Foci - what to look out for?

Your budget is important here. Will you have the choice of a Mk2, or will it need to be a Mk1? There's a significant difference between them, especially WRT size.

Chris

Sorry - probably about £5,000.

OK, so a Mk2 is a possibility.

They are quite different cars; I still love my 10-years old Mk1, but am fairly unimpressed by the Mk2. It is much wider, and would be a tight fit in my garage; also the handbrake is offset to the passenger side to a degree that would irritate me.

My best suggestion would be to drive examples of both, and do bear in mind that the Mk2 is as wide as earlier Mondeos if that might be important to you.

Something I always do is hire an example of a car I'm thinking of buying. A weekend of normal use will tell you a lot more about living with a particular model than any number of test drives.

Chris

FWIW, I would go for a late 54 plate Mk1 5dr, probably the 1.6 ghia or zetec. Make sure it has a/c and the heated front screen.

For £5k you;d get a very nice example.

They are more frugal, 98% reliable, smaller and less lardy than the mk2, and you can be picky to find a nice low miles example in a nice metallic.

Tim.

Me too, except I'd want the 1.8.

Chris

The tailgate seems to suffer from rust problems above the number plate area.

Rob Graham

Better bet would be the 1.6 petrol - both the std 99bhp and the 115bhp (though this one needs the cambelt replacing)

The 1.8 is a sort of inbetweenie - little more power and worse MPG - IF you really want the POWER get the 2.0 but as i say the 1.6 is fine

Me also, but the OP states that it doesnt need great power, nor motorway ability - neither of which the 1.6 has! - but the 1.8 is thirstier around town, so no point in having that engine.

Tim.

Remember we are talking MK1 Focus here! Both the 1.6 Zetec SE and the 1.8 Zetec E have cambelts. Camchains (if that's what you were implying) didn't come along until the Mk2. It's pretty much a non-issue anyway as the belt change interval is 100,000 miles, or ten years. A chain could well have failed by that mileage.

BTW, I didn't think the Mk2 was ever available with a 1.8?

Pretty much everyone that's driven all of them would disagree with you. The 1.6 suffers from an overly-long top gear ratio, which makes it struggle on main road hills. (Allegedly, this was done because if it was geared sensibly, its consumption would have been worse than the 1.8!) The

2.0 is a bit too harsh. The 1.8 is the best compromise for most folk, although the 1.6 would also suit the OP.

Manufacturer's figures:

1.6 - 100PS 1.8 = 115PS 2.0 = 130PS

As you can see, the gaps in power output are exactly spaced.

1.6 = 38.7-41.5 MPG (Overall) 1.8 = 35.8-37.2 MPG 2.0 = 31.7-32.5 MPG

The consumption of the 1.8 is much nearer the 1.6 than the 2.0.

1.6 = 145 Nm max torque 1.8 = 160 Nm 2.0 = 178 Nm

Again, pretty evenly spaced.

Chris (worried about being a Focus nerd)

Clutch.

However as long as it's been cleaned regularly and there's no unattended accident damage or stonechips, the body warranty should cover any repairs.

LOL. The figures do support the drive experience though, with exception to the stupid gearing of the 1.6 to improve the mpg over the 1.8.

I drove a 1.8 from new to 65,000 miles, and it averaged 35-37mpg all the time, and was a pleasure to drive with spot on gear ratios. 5th was usually adequate for overtaking, and 70mph was 2600rpm. More importantly it delivers the torque alot lower down than the 1.6 does, so you dont need to rev it hard.

The 1.6 suffers from less torque delivered higher up the rev range (4800rpm OTOH) and 70 in 5th is ~2200rpm, so you spend alot more time in 3rd and 4th with the revs up to make any form of progress.

If you look at the 30-50 / 50-70 times in top gear, it is obvious how much more of an able performer the 1.8 is...

Tim..

Usually not a problem on the Foci.

The iB5 box can be abit fragile if its been abused, if there is any spluttering it needs HT leads /plugs, and the metal sills (rather than the plastic covered) of the series 2 mk1 car are prone to potentially serious rust from stones thrown up from the front wheels if the car hasnt got any front mud flaps.

Central locking can play up, but that is either the multiplugs on the doors, or the motors, both of which have been a ford trait for years..

Tim..

[...]

Did you have the car from new so that you could be sure the mileage was genuine?

The original interval for the 1.8-2.0 was 80K or 8 years. When I asked my dealer about geting mine changed at around 75K, I was told that the interval had been increased to 100K and 10 years due to the low failure rate. The dealer said they had never seen one fail early.

(Shock! Horror! A dealer talking himself out of work!)

I ran my own car to 96K and 10 years before I changed it without a problem.

Someone I know with an identically-engined Mondeo had the belt break, but that had covered 124K without a change.

I would certainly consider changing the belt on a car I bought that was more than five years old however.

Any ex-rental car will only have the basic equipment though. The early LX's didn't have A/C or CD, but at the age the OP can afford they were standard.

Chris

No need to worry - You're correct, I'm wrong and Yes I wuz thinking of the newer shaped one :)

In message , Tim.. writes

Nonsense. The 1.6 might be disadvantaged on twisty A roads but not on the motorway.

In message , Chris Whelan writes

The 80k/8 year interval was only for the silvertop zetecs on pre 5/98 Mondeos. The blacktop zetecs on the Focus and post 5/98 Mondeos always had a 100k/10 year interval.

:

"Camshaft drive belt

*Zetec 80 000 miles *Zetec-SE 100 000 miles"

Chris