are ford focus really that reliable?

homeless student · 11-04-2013 02:55PM #1

hi, im looking at a 00 and 01 ford focus, both have 100,000 miles on them. sick of car searching at this stage so think im gonna just buy 1 of them, have had really bad look with corolla's, have seen about 10 and most were in bad condition so iv really been put off the 02-05 corolla's, wont go near them ever again. so is like to hear from focus owner to see what they are like.

don't want any crap about look you have asked this before, if you dont want to reply thats fine, save your insults for someone who cares, im entitled to ask. this buy is very important to me.

the 00 focus is going for 1300, good price?

tin79 · 11-04-2013 03:00PM

homeless student wrote: »

don't want any crap about look you have asked this before, if you dont want to reply thats fine, save your insults for someone who cares, im entitled to ask. this buy is very important to me.

With that delightful attitude I am sure people will be queing up to help you

Cheensbo · 11-04-2013 03:03PM

homeless student wrote: »

hi, im looking at a 00 and 01 ford focus, both have 100,000 miles on them. sick of car searching at this stage so think im gonna just buy 1 of them, have had really bad look with corolla's, have seen about 10 and most were in bad condition so iv really been put off the 02-05 corolla's, wont go near them ever again. so is like to hear from focus owner to see what they are like.

You've haven't had one so bit unfair to judge, you've obviously just gone to see bad ones, the owners were the issue, not the cars.

plenty of good & bad out there in every model.

The cars you are looking at are all 10+ years old now, they're still on the go so says enough in terms of reliability imo.

What they are like depends on each individual one, based on its own merits, condition & service history (if any)

As you've been told; Just take someone competent along with you and judge it there and then, could be trash, could be treasure, there's no way of knowing until you see it. Regardless of Make/Model

Thats the joys of viewing used cars, and i mean joys in a literal sense, I love viewing cheap cars, and buying them

homeless student · 11-04-2013 03:08PM

The cars you are looking at are all 10+ years old now, they're still on the go so says enough in terms of reliability imo.

not sure I agree with this point, 1 of my sisters has a 00 clio, its still going but I reckon its costing her 600 euro at least a year fixing it, on the other hand my other sister has a 00 yaris and it costs her 0 a year fixing it. one is reliable, one clearly is not.

ck83 · 11-04-2013 03:10PM

Check the timing belt status. I stand to be corrected, but I think ford guarantees timing belt in that vintage focus til 100k miles. Ppl may be selling them at that kind of mileage to pre aboid getting it replaced.

ck83 · 11-04-2013 03:11PM

Check the timing belt status. I stand to be corrected, but I think ford guarantees timing belt in that vintage focus til 100k miles. Ppl may be selling them at that kind of mileage to pre aboid getting it replaced.

Cheensbo · 11-04-2013 03:14PM

homeless student wrote: »

not sure I agree with this point, 1 of my sisters has a 00 clio, its still going but I reckon its costing her 600 euro at least a year fixing it, on the other hand my other sister has a 00 yaris and it costs her 0 a year fixing it. one is reliable, one clearly is not.

600 a year? every year? fixing what?

Like I said EVERY CAR IS DIFFERENT and should be judged on its own merits.

Perhaps you should buy a yaris then?

homeless student · 11-04-2013 03:16PM

ck83 wrote: »

Check the timing belt status. I stand to be corrected, but I think ford guarantees timing belt in that vintage focus til 100k miles. Ppl may be selling them at that kind of mileage to pre aboid getting it replaced.

ya I think you are right that ford guarantee them until 100k miles, that will be my 1st question about the cars

homeless student · 11-04-2013 03:18PM

Cheensbo wrote: »

600 a year? every year? fixing what?

Like I said EVERY CAR IS DIFFERENT and should be judged on its own merits.

Perhaps you should buy a yaris then?

theres always something breaking on the clio, suppose most of the money she spends on it is labour costs. the yaris is too girly for me, wouldnt drive a fiesta or micra either.

adocholiday · 11-04-2013 03:54PM

I have a 01 Focus, bought with 69k miles on clock in 2010. I was in college and couldn't afford to have it properly serviced (but did do oil and filter changes myself) and it now has 101k miles and still going great. The only thing that went was the power steering pump that cost €50 to replace from a breakers yard. I damaged the passenger door (took a corner too tight and hit a stone pier

) but was way too expensive to fix.

Trading it in now because timing belt needs to be done and I want something better. Hoping to get 3-400 trade on it against a BMW. If I wanted a 1.4 or 1.6 car that I know I could rely on I would get a focus. Great great car.

P.S. OP if you want a cheap 01 gold 1.4 focus I'm open to offers

homeless student · 11-04-2013 03:57PM

adocholiday wrote: »

I have a 01 Focus, bought with 69k miles on clock in 2010. I was in college and couldn't afford to have it properly serviced (but did do oil and filter changes myself) and it now has 101k miles and still going great. The only thing that went was the power steering pump that cost €50 to replace from a breakers yard. I damaged the passenger door (took a corner too tight and hit a stone pier ) but was way too expensive to fix.

Trading it in now because timing belt needs to be done and I want something better. Hoping to get 3-400 trade on it against a BMW. If I wanted a 1.4 or 1.6 car that I know I could rely on I would get a focus. Great great car.

P.S. OP if you want a cheap 01 gold 1.4 focus I'm open to offers

wouldnt fancy fixing the door or replacing the timing belt, cheers for the replay though.

Alanstrainor · 11-04-2013 04:03PM

Regardless of mileage a ten year old focus should have its belt done. Its 10 years, or 100k whichever comes first. I would wager most do not have the belt done.

djimi · 11-04-2013 04:03PM

homeless student wrote: »

hi, im looking at a 00 and 01 ford focus, both have 100,000 miles on them. sick of car searching at this stage so think im gonna just buy 1 of them, have had really bad look with corolla's, have seen about 10 and most were in bad condition so iv really been put off the 02-05 corolla's, wont go near them ever again. so is like to hear from focus owner to see what they are like.

don't want any crap about look you have asked this before, if you dont want to reply thats fine, save your insults for someone who cares, im entitled to ask. this buy is very important to me.

the 00 focus is going for 1300, good price?

Unfortunately a lot of second hand cars in that sort of price range are not going to be in great nick; youre just as likely to find a handful of rubbish Focus for €1500 as you are Corollas. Its just a case of sticking with it until you find a car that you and your mechanic are happy with. Asking for advise on a particular brand is probably not going to help; I could tell you to go out and take a look at Civics, but I have no idea what you will find when you go looking at Civics in that price range.

adocholiday · 11-04-2013 04:04PM

homeless student wrote: »

wouldnt fancy fixing the door or replacing the timing belt, cheers for the replay though.

Was more of a joke than a serious offer

Seriously though I would highly recommend the focus. There are some very clean, well maintained ones for sale for fairly cheap money. Mine doesn't burn a drop of oil and has never needed anything except basic maintenance.

The timing belt is good up to about 120k miles or 10 years according to the manual so be aware of that when purchasing. Good look with the search OP

barura · 11-04-2013 04:07PM

adocholiday wrote: »

I have a 01 Focus, bought with 69k miles on clock in 2010. I was in college and couldn't afford to have it properly serviced (but did do oil and filter changes myself) and it now has 101k miles and still going great. The only thing that went was the power steering pump that cost €50 to replace from a breakers yard. I damaged the passenger door (took a corner too tight and hit a stone pier ) but was way too expensive to fix.

Trading it in now because timing belt needs to be done and I want something better. Hoping to get 3-400 trade on it against a BMW. If I wanted a 1.4 or 1.6 car that I know I could rely on I would get a focus. Great great car.

P.S. OP if you want a cheap 01 gold 1.4 focus I'm open to offers

Can I be considered to buy this focus so?

homeless student · 11-04-2013 04:09PM

how do you know for sure that the timing belt has been changed? would a mechanic know by looking at the engine?

adocholiday · 11-04-2013 04:09PM

barura wrote: »

Can I be considered to buy this focus so?

If you're serious send me a PM

barura · 11-04-2013 04:09PM

adocholiday wrote: »

If you're serious send me a PM

Done!

jonski · 11-04-2013 04:11PM

The best thing I could say about the ford focus is that when something does go wrong with them they are usually cheap to fix and can be fixed by your local mechanic .

I have just done the 100k service on mine , timing belt water pump fan belt and all the filters and I plan on keeping it for another good few years .

adocholiday · 11-04-2013 04:13PM

homeless student wrote: »

how do you know for sure that the timing belt has been changed? would a mechanic know by looking at the engine?

A mechanic would have an idea by looking at the belt if it was relatively new but would depend on how new the belt is. On the other hand a worn belt can be easy to spot because the rubber would be cracked etc.

If it was done by ford, the service book would have a stamp. Sometimes when a belt is changed, the mechanic writes it on the belt cover, but this is far from a reliable indicator

T-Maxx · 11-04-2013 04:25PM

If you'd listen to the inputs given in your previous "Homeless Student needs a car but it must be a Corolla, blah, blah, blah" I'm sure people wouldn't mind chirping in again for some advice, but frankly you've just about ignored all of it. Don't expect much this time around.

djimi · 11-04-2013 04:28PM

homeless student wrote: »

how do you know for sure that the timing belt has been changed? would a mechanic know by looking at the engine?

The only way to know for sure is if the seller can provide some kind of evidence (garage and parts receipts) to say that it has been done. Most mechanics I have asked have told me that its not that easy to say for sure when a belt was done, and if in any doubt the best thing to do is change it yourself when you buy the car.

keithclancy · 11-04-2013 04:32PM

Get the Ford Focus Estate version, that way it will be more comfortable to live in.

Viper_JB · 11-04-2013 05:03PM

With your budget I don't think you should be looking at one specific type of car, see what's on the market in or around what you're willing to pay, reliability doesn't come into play so much with older cars, it's all about how they were maintained, the Skoda's seem to be doing well in the second hand market but again, I wouldn't be looking for one specific model of car unless your heart is absolutely set on owning a focus.

homeless student · 13-04-2013 12:07AM

Viper_JB wrote: »

With your budget I don't think you should be looking at one specific type of car, see what's on the market in or around what you're willing to pay, reliability doesn't come into play so much with older cars, it's all about how they were maintained, the Skoda's seem to be doing well in the second hand market but again, I wouldn't be looking for one specific model of car unless your heart is absolutely set on owning a focus.

no im open to all suggestions again.

JohnBoy26 · 13-04-2013 02:04AM

homeless student wrote: »

hi, im looking at a 00 and 01 ford focus, both have 100,000 miles on them. sick of car searching at this stage so think im gonna just buy 1 of them, have had really bad look with corolla's, have seen about 10 and most were in bad condition so iv really been put off the 02-05 corolla's, wont go near them ever again. so is like to hear from focus owner to see what they are like.

don't want any crap about look you have asked this before, if you dont want to reply thats fine, save your insults for someone who cares, im entitled to ask. this buy is very important to me.

the 00 focus is going for 1300, good price?

How have you had bad ''look'' with Corolla's when you have never owned one?

And saying you will never go near them ''ever again'' just because the 10 you went to see(out of hundreds for sale) were in bad condition is a ridiculous statement imo.

There are plenty of good examples of Corollas out there. If you weren't in such a rush and had done your homework properly by picking out the genuinely good examples from the rest you would have a car bought already;).

Tbh your going to have the same issue when going to view Focus's if your just going to rush out and view any old yoke that pops up on donedeal.

George Dalton · 13-04-2013 08:34AM

Maybe if you spent less time posting threads about looking at cars and more time actually looking at cars you might actually have a car by now.

As posted above, most cheap cars are in bad condition, not just Corollas. That's why cheap cars are are cheap. You will need to look at a lot of cars before you find a decent one. I also wouldn't rule out any particular Focus just because it is due a timing belt. The timing belt is potentially the least of your worries with a 12 year old Focus.

homeless student · 13-04-2013 09:40AM

George Dalton wrote: »

Maybe if you spent less time posting threads about looking at cars and more time actually looking at cars you might actually have a car by now.

how do you know how much time i have spent looking at cars? I have viewed a lot of them at this stage, all over the country, i just keep coming across cowboys with $hit cars.

As posted above, most cheap cars are in bad condition, not just Corollas. That's why cheap cars are are cheap. You will need to look at a lot of cars before you find a decent one. I also wouldn't rule out any particular Focus just because it is due a timing belt. The timing belt is potentially the least of your worries with a 12 year old Focus.

I don't think all cheap cars are in bad condition, its just the year of the car usually that dictates the price.

homeless student · 13-04-2013 09:43AM

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

How have you had bad ''look'' with Corolla's when you have never owned one?

And saying you will never go near them ''ever again'' just because the 10 you went to see(out of hundreds for sale) were in bad condition is a ridiculous statement imo.

There are plenty of good examples of Corollas out there. If you weren't in such a rush and had done your homework properly by picking out the genuinely good examples from the rest you would have a car bought already;).

Tbh your going to have the same issue when going to view Focus's if your just going to rush out and view any old yoke that pops up on donedeal.

how exactly can you do your homework on a car on done deal?

you go look at a car then decide.

George Dalton · 13-04-2013 10:07AM

homeless student wrote: »

I don't think all cheap cars are in bad condition, its just the year of the car usually that dictates the price.

The year of the car, the mileage and condition of the car and how desirable the car is are the main factors that determine price. Year alone does not dictate the price.

I didn't say all cheap cars are in bad condition, I said most cheap cars are in bad condition. Cheap good cars are very scarce, as you are finding out on your search.

neddynasty · 13-04-2013 10:51AM

homeless student wrote: »

have had really bad look with corolla's, have seen about 10 and most were in bad condition

Define bad condition? Was there no service history, were they not hoovered and washed, were they all dented and scratched, did the interior appear worn?

Just trying to figure out what your expectations of a 10 -12 year old cheap car are.

are ford focus really that reliable?

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