03 ford focus

dharn

any opinions on the 03 focus performance does not matter but known problems ? running costs, what to look out for

Plug

The ignition coil gave trouble on the petrols but ford modified them so happy days, the thermostat housing effected some earlier models. Very cheap though. Don't get a TDDI daysul the pumps on them give trouble after 100k mile mark and they are about €700.
Go for a 1.6 petrol and enjoy it.

colm_mcm

The steering racks can leak on these

Plug

colm_mcm wrote: »

The steering racks can leak on these

Done one yesterday, I didn't put it on the list as its not really a common problem.

shawnee

Was going to buy a 1.6 and drove a 1.4 zetec, it has a pretty good spec and I find it has plenty poke for overtaking etc. Can't put the shoe down too much these days with penalty points etc , so far am quite happy with the zetec.;)

dharn

what year, what price ,i notice that focus can be bought for nearly same money as fiesta which is the mos economical to own i wonder

kirving

Go with the Focus, bigger car and I can't see the running costs being a whole lot greater. Are they the same year?

Have 2 in the family(both 01, 1.6, Petrol) and have had a few little problems:
(I realise you're looking at the Mk1.5, which is the facelifted model, but I think the'yre the same underneath)

Door locks went a little dodgy in both, but I think they just need a clean out according to other forums. The randomly lock sometimes, which I think is due to water ingress on a sensor. A spray of WD40 into the mechanism in the door is supposed to fix it.

Vehicle speed sensor went in both too, about €30 and is a 5 min job to fix. The speedo will occasionally drop to 0 when driving along. Doesn't need to be done if you don't mind it going off once in a while.

Anti-roll (stabiliser bars) also went on both. €40 for a set and about an hours work(4 bolts to un-do and do), but axel stands would be helpful. These go on a lot of cars however, but happen to be very easy to replace in this case.


Also, piston rings had to be done, which was expensive but I think that was due to only driving the car on 5 min journies to the shops, the worst kind of driving possible as oild doens't ever have the chance to properly circulate. However, I can't call this a common fault.

Fuel pump went on the other, but again, this could have been anything down to dirty petrol or crap in the tank. €80 for the part. Could not be called a common fault either, buy I thought I'd throw these in.


Sounds bad, but all in all it's only a few niggly jobs between 2 cars with about 150k between them. They're cheap to fix if you're anyway handy and are grand to drive.