New Ford Focus

Mumha

I've been looking at buying a new Ford Focus but it looks like Ford are not selling the saloon version anymore. Does anyone have any info on what's going on with this ?

bazz26

It certainly does exist:



Have you asked a Ford dealer? I'd be very surprised if Ford didn't bring it here at some stage given the fondness that the Irish have for small saloons.

Mumha

bazz26 wrote: »

It certainly does exist:



Have you asked a Ford dealer? I'd be very surprised if Ford didn't bring it here at some stage given the fondness that the Irish have for small saloons.

Thanks for that, bazz. I suppose I should have googled first, but I found an Irish Times review which said, it's the new model and Saloon cars are being kept for the Asian market. I think we'll sit out a change this year, in the hope they bring it in for 2020.

Thanks for coming back to me.

JoeA3

Small saloons have traditionally been popular here. It’s a strange phenomenon because our very near neighbours have never ever taken to them. But our love for them has waned significantly in the last 10 years. Soft SUV’s are now the default choice here - Quasqai’s, Tiguans, etc.

So the likes of the Astra saloon, VW Jetta, Focus Saloon are all very unfashionable these days and are going / gone. IMO, it’s no great loss, as by and large they were all mostly ugly afterthoughts.

bazz26

Problem with the Jetta was that it was too closely priced to the Passat and just like the Astra saloon it was based on the dated last generation hatchback siblings.

Interestly Honda have recently brought back the Civic saloon here and Toyota are launching the next Corolla saloon here early in the new year. Toyota are also bringing back the Camry here but they probably will only sell about 5 of them given the starting price of circa 40k. Renault have a Megane saloon on sale here as does Mazda with the 3.

Mumha

JoeA3 wrote: »

Small saloons have traditionally been popular here. It’s a strange phenomenon because our very near neighbours have never ever taken to them. But our love for them has waned significantly in the last 10 years. Soft SUV’s are now the default choice here - Quasqai’s, Tiguans, etc.

So the likes of the Astra saloon, VW Jetta, Focus Saloon are all very unfashionable these days and are going / gone. IMO, it’s no great loss, as by and large they were all mostly ugly afterthoughts.

We've had Ford Focus saloons for the last 15 years and love them. I just remembered them doing this the last time (even the time before that) they brought in a new model of the Focus, and then brought the saloon in a year later.

JoeA3

Mumha wrote: »

We've had Ford Focus saloons for the last 15 years and love them. I just remembered them doing this the last time (even the time before that) they brought in a new model of the Focus, and then brought the saloon in a year later.

The last model wasn’t so bad. My Dad had one. The first gen was very ugly by any measure though.
I think a saloon shape just looks wrong and awkwardly frumpy in a car of those proportions. It’s like skinny jeans on someone who shouldn’t wear skinny jeans
Similarly an estate in that class of car just looks “wrong” - e.g. the Golf Estate, whereas a larger estate can look quite handsome (Passat, A6, etc).

Azatadine

bazz26 wrote: »

Problem with the Jetta was that it was too closely priced to the Passat and just like the Astra saloon it was based on the dated last generation hatchback siblings.

Interestly Honda have recently brought back the Civic saloon here and Toyota are launching the next Corolla saloon here early in the new year. Toyota are also bringing back the Camry here but they probably will only sell about 5 of them given the starting price of circa 40k. Renault have a Megane saloon on sale here as does Mazda with the 3.

Yeah, I had Accords (various generations) for years and years until the Accord was discontinued. I'd consider buying a Honda Civic saloon for my next car.

Lantus

Everyone wants a small medium or large suv these days. Saloons are still great but manufacturers are scaling back on production. Jetta is gone. Rapid is gone. Sales are dropping. Mondeo dropped from USA. Its a change in motoring. The saloon focus was so rare anyway its no big loss.

Pity the new focus seems to be less of a drivers car and under spec'd. It was a staple of the brand.

Henry Ford III

Lantus wrote: »

..Pity the new focus seems to be less of a drivers car and under spec'd. It was a staple of the brand.

It's actually the opposite. Well at least what I've read about it.

bazz26

Depends on the review you read/watch. The competition is very strong these days and nobody can afford to trade off previous fortunes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbA6HAGkJIo

Henry Ford III

That guy hasn't a rashers.

"Best hatchback traditions of an Escort" They were (mainly) awful.

This "basic version" is actually an ST Line.

Henry Ford III

punisher5112

Avensis is being discontinued, mondeo also is getting chopped.

As mentioned the saloons are getting chopped out and silly crappy fake SUV types are taking over.

kooga

Henry Ford III wrote: »

It's actually the opposite. Well at least what I've read about it.

well in every model except for the 1.0 petrol which is the sole petrol engine for Ireland. The 1.5 is meant to be a gem with the better suspension etc

bazz26

Henry Ford III wrote: »

That guy hasn't a rashers.

"Best hatchback traditions of an Escort" They were (mainly) awful.

This "basic version" is actually an ST Line.

As I said, opinions differ depending on which reviews you read or watch.

It's also worth asking how biased/unbiased many of these reviews are given that if they are too negative they may run the risk of not getting another car to review from that manufacturer. If you review cars for a living it surely must be a factor.

Parkers asked is it better than a Golf but bottled answering it at the end of the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGu1h6hvU64

Henry Ford III

Reviews and views are subjective, but the best of them are fair to all I'd say.

Mumha

JoeA3 wrote: »

The last model wasn’t so bad. My Dad had one. The first gen was very ugly by any measure though.
I think a saloon shape just looks wrong and awkwardly frumpy in a car of those proportions. It’s like skinny jeans on someone who shouldn’t wear skinny jeans
Similarly an estate in that class of car just looks “wrong” - e.g. the Golf Estate, whereas a larger estate can look quite handsome (Passat, A6, etc).

It has definitely improved over the years. We like the boot space in a Focus, though the back seat leg space could do with an extra couple of inches.

AMKC

Be silly of Ford not to bring the new Focus saloon here especially as the Mondeo will not be replaced. The new Focus saloon actually looks quite nice

Mumha

AMKC wrote: »

Be silly of Ford not to bring the new Focus saloon here especially as the Mondeo will not be replaced. The new Focus saloon actually looks quite nice

I spoke with a salesman today and he said that they have visibility into next summer and there are no saloons slated to come in, the Chinese market is hoovering them up. As I said previously, the last time there was a model change, it wasn't until this time of the year that saloons started appearing, so we'll see.

I sat into the new hatchback and it looked pretty good. The only possible issue that I would have is that they have narrowed the central storage/drinks holder (between driver and passenger seats)....it might just about hold a 500ml bottle of diet coke (!) but I doubt the 750ml Pepsi Max bottle would fit !

The little storage area in front of the gear stick is much bigger (where the usb & power socket it), big enough to hold your mobile phone.

Henry Ford III

Had a look at www.ford.ie last night.

Looks like the new focus is being discounted right now. There's a difference between the r.r.p. and the 191 offers of roughly €2000.

I'm hoping the 1.5l Ecoboost engine will be available - it's STG£600 extra over the 1.0l Ecoboost in the UK incidentally.

Henry Ford III

This is a very thorough review. An hour long. Worth looking at if a new Focus is potentially on your radar.

p.s. I've no clue is it biased or not Bazz

ShadowHearth

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Had a look at www.ford.ie last night.

Looks like the new focus is being discounted right now. There's a difference between the r.r.p. and the 191 offers of roughly €2000.

I'm hoping the 1.5l Ecoboost engine will be available - it's STG£600 extra over the 1.0l Ecoboost in the UK incidentally.

Are they planning on bringing that 1.5 at all here?
Another thing that worries me that these ecoboost engines have been reported to have a lot of issues in uk now. By the looks of it whole range and sizes.

Henry Ford III

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Are they planning on bringing that 1.5 at all here?
Another thing that worries me that these ecoboost engines have been reported to have a lot of issues in uk now. By the looks of it whole range and sizes.

I'm hoping they do. The 182ps version would probably be fun.

p.s. The 3 pot is 1.0 only so far and they have sold lots of them. It's been pretty reliable overall I'm told.

bod71

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Had a look at www.ford.ie last night.

Looks like the new focus is being discounted right now. There's a difference between the r.r.p. and the 191 offers of roughly €2000.

I'm hoping the 1.5l Ecoboost engine will be available - it's STG£600 extra over the 1.0l Ecoboost in the UK incidentally.

Get in touch with ford ireland, i got the 1.5 ecoboost 182ps focus as a special order back in 2015. Plenty of poke and no issues after 36k.

bazz26

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I'm hoping they do. The 182ps version would probably be fun.

p.s. The 3 pot is 1.0 only so far and they have sold lots of them. It's been pretty reliable overall I'm told.

Not according to this:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-ecoboost-engine-failures-customers-receive-refunds

Mainly the turbo versions.

grogi

AMKC wrote: »

Be silly of Ford not to bring the new Focus saloon here especially as the Mondeo will not be replaced. The new Focus saloon actually looks quite nice

Germans don't buy them, French don't buy them, British don't buy them... If they should bring a small-scale saloon focus to even smaller scale market?

Do they even make them in Europe?

Henry Ford III

bazz26 wrote: »

Not according to this:
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-ecoboost-engine-failures-customers-receive-refunds

Mainly the turbo versions.

How many failures is that exactly? What % of units have failed?

p.s. I note that Ford are paying for everything.

ShadowHearth

Henry Ford III wrote: »

I'm hoping they do. The 182ps version would probably be fun.

p.s. The 3 pot is 1.0 only so far and they have sold lots of them. It's been pretty reliable overall I'm told.

182hp with st style would be a great daily driver. Not stupid and expensive as hot hatch,but if you need to over take something, you have plenty of poke.
I still dont understand how people able to live with heavy cars and 100-120hp. It would drive me nuts.

bazz26

Henry Ford III wrote: »

How many failures is that exactly? What % of units have failed?

p.s. I note that Ford are paying for everything.

I have no idea on numbers but obviously there were enough for BBC Watchdog to investigate and Ford cover the cost of repair or refund.

Henry Ford III

bazz26 wrote: »

I have no idea on numbers but obviously there were enough for BBC Watchdog to investigate and Ford cover the cost of repair or refund.

Fair enough.

p.s. https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/feu/en/news/2017/06/21/ford-1-0-litre-ecoboost-wins-international-engine-of-the-year-fo.html

Jaysus HF, you're not exactly responding genuinely.

"It's reliable"

"Give me hard stats! Also, Ford are paying for repairs but I won't mention that they refused to until a primetime UK show cast a light on it"

"It won engine of the year even though that's completely irrelevant and is judged based on opinion by a few automotive journalists"

Having driven two flavours of the 1.0 ecoboost (100/125), the 1.2 3 cylinder turbo from PSA, and the 1.2 four cylinder turbo(84) from VAG, the ecoboost was noticeably the worst for refinement and driveability (Focus, Focus, 2008 and Seat Toledo so reckon all would have been roughly same weights).

Philb76

The vag tsi engines are economical and refined drove the ecoboost in a fiesta and it was poor for economy and unrefined and if the horror stories are true a second hand one would be a dodgy buy

Stallingrad

Such a bland device. The styling could be from 10 years ago, the interior has the obligatory screen but does nothing to move the game forward. It really looks like it was designed to be the definitive rental car. Peugeot have shown how design flair can transform perceptions and desirability, Ford management have given the customer very little reason to want one of these.

A shame as the Focus was a great car once.

Henry Ford III

Deleted User wrote:

"It won engine of the year even though that's completely irrelevant and is judged based on opinion by a few automotive journalists"

Who said that exactly? I'd still put more weight in an international award than the random posts of people on the internet.

Henry Ford III

Philb76 wrote:

The vag tsi engines are economical and refined drove the ecoboost in a fiesta and it was poor for economy and unrefined and if the horror stories are true a second hand one would be a dodgy buy

58 motoring journalists from 31 countries think differently.

Henry Ford III

1.0 Ecoboost powers 20% of all new Ford vehicles sold in Europe, and 40% of all new Fiestas. Big numbers by any standard.

JoeA3

Much like the Opel Astra (which seems dead in the water now), I don't think the Focus has that much mass market appeal with Joe public these days. Private buyers who lapped them up a decade ago are now buying soft SUV's. That's where the market is now and I don't see this new model shaking things up. It's just too bland.

I don't really ever see many new Focus's on the road that don't have a Hertz/Enterprise sticker on them.

Henry Ford III

JoeA3 wrote: »

Much like the Opel Astra (which seems dead in the water now), I don't think the Focus has that much mass market appeal with Joe public these days. Private buyers who lapped them up a decade ago are now buying soft SUV's. That's where the market is now and I don't see this new model shaking things up. It's just too bland.

I don't really ever see many new Focus's on the road that don't have a Hertz/Enterprise sticker on them.

Couldn't agree at all.

Focus continues to sell strongly in Ireland and Europe. The new model is a step up, and the reviews say it's dynamically the best in class.

https://blog.donedeal.ie/wp-content/uploads/DoneDeal-Motor-Report-H1-2018.pdf

Outgoing model was 4th in Irish sales in the first 6 months of 2018, 94 units behind VW Golf.

JoeA3

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Couldn't agree at all.

shocker :eek:

Focus continues to sell strongly in Ireland and Europe. The new model is a step up, and the reviews say it's dynamically the best in class.

https://blog.donedeal.ie/wp-content/uploads/DoneDeal-Motor-Report-H1-2018.pdf

Outgoing model was 4th in Irish sales in the first 6 months of 2018, 94 units behind VW Golf.

How many of those units were hoovered up by Hertz/Avis, etc? I'd wager a huge percentage. I don't think stock "What Car?" phrases like dynamically best in class matter a jot to the rental companies who are buying em.

Hey, its just my perception of how I see the market and the cars that are typically bought by private buyers now. The Focus doesn't seem a common sight anymore outside of the rental sector. That said, the current model was very old hat so we'll how the new one fares...

Henry Ford III

JoeA3 wrote: »

shocker :eek:

How many of those units were hoovered up by Hertz/Avis, etc? I'd wager a huge percentage.

Hey, its just my perception of how I see the market and the cars that are typically bought by private buyers now. The Focus doesn't seem a common sight anymore outside of the rental sector. That said, the current model was very old hat so we'll how the new one fares...

No idea on how many new Foci were sold to car rental co's. Not sure how important it is either way. Maybe the run out models were cheap? They were still decent cars though.

I agree with you on perception btw

p.s. All run out cars are by their very nature old hat.

kerten

What I see in those reviews they improved the interior space, boot space, new auto boxes(torque converter instead of dualclutch), aerodynamics and tech/gadgets but went backwards suspension setup wise comparing to "current Focus" model but I doubt it is going to be worse than its competitors using torsion beam too much. Still a step back there.

Interior is bland but seems functional and there are still knobs for AC and radio there luckily. I also saw some quality issues in meaning trim fittings and gaps in reviews I watched.

Henry Ford III

kerten wrote: »

What I see in those reviews they improved the interior space, boot space, new auto boxes(torque converter instead of dualclutch), aerodynamics and tech/gadgets but went backwards suspension setup wise comparing to "current Focus" model but I doubt it is going to be worse than its competitors using torsion beam too much. Still a step back there.

Interior is bland but seems functional and there are still knobs for AC and radio there luckily. I also saw some quality issues in meaning trim fittings and gaps in reviews I watched.

"Cooking" models get a torsion beam rear axle. Higher end ones get a fully independent rear end.

kerten

Henry Ford III wrote: »

"Cooking" models get a torsion beam rear axle. Higher end ones get a fully independent rear end.

Yep but I personally hate to categorize ford models from that aspect. It was always easier to suggest someone to buy Ford, Mazda, BMW if it is good handling they are after

Henry Ford III

kerten wrote: »

Yep but I personally hate to categorize ford models from that aspect. It was always easier to suggest someone to buy Ford, Mazda, BMW if it is good handling they are after

Dynamically best in class remember - without categorization.

grogi

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Dynamically best in class remember - without categorization.

Are you saying the Focus defines the class on its own?!

Henry Ford III

grogi wrote:

Are you saying the Focus defines the class on its own?!

No. It's from the reviews.

McGrath5

Has anybody test drove these yet?

Went for a spin on one over the weekend, thought it was definitely a step up on the previous generation.

helen87

McGrath5 wrote: »

Has anybody test drove these yet?

Went for a spin on one over the weekend, thought it was definitely a step up on the previous generation.

I have test driven and ordered the ST line for January. I have the previous st line and i think the interior is nicer, its more streamlined and ford have finally come up with the times and given a good touchscreen as standard and more safety features.
I also think the exterior is lovely, really different to the old one but in a good way.
Thats just my opinion though.