Which car: Focus or Corolla

gaiscioch

I'd like to buy a Ford or Toyota (VW are too expensive). My budget is €11k. I've narrowed it down to two cars

Toyota Corolla (Petrol, 2010, 37,000km, €9,000)

or Ford Focus (Diesel, 2011, 92,000km, €11,000)


Does anything strike you as dodgy about either two? Is the Focus a UK import?

Thanks.

colm_mcm

The Corolla is pure basic spec and tax is €570. Its also a culchie colour and an OY reg - which unless your from or live there - is a negative.

There's a lot of other cars

How much driving do you do, how many people usually in the car, and what are you driving now?
Do you have a preference for a saloon?

Gavman84

I would pick the focus don't like corollas at all. That focus looks nice. It's basic model but has alloys and fogs which would be extras. Don't think it's an import but a cartell report would tell you that. I'd try to find a zetec focus or higher if I could be nicer spec. Do you need a diesel what mileage do you do?

gaiscioch

colm_mcm wrote: »

The Corolla is pure basic spec and tax is €570.

Thanks. Where did you find that tax rate? That's a massive difference.

colm_mcm wrote: »

Its also a culchie colour and an OY reg - which unless your from or live there - is a negative.

hehe.

colm_mcm wrote: »

How much driving do you do, how many people usually in the car, and what are you driving now?
Do you have a preference for a saloon?

c. 16000 miles per year, 3 people (including baby) usually, driving 03 Focus now. We don't mind if it's saloon or hatchback but boot space and safety are important. We want to avoid people carrier or estate cars.

colm_mcm

Rear legroom in the corolla will be a lot tighter than your current car.
I would rule out the Corolla tbh as its just not as great a car to live with as you'd imagine. Its reliable and safe, just unbelievably badly packaged.

NIMAN

Wondering what colour of car all you city folk drive?

I'd go with the Focus too. Will be a better drive, more 'fun'. Corolla just screams 'bland'.

According to the car check at motorcheck.ie the Focus isn't an import.

Gavman84

Focus are very good car just try get one with service history as the tdci engine need to be serviced on time. I had tdci 03 for 6 years was a great car was 140k when traded it in and still flying.

colm_mcm

NIMAN wrote: »

Wondering what colour of car all you city folk drive?

I'm tellin ya, I used to sell them, Culchies love navy Corollas.

gaiscioch

NIMAN wrote: »

Wondering what colour of car all you city folk drive?

I'd go with the Focus too. Will be a better drive, more 'fun'. Corolla just screams 'bland'.

According to the car check at motorcheck.ie the Focus isn't an import.

Thanks very much. I just went to motorcheck.ie and I got this info:
2011 Ford Focus Style 5DR

BODY TYPE 5 Door Hatchback
FUEL TYPE Diesel
COLOUR Black
TRANSMISSION Manual

How did you find out from the same result it's not an import?

colm_mcm

Put the reg into motorcheck.ie and it'll tell you for free if its an import


That focus isn't btw.

NIMAN

When you type in the reg there is a little Union Flag shown too with the word THIS IS A UK IMPORT. Its not shown in this case.

If you want to see it, type in my reg 10-DL-2699

colm_mcm

That focus is 2 owner too, which is good enough.

gaiscioch

NIMAN wrote: »

When you type in the reg there is a little Union Flag shown too with the word THIS IS A UK IMPORT. Its not shown in this case.

If you want to see it, type in my reg 10-DL-2699

Ahh, excellent information. No wonder I couldn't find it. Thanks.

gaiscioch

Is the fuel economy of that Focus good? We'll be switching from petrol to diesel and it costs about €75 to fill our 03 Focus. For that matter, does diesel have more pluses than petrol?

Gavman84

Focus should do 50-60mpg on a run but if doing town driving it will be less then that. Diesel are more complicated these days and generally have more to go wrong like turbo dmf but that's every diesel. Should try look for 1.6 focus petrol too would be good choice. That car doesn't have a dpf at least

colm_mcm

Or a civic 2.2 or i30/ceed 1.6 diesel, both far less likely to give hassle tbh.

gaiscioch

What, if anything, is the difference between the Focus 1.6 and the Focus 1.5 (e.g. http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Focus/STYLE-5D/51614024073325610/advert?channel=CARS)? (I noticed the same before regarding the Corolla - some said 1.3 but elsewhere in the same ad it said 1.4)

gaiscioch

Gavman84 wrote: »

Should try look for 1.6 focus petrol too would be good choice. That car doesn't have a dpf at least

Thanks. By that car did you mean the Focus in the op, or the petrol focus? (I'm not sure if *all* diesels have a dpf these days)

gaiscioch

colm_mcm wrote: »

Or a civic 2.2 or i30/ceed 1.6 diesel, both far less likely to give hassle tbh.

Just to clarify, are they less likely to give hassle than the 1.6 diesel in the op?

colm_mcm

gaiscioch wrote: »

What, if anything, is the difference between the Focus 1.6 and the Focus 1.5 (e.g. http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Focus/STYLE-5D/51614024073325610/advert?channel=CARS)? (I noticed the same before regarding the Corolla - some said 1.3 but elsewhere in the same ad it said 1.4)

Its a glitch on carzone since 2006 or so.

Gavman84

The one in the op won't have a dpf. Only the 110 bhp 1.6 diesel engine has a dpf that ones is the 90 bhp engine. Re the 1.5 focus that's a mistake no such thing as 1.5

colm_mcm

gaiscioch wrote: »

Just to clarify, are they less likely to give hassle than the 1.6 diesel in the op?

I reckon so.

gaiscioch

There is no Focus 1.6 Petrol available on Carzone under 11k from 2011. I'm reading this thread from 2011 about the pros and cons of the Focus diesel v petrol. Many people say for city driving the diesel can be a false economy. However, many of them are referring to pre-2011 models. I've heard elsewhere that there was a big upgrade in 2011. I'm wondering did the 2011 diesel model itself have improvements that would undermine those criticisms? Would we be better to opt for a 2010 Focus petrol than the 2011 Focus diesel in the op?

bazz26

I'd have neither and would go for something like this instead:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Hyundai/i30/COMFORT-115Bhp/53414025014733330/

NIMAN

Although diesels won't give the claimed MPG if being driven around the city a lot, they still will be more economical than a petrol, although you will have to balance this up with the possibility that something is more likely to go wrong with a Diesel doing city driving v a petrol doing city driving.

On the open road, the 1.6 TDCi engine is fairly economical. Not sure if you can trust the onboard computer or not, but I regularly get around 58mpg on my commute, but a few weeks ago on a run to Dublin it was in the mid 60s.

With a 1.6 petrol I'd be guessing on a run you'd be lucky to get mid-40s, and probably mid-high 30s with city driving.

gaiscioch

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd have neither and would go for something like this instead:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Hyundai/i30/COMFORT-115Bhp/53414025014733330/

Interesting to have two recommendations for the Hyundai i30. Never even heard of it before. I drove a 1997 Hyundai Sonata years ago and it's the only car that has ever actually exploded on me.

That car looks very neat (and not a "culchie colour", despite evident culchie reg). It is, however, €12,495 v €10950 for the 2011 1.6 Ford Focus diesel in the op. Why would that diesel engine be better than the Focus diesel engine in the op?

gaiscioch

NIMAN wrote: »

you will have to balance this up with the possibility that something is more likely to go wrong with a Diesel doing city driving v a petrol doing city driving.

On the open road, the 1.6 TDCi engine is fairly economical.

Interesting. Why, technically, are these two things the case? I'd read elsewhere that you should even bring a diesel car on a drive on open road out of the city if it's on streets all week, but I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it.

NIMAN

Because there are a certain number of posters who will make it sound like the 1.6TDCi Ford engine (or Peugeot really) is awful and always gives trouble.

The engine is in some of the most popular cars in Europe and is sold in huge numbers, and obviously you will hear about the odd engine fail, but thats the same with any engine. They can all fail, and if you sell more, you are more likely to have more fails.

Mine hasn't blinked in 4 years and over 50k miles.

bazz26

gaiscioch wrote: »

Interesting to have two recommendations for the Hyundai i30. Never even heard of it before. I drove a 1997 Hyundai Sonata years ago and it's the only car that has ever actually exploded on me.

That car looks very neat (and not a "culchie colour", despite evident culchie reg). It is, however, €12,495 v €10950 for the 2011 1.6 Ford Focus diesel in the op. Why would that diesel engine be better than the Focus diesel engine in the op?

Hyundai and Kia have come along way since your 97 Sonata. They have even overtake some of the more established brands. And they are so confident in their own products that they were some of the first car manufacturers to introduce longer warranties, Hyundai offering 5 years and Kia offering 7 years.

The reason that Focus is cheaper is because it is a basic model, also traditionally Fords in general depreciate a lot and you have the rule of supply and demand, go onto carzone and compare the amount of 2011 Focus for sale compared to the i30.

NIMAN

gaiscioch wrote: »

Interesting. Why, technically, are these two things the case? I'd read elsewhere that you should even bring a diesel car on a drive on open road out of the city if it's on streets all week, but I'm not sure of the reasoning behind it.

Thats all to do with the DPF which can clog if it doesn't get the chance to get temperature up enough to burn off the soot in a regen.

Often a warning light on the dash, and you will be advised to go drive 5 or 10 miles in 3 gear at 60mph, to clean it out.

If you do a lot of city driving, stop/start then you can see the exhaust system doesn't get the optimum conditions to regen itself. They run most economically and efficiently when running long distances and higher temps.

Of course, if you drive a lot on the open road, then diesels will return better fuel economy. They run most economically and efficiently when running long distances and higher temps. Thats why you often hear people being advised not to buy a diesel unless they do >15000 miles annually.

Petrols don't have DPFs, DMFs etc and are generally considered better suited to short trips, city and stop/start driving. They heat up much faster too and get up to their most efficient quicker.

gaiscioch

Between the above Focus 1.6 Diesel 2011 and this Avensis 1.6 Petrol 2010, which would you choose?

I checked the tax rate (thanks for that site) and the Avensis costs €390 per annum, and the Focus as we established earlier is €200 per annum. I'm also conscious that the Avensis is a year older, and €500 more expensive. However, the Avensis is petrol and as I mentioned most of our driving will be in the city and getting petrol may avoid costly diesel-related replacements. In subsequent searches some people have claimed on this thread that the 1.6 is not fuel efficient enough to pull the Avensis and a 1.8 (there are no 1.8 petrol on carzone within my budget) would be better so I'm sort of just as confused again.

Of the above two, which would you recommend, and which would be most fuel efficient/cheapest to run? Thanks again.

bazz26

Totally different engine in the newer Avensis, it has 130bhp which is ample to move it around.