Need a family car for £1000-£1500 - Thinking Focus Estate

[pmanson]

Guys & Gals,

We'll be in the market for a family car next month and I think we've decided on a Mk1 Focus Estate.

Budget will be £1000-£1500 (but closer to £1000 would be better). The plan is to keep it for a couple of years then look to upgrade when we have some additional money (if ever).

The car will mainly used for running around town and the occasional motorway trip so i'm going to be looking for a 1.6 (I gather this engine is better than the 1.8?)

Spec wise as long as it has a CD player and electric windows in the front everything else will be a bonus. Air con and alloys would be nice though (Ghia model?)

Would should I be looking for in terms of issues? I'm not worried about mileage (Our MX5 has 188k on it) as long as it's looked after but i'd prefer to find one without rust if I can!

Any thoughts/buying guides?

Cheers,
Phill

[Dimski]

It's at the cheaper end, so a perfect example could be hard to find.

Just check it drives well, from what I understand the suspension bushes wear. Other than that, if it drives ok it will more than likely be fine.

We had one, that with 115k much nothing had gone wrong (we owned it from 10k), and it's still going strong on 140k with the original dealer using it as an extra courtesy car.

Ahhhh.... I tell lies. We did have a snapped spring. (And a bent conrod, but that was me driving through a flood.)

[magpie215]

We had one as a pool car drove very well and was thrashed almost daily.

if its green and looks a bit rough don't buy it ;-)

[pmanson]

Went to look at one locally this afternoon.

It's a 1999 T reg, 2Ltr Ghia in metallic green. 116k miles on the clock and needs a service. Full grey leather interior, electric windows, CD Changer, electric drivers seat, cruise control (i think), decent tyres and brakes etc.

The car drove well but had a couple of issues:

• Heater/Air con not working (Dealer thinks it's the switch on the dash thats failed and is willing to replace it)

• Needs a service (Dealer has offered to do this as part of the deal)

• Vibration underneath the car between 2500 and 3500rpm (Loose heat shield?)

• Dent in the tailgate (Anyone know where I can get a replacement tailgate from?)

• Nail in one of the front tyres (dealer to repair)

The car had the usual stone chips and scratches associated with a car with this amount of mileage and was up for a reasonable £1495.

Any thoughts on the issues I noticed? Common faults?

Cheers,
Phill

[cpas]

Just to throw a spanner in the works, you may find a similar aged Mondeo will be cheaper, and would possibly have more kit. I had a 1999 V plated Zetec until a couple of years ago and it had aircon, ABS, traction contraol and heated front screen and nice alloys plus chunky looking tyres. Plus a single CD player. i had the 2 litre enging which returned 30mpg+ (and I don't drive lightly!!!). There's plenty of room for the family. I sold it to my sister and she's had it ever since!! You may also get an early Mk3 for the money!

[pmanson]

Picked up a new car this morning. Ended up going for a slightly different one in the end. 2000 "X", 2.0 Ghia, 83k on the clock, CD changer etc for £1500.





Seems like a good clean car, 2 slight issues is that the passenger wing mirror has stopped working and the car pulls very slightly to the right when at motorway speeds. Apart from that it's very nice to drive

Drove it straight up to the DVLA and got the private plate swopped on to it so it only needs a really good polish at some point

Edited by pmanson on Wednesday 1st July 17:46