Ford Focus? Advice Wanted

Have a 1999 2.0l Focus, there are some little quirks, which should have been fixed in more recent models, but then it is as reliable as all the other Fords I had in the last 17 years. No real problems at all.

The engine runs really great, enough power, it only misses any "overtaking prestige".

I'd suggest to arrange a test drive at your Ford dealer, perhaps you should try a few, to be able to test drive the various engines.

I've got the 1.6, but had a new TDI last week as a hire car through work. The TDI felt a bit quicker, but I definely preffered the smoothness of the

1.6. I didn't like the lowwer rev limit, meaning you had to change up earier. The turbo was fun-ish, but meant you suddenly got a burst of power higher up the rev range. I also stalled the diesel twice (I never stall my 1.6). I guess if I owned the TDI variant, I'd probably get more used to its driving characteristics. Having had the 1.8 a while back as a hire car, I think if I was buying a Focus now, that would probably be the option I would go for. However, it drinks a bit more, and costs a little extra to insure.

Was this a TDCi or the older TDDi engine? The TDCi is a bit quicker than the 1.6 although 0-60 times are prettty similar

If it was the TDCi I,m surprised it was rough it is not as smooth as a petrol but pretty refined for derv drinker

All Deisels suffer from this just a charcteristic of the type although thye are starting to rev higher than they used to

It should kick in around 2000 rpm but is fairly consistant after that

Probably although I do still stall mine seems to be a bit of a problem with the TDCi although I'm assured the 130ps engine in the new Focus will not suffer from it as bad

Well I've owned all 3 2.0l petrol 92k miles 3years 1.8 petrol 45k miles 3 years and TDCi 4 months 12k miles and I have to say that if fuel costs were not a worry I would probably have the 2.0l petrol but the TDCi is nearly as much fun to drive if not more so in situation where the large quantities of torque available to the Deisel can be used. Also I get around 50 -55 mpg from the deisel which tilts things well in it's favor. I really can not see a place for the 1.8 petrol for my type of use. Having said all that bear in mind mine were all company lease vehicles so things like running costs in terms of servicing, tyres and insurance are not part of the equation.

Ack, one does usually need to calculate, had about 8 years a Ford Sierra TD, sure it didn't used much fuel, but in the end, it doesn't really pay of if you don't drive enough. Insurance/tax are much higher over here for diesel cars.

But then, I'd go for the petrol ones. ;)

I know and fully appreciate that I am quite lucky with the deal I get from Siemens.

Was this like a prison sentence :-)

Old Ford TD's were not the best engines and I could understand if they put people off driving a diesel for life.

I did not know this, it surprises me then at how popular diesel cars are in Germany. The fuel is a lot cheaper than petrol or it was last time I was in Regensburg. In the UK diesel fuel is actually more expensive than petrol.

As I said *if* cost was not a problem I too would have a petrol engine probably a ST170 Focus

The operating costs come out about the same, so buying a diesel here (Switzerland) is not really a financial decision unless you're driving

40'000km/year. I actually chose to go the TDCi route based purely on the driving characteristics of the car. I grew up on high revving twim cam petrol motors, and I still like them (I still own a Mazda MX-5) but the wave of torque and the ability to have useable power without always downshifting was quite an eye-opener with the TDCi. On Swiss mountain passes, it is *much* more pleasant to drive than the petrol equivalent.

I also quite liked the ST170 and would have gone for one, *if* the cost was the same as the TDCi Zetec (dreaming, of course).

Stephen

Not that bad, it did 230.000 km and was still running fine. AFAIK the newer Ford diesel are based on this engine.

Yep, usually 20 Cent/l less then petrol. But you need to drive enough km a year to balance costs. I don't drive that much and have a motorbike in addition. ;)

[..]

Yep, sounds like a good choice! I'll probably drive my Focus for a few more years. I'm just almost done with all modifications so I'd need to start at zero with a new Focus and lose lots of money.