you are looking at, spin the wheels and look for wobble.
My record was 4 wheels looking as if the came off a clown car.

woody33

Thanks for the replies, we would get our mechanic to give a car the once over before parting with the cash. Only thing is, we don't have much cash to hand over. Anyway, the search continues, trying not to feel rushed into any hasty decisions.

Satanta

woody33 wrote: »

(And the application of Cockpit Shine put us right off.)

Not sure why that would put you off. I apply Son of a Gun to my car every so often and it's mechanically perfect