Sensible hatchback choice - mk2 Focus?

[BorkFactor]

Afternoon all,

My Mum's faithful old 2004 1.2 Corsa has finally met its demise and needs replacing, and naturally it is up to me to find a replacement.

We are looking for something cheap to run and reliable that will last as long as possible with routine maintenance. The Corsa was a year old when we got it and has been perfect for the job up until the past 6 months or so when it has started to be trouble. Sadly the clutch expired with zero warning and it needs a few other bits and bobs so we decided it was time to call it a day.

I will try and keep this short, so here are the requirements:

• Budget up to around £4k, could be extended for the right car
• 14k or so a year
• No diesels as we are not willing to take the risk of extremely expensive repairs + quite a sew short journeys
• Practical - Corsa was often used to transport a lawnmower and lots of tip runs
• Cheap to run, Corsa was great on fuel but I think it is time to move up a size and get something a bit more comfortable

So far, I think a 1.6 / 1.8 MK2 Focus seems like the logical choice. Anyone have any experience of them? Honda Civics look good too (EP2?), but I have no experience of them.

I am half looking at Vectras and Mondeos too as there are more about and your money seems to go further. A bit big though. I am also considering an E46 compact, either a 316ti or a 318ti as she really likes my E46 and it has proved itself well.

I have had Fords before, my friends have had a lot and they have all been great so far. I don't think it will be too hard to get a nice 2005 / 06 1.6 with a good service history in good nick for the budget, and I can't seem to find much that goes wrong with them.

So, have I missed anything? Does anyone have any left field suggestions? And does anyone have any experience of any of the cars I have mentioned and care to share?

Thanks for any feedback

[Kitchski]

Completely useless response for you, but does anyone else think the mk2 Focus is now one of the worst looking cars on the road? When it came out, it looked 'conservative' compared with the mk1, but as time has gone on it's just looking worse and worse. Dumpy, frumpy and bland, especially when compared with the Astra of the same age, or the C4 maybe.

Focus will drive better than the Astra, though, and probably the C4 in most guises.

Anyway, carry on

[LuS1fer]

I hired a Focus 1.6 in Mallorca and it was an honest enough car which did what it said on the tin. They're built well enough and reliable enough. Just be aware that many will have been through company hands and may not have been loved all their lives. Lots of choice out there.

My mother has the Mk III Focus and rather likes it.

[djfaulkner]

We had a 1.6 MK2 and the facelift MK2.5 versions.
Nice car to drive, although a bit sluggish at times.

Much better to drive than the company's car Astra we had, the Focus was more solid and held to the road more.
Decent sized boot, should quite happy fit a lawnmower.

[thatdude]

I drive a honda civic 1.6 sport - an EP2. It's quite alright, is easy to drive and i find it very comfrotable to sit in (used to commute 2 hours each way before my current job). Good on fuel (45 mpg and above on a motorway run, 38-42 around town), and easy to look after (plugs, air filter and cabin filters can all be changed in the time it takes for the oil to properly drain out...about 30 minutes). Just make sure the cam belt has been done (75,000 miles or 8 years, whichever is first) and I found that changing the gearbox oil at 55,000 miles made a noticable differance (honda state a service interval of about 25,000 miles if one lives in a hot country or tows regularly...so 50,000 miles would be a good bet for someone living in the UK who dosnt tow anything). Tyres are a sensible size, everything is alright and very much Honda

Edited by thatdude on Wednesday 9th April 12:42

Edited by thatdude on Wednesday 9th April 12:43

[jagfan2]

EP2 , the 1.8Vtec is way more economical and fun than anything ford or most other mid sized OEMs do in this price range, very few good petrols in the mid noughties hatchback in general, though maybe seat or VW have some ok light turbos you can look at

[kambites]

From what I've seen, all of the cars in this segment of this sort of age are pretty good. From what I saw when we were buying the wife's last car, I'd probably be looking at the Focus, The Octavia, the C'eed and the various Japanese options.

I'd probably end up buying a C'eed. You should get one which still has about three years of warranty left on it.

[LuS1fer]

I had a Cee'd hire car. Nothing like as good as the Focus and a nasty interior.
The new Cee'd has come on in leaps and bounds but the old one is very much a Korean product and very stodgy on handling.

[kambites]

LuS1fer said:

The new Cee'd has come on in leaps and bounds but the old one is very much a Korean product and very stodgy on handling.

It's a car for his mum, who is coming from a Corsa. Do you really think she cares about "stodgy handling"?

[Actus Reus]

Purely for reliability, and notwithstanding today's recall, I bought the wife a 2004 Corolla 1.6 last year for £3k, and nothing has gone wrong with it. Utterly joyless as cars go, but utterly reliable too. Maybe an Auris can be had in budget now?

[CallorFold]

I have a 1.6 Ford Focus Petrol in 'Sport' Trim MK2 (06 Plate).

Owned it for close to 3 years now and it's been OK.

It's by no means the 'hot-hatch' that I lust after, but it's a nice enough drive and it's cost me very little to run.

Tax comes in at ~£175 for the year
Fuel (for short trips to and from work) I average about 55-60 miles from £10, which equates to about 34mpg.
Longer motorway trips is approx 40mpg
Comfortable, aircon, fairly quiet on the motorway, cheap consumable parts (pads, tyres etc.).

No big serving bills at all, just consumables and I'm told the cambelt should be ok until 10 years/100K miles whichever comes first.

The only downside in my eyes is the power. 100BHP for what is a fairly big car is far too little and makes overtaking etc. rather difficult at times.

[LuS1fer]

kambites said:

It's a car for his mum, who is coming from a Corsa. Do you really think she cares about "stodgy handling"?

My mother is 73 and came from a Galaxy and she cares... actually, maybe not so much but she would hate the interior.
I nearly pulled out my hair taking my mother round to look at cars - fussy? From the quality of the seat fabric to colour to the flimsiest thing, nothing was good enough. Thank the lord for an orangey-red Powershift Focus.

So maybe I should have said the Kia lacks appeal on just about any level. It makes a Corsa look interesting

[kambites]

The place it would appeal to my parents would be price and reliability. Given any car they buy will get the boot filled with compost to take to the allotment within the first few weeks of ownership, and the front carpets full of said compost from their wellies on their way home the same day, interior quality is not high on their list of priorities.

I must admit I didn't think much of the Focus interior when we were looking. It seemed to be very... grey.

Edited by kambites on Wednesday 9th April 15:06

[BorkFactor]

Thanks for the input, good to hear there is a decent list of cars to pick from.

As someone else said, steering feel etc is not exactly high on the list of priorities. I think a bit more performance than the Corsa would be useful for overtaking, but surely a 1.6 will be perfectly fine? I don't remember my old 1.6 Astra struggling with normal driving.

Got my eye on these two at the moment, although the Civic seems a tad dear:

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/ford...

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/04-h...

ETA - am I correct in thinking the Toyota VVT engine likes to drink oil if it is similar to the Celica one?

[Actus Reus]

Honda Jazz is a good car too - much more spacious than you might think. Bought the mother in law one and she absolutely loves it.

[va1o]

Would have thought £4k should get you into more modern metal than that. I'd probably be looking at the 2006 onwards Civic, MK2 SEAT Leon and facelift 2008 onwards Focus. All look quite nice and drive well. Don't be put of by high mileage if its been well looked after and is in good condition.