Thinking of buying a ford focus

aujopimur

My daughter intends buying a ford focus 08 1.4 /1.6 petrol, there appears to be a big price variation in what seem to be similar cars, (€9k-€12k).
Can anyone give me a quick lowdown on the different variants i.e. LX, Zetec, Style etc..
A few tips on the pros and cons and what to look out for on these as well.
Thanks in advance.

166man

aujopimur wrote: »

My daughter intends buying a ford focus 08 1.4 /1.6 petrol, there appears to be a big price variation in what seem to be similar cars, (€9k-€12k).
Can anyone give me a quick lowdown on the different variants i.e. LX, Zetec, Style etc..
A few tips on the pros and cons and what to look out for on these as well.
Thanks in advance.

I would recommend staying away from the 1.4 as from what I have heard and seen they are really really slow, might be good in terms of insurance though...
LX is the basic trim I think, and in general is very basic indeed. Zetec usually gives a finer balance between price and equipment but seem to be harder to find over here. Style is more common and is a step up from LX.

I have heard stories about the fuel economy being relatively very poor on the Fords though so might be something to be wary of, mileage depending of course!

Best of luck!

tweedledee

Is it a must to get a Ford?????

Hoggy1000

Right, don't bother with the newest model anyway, your paying about 5-6 grand more for less.. Get the 09 model Zetec, Bluetooth, Alloys etc come as standard from memory? Cheap tax to if you do buy a Diesel 1.6

Maybe a bit more expensive than the 1.4 but tbh its honest it'll save you in the long run if she intends to keep it for a few years

PARKHEAD67

aujopimur wrote: »

My daughter intends buying a ford focus 08 1.4 /1.6 petrol, there appears to be a big price variation in what seem to be similar cars, (€9k-€12k).
Can anyone give me a quick lowdown on the different variants i.e. LX, Zetec, Style etc..
A few tips on the pros and cons and what to look out for on these as well.
Thanks in advance.

Try and swing her towards a 08 1.9 TDI VW golf. Cheap tax(after 08) and a diesel car.Class car and it WONT let her down.

Hoggy1000

I would love to get a Golf,

Only problem is they are more expensive than the ol classic Focus and its hard to find a cheep one with decent low mileage, because VW parts are not the cheapest to replace "if" something goes wrong :L :L

PARKHEAD67

Hoggy1000 wrote: »

I would love to get a Golf,

Only problem is they are more expensive than the ol classic Focus and its hard to find a cheep one with decent low mileage, because VW parts are not the cheapest to replace "if" something goes wrong :L :L

Trust me.I have a 07 Golf.Nothing goes wrong.Thats why theyre a tad dear.But I know what you mean.At least its not Renault. With all their electric ****ey gizmos just ready to explode:D

Leonard Hofstadter

Golfs are less reliable (although the 1.9 TDI is exceptionally reliable) than Fords (lots of electrical problems; 1.4 and 1.6 petrols have crap gearboxes and the 1.4 is about as reliable as a square wheel) - it never fails to amaze me the power of both the VW badge and silicone damped grab handles!

A 1.4 Golf is a truly awful car - unreliable as feck with crap engines and soft gearboxes (like a lot of the newer Toyotas it has to be said) and even when it does work it is way too underpowered. I honestly think that engines that have such little power should be banned - we don't need to all drive racing cars but it is nice to be able to overtake say a tractor or sometihng driving at say 60 kph and not have an "oh sh1t" moment because you see a car coming towards you as you're well into the manoevure and worry that a car with that little power won't overtake the tractor or slow moving vehicle in sufficient time!

As mentioned already, avoid a 1.4 Focus at all costs. It's very reliable, but it is just as slow as a 1.4 Golf (dangerously slow). A 1.6 won't win any performance races either but it is perfectly acceptable and because the engine has an easier life, it will use less fuel on main roads and especially motorways too.

EPM

Hoggy1000 wrote: »

I would love to get a Golf,

Only problem is they are more expensive than the ol classic Focus and its hard to find a cheep one with decent low mileage, because VW parts are not the cheapest to replace "if" something goes wrong :L :L

Em no...

If she could get a Ghia spec or Titanium she would have a great car. It's a 1.6 but has a better 1.6 than a zetec or LX. Pretty economical too and surprisingly peppy.

Nephilim Wolf

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Try and swing her towards a 08 1.9 TDI VW golf. Cheap tax(after 08) and a diesel car.Class car and it WONT let her down.

I agree. I have a 2003 1.6 Golf, and it's a fantastic car and very reliable. It starts up all the time, every time without a bother, and it's great to drive as well. Fuel econemy is very very good if you drive frugally though. The only thing I really don't like is the high tax of 445 a year.

aujopimur

tweedledee wrote: »

Is it a must to get a Ford?????

She fancies a focus, I think a little bit of buying with your heart helps in being happy with your purchase.

166man

A bit left field, but how about a Hyundai I30? Go for the 1.4 as its nippy enough and lower insurance. It has a 5 year warranty too and the engine should be fairly bullet proof? I think they are a good car!

tweedledee

Cool,but buying with yer heart can turn out to be a very expensive move in a short period of time.:eek:If you manage to get a decent,low milage Focus then super but be careful as there are a lot of ringers out there,be sure you get the milage checked properly.

tweedledee

Totally agree with 166man,great car,value for money.Hyundai are a super car now.Irish are still weary of the BADGE though,same attitude towards Skoda and Kia.:eek:

bazz26

LX base model was replaced by the Style in 2008. The Style back in 2008 was pretty basic with no alloy wheels, air con, bluetooth, etc. In 2009 the Style gained voice activated bluetooth, air conditioning and alloy wheels.

Next model up is the Zetec, this adds sport seats, sports suspension, leather steering wheel, alloy wheels and air conditioning.

Top spec Focus was the Ghia which was eventually replaced by the Titanium in 2009. Ghia/Titanium had cruise control, auto lights, rain sensing wipers, rear electric windows, auto dipping rear view mirror and wood effect centre console.Ghia/Titaniums are rare because they were expensive when new.

I would try and find a 09 1.6 Style as on the new tax system the 1.6 costs the same to tax as the underpowered 1.4 litre. Also as diesel is flavour of the moment with Joe Public due to the small savings in tax there should be some good bargins out there on petrol models.

I would not bother with a Golf to be honest, they are overpriced for what you get. They do nothing spectacular to justify the price difference over a similar Focus.

coolbeans

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Try and swing her towards a 08 1.9 TDI VW golf. Cheap tax(after 08) and a diesel car.Class car and it WONT let her down.

Do not! The Golf is overrated for what it is and the Focus is a class leader especially with anything bigger than 1.4. Only purchase a diesel if the mileage your doing makes it worth the extra outlay. A petrol Focus can be gotten for relatively small money and you get a lot of car. Reliable too. As least as good as the Golf.

Lemming

As others have said; you'll pay for a Golf based solely on the fact that it has those four letters in the name, regardless of anything else, as they hold their resale value in Ireland because they're popular.

I started out with a 2006 model Focus 1.4 LX. Granted mine was a second hand UK ex-rentals import, so had extras added such as alloys, etc. But for all these supposed complaints of unreliability, electrics ,etc., I never encountered any of them. The car handled everything I threw at her (or ended up in) such as heavy blizzard conditions in the North of England in December - where you couldn't see the road for the snow. I ever really only encountered a couple of times where I felt the car was lacking power. If you look at a 1.6, it'll basically be the exact same car with a bigger engine. If you're planning on doing any amount of dual-carriageway/motorway driving, the bigger engine will help. I was also told after getting the 1.4 that there would have been little to no difference in insurance quotes with the larger 1.6 engine; I picked the 1.4 thinking it'd be easier on the insurance figures.

I now drive a late-2008 (UK '58 reg plate) Focus 1.6 TDCi because since moving to the UK, the mileage I was racking up to and from work was just not economical with petrol. I'm well happy with my choice, as sad as I was to see the old car being driven away back to Ireland for sale.


edit: if I recall, the 1.4 had a bit of a performance 'hole' between 100 - 110 km/h, so only ever really encountered the oft discussed 'slow' factor on motorways whilst accelerating up to 120km/h. The only exception to that was also on a motorway, but driving down from Scotland to Sheffield (South Yorkshire) in early Jan. on a long up-hill climb whilst driving into very strong winds/blizzard conditions. The force of the wind & the climb just sapped the power. In fairness, the cars around me weren't faring much better.

dr.fuzzenstein

Hoggy1000 wrote: »

I would love to get a Golf,

Only problem is they are more expensive than the ol classic Focus and its hard to find a cheep one with decent low mileage, because VW parts are not the cheapest to replace "if" something goes wrong :L :L

That's why I would never get a Golf.
"Oh, it's a Golf, it's REALLY special and because it is more expensive it's BETTER and you can point and laugh at the plebs in their Fords".
Bah, you're paying thousand for a badge on a car that is not better, been driving Focuseseses since '04 now and not a thing has gone wrong with them.
Stay away from the 1.6 diesel though, DPF trouble ahead.
Currently have the 1.8 diesel and while this engine is a bit agricultural at startup, once you're on the move it's sweet.
1.4 petrols will take Dublin-Kildare to reach 100km/h, only buy if you're a patient person and not in a hurry anywhere, 1.6 petrol somewhat better.
RS or ST probably best:D

Lemming

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Stay away from the 1.6 diesel though, DPF trouble ahead.

If you buy a 'Daisel' because you think it'll be cheaper doing your urban rat-run commute, then yes; DPF woes ahead.

If you buy a diesel because you're going to be doing long distances and/or regularly taking the engine about 80 km/h for at least twenty minutes at a time, then no; DPF woes not ahoy in the short/medium term. DPF are self-cleaning but in order to do that, are designed with distance/motorway driving in mind.

RS or ST probably best:D

RS/ST positively drink petrol. If you're doing a sizeable commute (and in fairness, the OP hasn't stated), you'll be murdered on running costs. If it's a shorter daily run however .... enjoy the torque :pac:

TestTransmission

Nephilim Wolf wrote: »

I agree. I have a 2003 1.6 Golf, and it's a fantastic car and very reliable. It starts up all the time, every time without a bother, and it's great to drive as well. Fuel econemy is very very good if you drive frugally though. The only thing I really don't like is the high tax of 445 a year.

Your car starts every time?! :eek:

Only a VW owner would find this necesarry to point out,lol

Leonard Hofstadter

TestTransmission wrote: »

Your car starts every time?! :eek:

Only a VW owner would find this necesarry to point out,lol

It's a measure of how much they have slipped that the fact that one actually manages to do this is something of note these days:p!

shawnee

Yes,I have always liked the focus and think that there is a very good high seat position which I like. The vision from them is also superb and as the previous poster mentioned I would go for as high a spec as possible. It all depends on what money you are prepared to spend , won't get much other than a high mileage diesel for 4/5 grand and you would get a really good low mileage petrol zetec or ghia for that money. Some say that the 1.4 is not powerful enough , that has not been my experience and with our speed restrictions I would be happy with one. Economy on these would be around 37 mpg. If you are going to spend around 9 to 10 grand , then by all means go for an 08 to 09 diesel , with service history and as low a mileage as possible

dr.fuzzenstein

shawnee wrote: »

Yes,I have always liked the focus and think that there is a very good high seat position which I like. The vision from them is also superb and as the previous poster mentioned I would go for as high a spec as possible. It all depends on what money you are prepared to spend , won't get much other than a high mileage diesel for 4/5 grand and you would get a really good low mileage petrol zetec or ghia for that money. Some say that the 1.4 is not powerful enough , that has not been my experience and with our speed restrictions I would be happy with one. Economy on these would be around 37 mpg. If you are going to spend around 9 to 10 grand , then by all means go for an 08 to 09 diesel , with service history and as low a mileage as possible

I've driven a few 1.4's and found them to be quite slow.
Also, they felt a bit flimsy overall.
They felt a bit pushed at motorway speeds and if you're trying to overtake on a country road, er, don't.
1.6 petrol or 1.8 diesel and ZETEC would be the ones to go for.

shawnee

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

That's why I would never get a Golf.
"Oh, it's a Golf, it's REALLY special and because it is more expensive it's BETTER and you can point and laugh at the plebs in their Fords".
Bah, you're paying thousand for a badge on a car that is not better, been driving Focuseseses since '04 now and not a thing has gone wrong with them.
Stay away from the 1.6 diesel though, DPF trouble ahead.
Currently have the 1.8 diesel and while this engine is a bit agricultural at startup, once you're on the move it's sweet.
1.4 petrols will take Dublin-Kildare to reach 100km/h, only buy if you're a patient person and not in a hurry anywhere, 1.6 petrol somewhat better.
RS or ST probably best:D

The Ford Focus and indeed the 1.4 focus is probably the best seller for the past few years. Having driven the most recent 1.4 Zetec, I am pleasantly surprised with the spec and indeed the performance of the car. I have not noticed a problem with reaching 120 or indeed 130 km ph. Perhaps the older ones had this difficulty but the latest 1.4 is an excellent performer and will probably be the best for resale due to the taxes etc in this country;)

dr.fuzzenstein

shawnee wrote: »

The Ford Focus and indeed the 1.4 focus is probably the best seller for the past few years. Having driven the most recent 1.4 Zetec, I am pleasantly surprised with the spec and indeed the performance of the car. I have not noticed a problem with reaching 120 or indeed 130 km ph. Perhaps the older ones had this difficulty but the latest 1.4 is an excellent performer and will probably be the best for resale due to the taxes etc in this country;)

Fair enough, they're reliable, sturdy, cheap enough to run and have good resale values.
I would even go as far as to say that once up to cruising speed they should be OK on the motorway.
But having driven the 90 and 115 hp diesel version, from the Focus to the CMax and quite a number of rental 1.4's I can honestly say that they wouldn't float my boat that much.
Along with the MK I Focus TD (ssllloooowwwwwww).
Having said that, to someone who is used to them they'd probably be all they need.

EPM

Where the 1.4 falls down mainly is when you need a burst of speed. Overtaking for instance is best avoided. Otherwise it's perfecty serviceable.

shawnee

EPM wrote: »

Where the 1.4 falls down mainly is when you need a burst of speed. Overtaking for instance is best avoided. Otherwise it's perfecty serviceable.

Gonna cause a lot of tailbacks if one has to "avoid overtaking":D:D
Passed about fifty cars on the way from Dublin yesterday without any
problem

Zubeneschamali

shawnee wrote: »

Perhaps the older ones had this difficulty but the latest 1.4 is an excellent performer and will probably be the best for resale due to the taxes etc in this country;)

No, the 1.4 is not an excellent performer, it is feeble. They've masked this a bit by giving it very short gears, but at 120 on the motorway, you'll pay for it in noise and fuel consumption.

Resale means diesel these days - no-one wants a post-2008 petrol car.

hellyeah

i picked up a 08 focus zetec 1.6 petrol with 15k on it for €10k at a main ford dealer 2 months ago. The same spec diesal with Higher miles with same dealer was coming in at €12.5k. I do small miliage so i will live with the higher tax.
Owned many differant cars and i have to say i love the current car.
I have a hatch. The spec is very good on the zetec. Ac/alloys/steering controls for radio/fogs/sports seats etc. Very comfortable on the road and quiet to(big improvement on 06 model imo.) I find the 1.6 petrol plenty quick on our roads. Found it hard to find a petrol.
the reason i went for a focus as i had a 02 focus for 6years and it never let me down.:D

shawnee

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

No, the 1.4 is not an excellent performer, it is feeble. They've masked this a bit by giving it very short gears, but at 120 on the motorway, you'll pay for it in noise and fuel consumption.

Resale means diesel these days - no-one wants a post-2008 petrol car.

Think that is a lot of rubbish, Diesel in many forecourts is now within 5 c per litre of petrol which compared to a few years back has reduced the savings considerably. It has also been proven that many of the modern diesels do not perform quite as well when driven at low speeds and with small mileage.
The tax difference between a 1.8 diesel 2008 model and a 1.4 is around 160 euro per annum !! Surely not a significant amount in purchasing a car :rolleyes::p

bazz26

shawnee wrote: »

Think that is a lot of rubbish, Diesel in many forecourts is now within 5 c per litre of petrol which compared to a few years back has reduced the savings considerably. It has also been proven that many of the modern diesels do not perform quite as well when driven at low speeds and with small mileage.
The tax difference between a 1.8 diesel 2008 model and a 1.4 is around 160 euro per annum !! Surely not a significant amount in purchasing a car :rolleyes::p

Ford withdrew the Focus 1.4 and 1.6 litre petrol models from the Irish market early last year because there was little or no demand for them anymore under the new tax system. Tax on the 1.6 TDCi was €104 whereas the 1.4/1.6 petrols cost €445, guess what everyone went for? Time will tell if it was a wise decision for people who do small mileage.

shawnee

Is the 1.4 petrol Focus for sale in Ireland at present ??

bazz26

No, the only petrol engine in the new Focus at the moment is the 1.6 Ti-VCT. No petrol Mondeos either.

Zubeneschamali

shawnee wrote: »

The tax difference between a 1.8 diesel 2008 model and a 1.4 is around 160 euro per annum !! Surely not a significant amount in purchasing a car :rolleyes::p

Hey, I agree with you, but the great unwashed car buying public have gone diesel mad, and you will take a hit on resale of a petrol.

shawnee

Quite amazing how with the stroke of a pen the government can change the way people look at buying cars in this country. I have driven diesel for many years but I do feel that in many cases a petrol car would be more suitable for some buyers. I wonder if the huge swing towards new diesels is as prominent in the UK.