mk1 Focusesses. Are they nice?

[Lankytim]

My pal is getting a BRAND NEW Ford Kuga and has offered me his old 53 plate diesel Focus for next to nothing. He's had it a few years, plus I know the previous owner who had it from nearly new and nobody has had any problems with it. I do know there's a small hole at the rear end of one sill but I think that's about it. Mileage is about 110k, it had a clock change a few years back and is only showing 40k or so.

 

If I decide to keep it I'll have to sell my much loved but we'll used XM, which I don't want to to really but I'm limiting myself to one daily drive.

 

So, do they make good care free daily drivers?

 

NEED INPUT.

[Tamworthbay]

They are very popular and the motoring press raved about them but I have driven a few over the years from brand new to very doggy and have hated each and every one of them. But I may be the exception that proves the rule........

[Tamworthbay]

And I would rather hack at my genitals with a ragged house brick than swap a gorgeous XM for one (but again that could be just me).

[BorniteIdentity]

The MK1 is the only one to have IMHO. Very sharp, easy to drive, comfortable and ultimately brilliant at being a car.

 

We've had a MK1 and now have a MK2 and I'm not sure the newer one does anything better. The engine is probably sweeter by that's it.

[Richard]

They are very popular and the motoring press raved about them but I have driven a few over the years from brand new to very doggy and have hated each and every one of them. But I may be the exception that proves the rule........

I've never driven one, but I had the final version of the Escort that had the press frothing in a similar way. It was appalling shit and worse in every way than the older versions that the press hated.

 

Having said that, the badge is irrelevant when you are looking at a well kept 15 year old car.

[Bren]

Miles better than an escort. Rust and problems with the fuel system your biggest enemy.

 

We have a TDCi estate and even with 126k under its belt it is still a very good car.

[garbaldy]

I never liked the diesel focus but the petrol was a really nice steed,

I have just scrapped an estate as i couldn't shift it and then my patience ran out.

[Cavcraft]

[danthecapriman]

My mum had an 02 reg 1.6 LX (zetec lump) from new. She sold it early this year with over 130k on the clock.

In all that time it never once broke down, still has it's original clutch even.

The speedo/binnacle screwed up intermittently, this was down to the solder used to make them being some shitty Eco friendly stuff and it eventually starts to fail and break down. We fixed this by getting the binnacle out and re soldered.

The speed sensor screwed up too, causing speedo issues but this was changed. This can be a fairly common issue with them. They can sometimes be a right bastard to get out too.

Ford 6000 radios are shit too, we went through three of them on this car. The CD player always worked but the radio just stops picking up any signal. In the end we fitted a new non Ford radio/cd and a new dash facia adaptor.

The sill ends rusted, causing an mot fail year before last, but the car was getting on a bit by then so it's not that big a surprise and welding is easy.

 

I rate the early style Focus highly. For a modern they're nice to drive, reliable, and easy to work on if you do your own repairs.

For a daily hack there's few better choices in my opinion.

[M'coli]

The works pool car mk1s I used to drive were great cars, thoroughly nice to drive, excellent factory stereo, perfectly placed cup holder, the only thing I didn't liike was hitting the governor at 67mph in 3rd.  That was the only thing about the mk2 that was better, in every other way they were either badly packaged (i.e. piss-poor cupholder location, you pulled the handbrake on and the lid would come off and splash your thigh with hot liquid) or everything else was blunted, as if they were trying to make it more grown up.

[Cavcraft]

Selling an XM to get a Focus is like chucking an original Constable painting into a skip and replacing it with a water colour picture of grandma and granddad by your next door neighbour's 2 year old daughter after she mistakenly opened a bottle of vodka thinking it was Sunny D.  

 

I know the Focus has a lot of fans on here, but fuck knows why as they're just horrible, a diesel one especially.

[Richard]

Is it the same 1.8 TD engine as the Escort? That had the shortest timing belt interval ever and they still didn't always make it.

[C1am]

I had two Mk1 diesels and one Mk2 as company cars. The Mk1's as already mentioned are very capable cars. The only thing I disliked was the ride (too firm) . 

[robinmasters]

I don't have any experience of Focusessess. They are starting to look as interesting as they were originally intended to, probably because they've started to become less common.

 

However, what I do know* is that you will regret selling the XM. 

[Lankytim]

I love the XM, it's awesome, it just needs regular TLC to keep on the road. It would be nice to have a daily driver I can just add fuel to and drive, pretty much worry free.

[Pillock]

Mrs_Pillock and her ex owned an '05 307 HDi and an '01 Focus TD when they split.

 

She asked to keep the older, higher mileage Focus.

 

Moral is, they're not as bad as a 307.

[Supernaut]

Give us more details on the XM then, you philistine.

 

If you're determined to get rid of it, it might as well go to an enthusiast.

 

 

 

Although I've never driven a Mk1 Focus, they were always on my shortlist as a replacement for the 306s I used to have, as I've generally heard good things about them. Still, getting rid of an XM for one...?

[saucedoctor]

Could it be a TDDI rather than a TDCI? TDDI has less grunt, but is reputed to be a bit more reliable.

[Lankytim]

It could be either I think. I'll know when it shows up.

[chaseracer]

Does it run on veg?  This is important 

[Lankytim]

No, it won't! I'll run on bio though.

[egg]

'better than a Fusion'

[bub2006]

I had a Ghia saloon 1.6 auto. Not bad on fuel but not great. When it was behaving it was comfy, smooth and pretty nippy. Things went downhill fast though. Abs and traction failed,gearbox started to hunt and an outer sill fell off

[The Moog]

My speed sensor took the garage 5 hours to remove! They decided they couldn't charge me for all of that.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

BruthaN had an ex-Police 04 plate mk1 diesel for years, I drove it a couple of times and it went like fook and always did 50 mpg, wasn't an unpleasant place to be , but it had leather and that always lifts shitty Fords and Vauxhalls , more from the lack of stains etc.

His Mrs killed it by filling it with petrol then driving it for about 30 miles coughing and spluttering, she even managed to restart it half a dozen times when it cut out. After he drained it and cleaned it out it was never the same and used to go into limp mode on anything more than half throttle.

[sierraman]

I've had 2 of them. Good car, cheap on parts and fuel. Watch the TDCI though for fuel pump failure, this could happen anytime really but smoke could be signs of imminent failure of this and or the injectors. If check for the following, rust on rear chassis legs behind backs of sills, trailing arm bushes, leaking rear lights, rust on the inside of the rear wheel arch (inside the car). Also water pissing in through the pollen filter after it's been hacked about.

 

Anything could be unreliable at that age, so I'd not discriminate against a TDCI. A lot of the TDDIs are clapped out now anyway, in any case it's also prone to fuel pump problems. Focuses seem to be either really good or awful. A mate took his to 150k no bother apart from the usual rear bearing failure. Both the ones I've had have done over 120k, the last one cost £500, lasted 18 months then everything suddenly started to go wrong, clutch, starter, pump. Still got £150 so £350 for 18m motoring wasn't all that bad. Didn't owe me much apart from an exhaust which I fitted myself.

[Snipes]

I like them but i've seen them rack up some big bills, especially the rear suspension which usually has to be chopped apart as it's all rusted to fook. Changing a rear spring on an escort is a 5 minute job. On a Focus, it can take hours.

[sierraman]

Selling an XM to get a Focus is like chucking an original Constable painting into a skip and replacing it with a water colour picture of grandma and granddad by your next door neighbour's 2 year old daughter after she mistakenly opened a bottle of vodka thinking it was Sunny D.

 

I know the Focus has a lot of fans on here, but fuck knows why as they're just horrible, a diesel one especially.

The XM is a lovely car I agree but that's no help while your waiting for the RAC.

[twosmoke300]

I'm not a big focus mk1 fan . They did drive nice when new but because every componant on a ford is tendered to the cheapest bidder they don't stay that way .

The worst thing is the rear suspension . Loads of bushes that go but you know that every single bolt will be seized solid into its bush . This means that changing a five pound bush turns into hours of grinding / gassing and buying new parts .

They rust badly too - especially the back end .

Fuel filler necks rust out and the subframe needs to be lowered to change it - see above for seized bolts .

Fuel pumps on petrols fail and it's a tank drop change ( or cut a hole in the floor )

Tdci is usual dmf/ injector issues and tddi suffers from sudden injector pump death like all cars with that design Bosch pump .

Rear wheel bearings are almost a consumable .

Key operated bonnet locks seize and usual ford lock/ key issues .

 

On the plus side parts ( mig wire and sheet steel ) are cheap and loads around in the breakers .

I personally think the Astra g diesel is a better bet or a civic 1.7

[HH-R]

I'm in the "they're awful" camp on this one, though I've never liked them.

 

I think I'd actually rather have an Astra, which is pretty much the only time I'll say that in my life.