Ford Focus - Recalls in History Check

aunt aggie

Hi,

Im looking to buy a car and my mammy has become overly involved in the process. I'm seriously looking at getting a 1.4 ford focus. Its in my price range, reliable and the tax will be affordable. Mammy doesnt like it because all the men in her life are telling her its not a good car. She wont accept that I have done my research and I'm just looking for something that will bring me to work and home.

Problem arises now that I have done a history check. Everything looks good with the actual car. But down the bottom is a list of recalls... Its a 05 ford focus and not all the recalls seem to relate to this particular model. Should I be concerned? and if not, what do I tell the auld lady?? She's the one who insisted on a car check.

AMKC

Before you buy you should take the car for a drive make sure everything is working the way they should be. Listen for any noise or rattles that should not be in a car. No harm to have a quailified mechanic give it a check over too.

aunt aggie

AMKC wrote: »

Before you buy you should take the car for a drive make sure everything is working the way they should be. Listen for any noise or rattles that should not be in a car. No harm to have a quailified mechanic give it a check over too.

All that will be done before any sale. I had wanted to get a test drive in before checking the history but I live a few hours away, it hasnt been possible. Hoping to get down next week.

Just wondering if the recalls are something to be concerned about?

Outkast_IRE

I have a 1.4 Focus Mk1 for the last 7 years, no major issues, just general maintenance and upkeep along with needing the coil pack replaced twice in that time which is acceptable.

The only thing i will say is having driven the Mk2 Focus and onwards the 1.4 engine is very underpowered , the engine doesnt have the power for the weight of the car and to can be uneconomical because you tend to need the put the foot down a lot more to do simple things.

Honestly if i was upgrading i wouldnt even consider the 1.4 engine. Any of the other engines should be fine

aunt aggie

Its a Mk2 as far as I know. Will verify it when I get down to actually talk to dealer. I know the 1.6 is much better but Im worried about been able to afford the yearly tax so sticking with the 1.4 for now. My first car was a 1l toyota yaris, anythings better than that.

Outkast, was the Mk1 you owned ever affected by recalls? Whats the procedure when that happens?

Hal1

The difference here is the 1.6 can pull it's own weight, were as the 1.4 struggles to gain the momentum to do so. Thus making the 1.6 more economical.

Outkast_IRE

aunt aggie wrote: »

Its a Mk2 as far as I know. Will verify it when I get down to actually talk to dealer. I know the 1.6 is much better but Im worried about been able to afford the yearly tax so sticking with the 1.4 for now. My first car was a 1l toyota yaris, anythings better than that.

Outkast, was the Mk1 you owned ever affected by recalls? Whats the procedure when that happens?

The previous owner to me had it serviced only at the main dealer, any recalls were dealt with at the same time.

Honestly drive the 1.4 and pretend you need to overtake something and you will realise just how underpowered the engine is, i would almost call it dangerously underpowered as if your on a country road and need to overtake a tractor or truck it can take a lifetime to overtake it.

aunt aggie

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

The previous owner to me had it serviced only at the main dealer, any recalls were dealt with at the same time.

Honestly drive the 1.4 and pretend you need to overtake something and you will realise just how underpowered the engine is, i would almost call it dangerously underpowered as if your on a country road and need to overtake a tractor or truck it can take a lifetime to overtake it.

Seriously... I have a 1.4 VW Golf at the minute. That car is fourteen years old and I can still overtake in it. Any comparison between the two??

Outkast_IRE

aunt aggie wrote: »

Seriously... I have a 1.4 VW Golf at the minute. That car is fourteen years old and I can still overtake in it. Any comparison between the two??

No its not comparable i would say your gold probably weighs a decent bit less than the MK2 focus, the problem with the MK2 focus onwards was it became a much heavier car with the additional size and safety features but the 1.4 engine was never improved.

Look if its city driving all the time it prob wont be an issue, if you need to be doing regular trips to places on roads that do not have a dedicated overtaking lane i wouldnt even consider it.

Honestly its almost a running joke amongst owners and online on how underpowered the 1.4 is and because its so underpowered fuel economy is poorer than it should be. Most of the car review websites will tell you to avoid the 1.4 engine for that reason. If you have passengers then its even more noticable again how underpowered the engine is.

colm_mcm

The focus will be a little bit slower than your mk4 Golf.
The recalls aren't anything to be concerned about tbh.

aunt aggie

I'd heard the reviews but Im used to underpowered cars, so I was didnt think there would be a big difference. I'll give it a test drive sure and see what its like.

colm_mcm wrote: »

The focus will be a little bit slower than your mk4 Golf.
The recalls aren't anything to be concerned about tbh.

THanks Colm! One less thing to worry about

colm_mcm

To clarify-Obviously check with ford dealer which recalls were done if you're worried, but its bit a reason to avoid focuss.

Mintoe

Just call main dealer, give them reg no and they'll happily verify if recalls done or not.
Don't worry about the 1.4 being underpowered, it has the best resale values of any petrol focus for similar years and is not that uneconomical to run.1.4 golf only had 75 BHP and was ridiculously heavy compared to 90 BHP lighter focus.

Fact - focus was biggest selling car across Europe for 12 years straight since it was introduced in 1998. THAT MANY BUYERS CANT BE WRONG. I sold car parts for years and focus usually only need front wheel bearings (very cheap & easy to fix) and coil pk.

DEF NICEST CAR IN CLASS TO DRIVE

9935452

aunt aggie wrote: »

Hi,

Im looking to buy a car and my mammy has become overly involved in the process. I'm seriously looking at getting a 1.4 ford focus. Its in my price range, reliable and the tax will be affordable. Mammy doesnt like it because all the men in her life are telling her its not a good car. She wont accept that I have done my research and I'm just looking for something that will bring me to work and home.

Problem arises now that I have done a history check. Everything looks good with the actual car. But down the bottom is a list of recalls... Its a 05 ford focus and not all the recalls seem to relate to this particular model. Should I be concerned? and if not, what do I tell the auld lady?? She's the one who insisted on a car check.

Ring the dealer and he will give info regarding recalls. i wouldnt worry too much about it as it was main dealer serviced.
Drive the car and see if you like it , get a mechanic to look at it.
All cars have issues , if you do enough research about any model you will find people have had some problems.
I had a 98 escort (early focus ) followed by a 02 golf both 1.4, i would rate the golf way above the escort , way better built, less creaks /groans from trim/panels/dash. Escort burnt the insides of the front tyres, tracking done , it was still doing it, garage man said he never saw a ford that didnt. Golf was doing 60k miles to a set of tyres in comparison.
in 9 years apart from standard servicing the golf cost f all to keep going

bazz26

Mintoe wrote: »

Just call main dealer, give them reg no and they'll happily verify if recalls done or not.
Don't worry about the 1.4 being underpowered, it has the best resale values of any petrol focus for similar years and is not that uneconomical to run.1.4 golf only had 75 BHP and was ridiculously heavy compared to 90 BHP lighter focus.

Fact - focus was biggest selling car across Europe for 12 years straight since it was introduced in 1998. THAT MANY BUYERS CANT BE WRONG. I sold car parts for years and focus usually only need front wheel bearings (very cheap & easy to fix) and coil pk.

DEF NICEST CAR IN CLASS TO DRIVE

The Ford Focus 1.4 litre had 75bhp also, not 90bhp and has similar performance to a Mk V Golf 1.4 litre. Grand for potting about town in but if your out of town make sure and plan your overtaking well in advance. And yes a 1.6 litre Focus can be bought for the same money as a 1.4 litre but I see that as one more reason to buy the 1.6 litre rather than against it.

Kintarō Hattori

The majority are saying to get the 1.6 and they are right. You say though than you're looking at the 1.4 partly due to tax reasons. However there isn't really that much in it, about €130 but as stated when you take into consideration that the 1.4 is uneconomical due to the lack of power versus weight you're not really going to be saving anything by going for the smaller engine.

Get the 1.6 and bask in having that little bit more power under your foot which isn't realistically costing you any more.

colm_mcm

Mintoe wrote: »

Fact - focus was biggest selling car across Europe for 12 years straight since it was introduced in 1998. THAT MANY BUYERS CANT BE WRONG.

Just on this. The VW golf has been the top seller in Europe for the past 7 consecutive years.
2001 best seller in Europe was the Golf
2002 was the Pug 206
2003 was the Pug 206
2004 was the Golf
2005 was the Astra
2006 was the Golf
2007 was the Pug 207
2008-2014 was the Golf


It was the top selling car in the UK from 99 to 08 though.

Had to take you up on that. As putting "FACT" in there was asking for trouble

James Bond Junior

aunt aggie wrote: »

All that will be done before any sale. I had wanted to get a test drive in before checking the history but I live a few hours away, it hasnt been possible. Hoping to get down next week.

Just wondering if the recalls are something to be concerned about?

It's one if the most plentiful cars available, why would you travel a few hours to see one? Would you not try and find a local one to you and have a mechanic give it a once over before buying?

aunt aggie

James Bond Junior wrote: »

It's one if the most plentiful cars available, why would you travel a few hours to see one? Would you not try and find a local one to you and have a mechanic give it a once over before buying?

Its local to my family home and so I know and trust mechanics down there more than where I am currently living. It will make it easier to get someone to give it a once over before any sale.

Thanks for all the advice. Its obviously a subject people feel strongly on. Still I'm going to have to test drive the 1.4 myself before I make any final decisions.

Mintoe

colm_mcm wrote: »

Just on this. The VW golf has been the top seller in Europe for the past 7 consecutive years.
2001 best seller in Europe was the Golf
2002 was the Pug 206
2003 was the Pug 206
2004 was the Golf
2005 was the Astra
2006 was the Golf
2007 was the Pug 207
2008-2014 was the Golf


It was the top selling car in the UK from 99 to 08 though.

Had to take you up on that. As putting "FACT" in there was asking for trouble

My Bad, ever so slight mix up on my "facts"