MK1 Focus 1.8 Zetec S

[IntriguedUser]

• Not Zetec S, just Zetec, sorry.**

I have a few questions which I can't seem to find on the World Wide Web! I've made a few threads about cars I want, but I've realised since I've had jobs that my car hobby is jading my vision of what's important, lets say I haven't quite mastered man maths yet.

Neighbour is selling a 1.8 Zetec focus MK1, for £800, it has 43,000 miles on it, and I know it has been carer for because its only ever been owned by him, and dents scratches have been removed within a couple of weeks, a real OCD. A few questions though:

Does the 1.8 MK1 Zetec have TCS, if it does, can you turn of it normally, if not I'm sure there's a fuse you can pull to remove it?
Are these reliable? I put 30,000 miles on a 1.8 Corsa and only needed a new MAF because I caked it in oil from a induction kit.

He has a private plate on it, not sure how this works, does he take the plates off and keep them? Do I have to question a new plate, does he have the original plates in his shed, how does this all work?

Thanks in advanced guys.

[MissChief]

Any particular reason you want switchable Traction Control? My Leon Cupra has it and I've never had occasion to switch it off?

[IntriguedUser]

MissChief said:

Any particular reason you want switchable Traction Control? My Leon Cupra has it and I've never had occasion to switch it off?

I don't need TCS because I have a usable right foot, I find it intrusive, even when slightly breaking traction.

[okie592]

They don't have traction control only the 2.0 esp does.

He can either sell the plate with the car or put it on retention and the car will refer back to it's orginal plate.

Watch out for rust along the bottoms of doors and sills and around the boot

I've had 2. Idle speed control valves go, they are heavy on petrol and not aswell put together as a golf. Although they are a good steer they are far from quick.

[IntriguedUser]

okie592 said:

They don't have traction control only the 2.0 esp does.

He can either sell the plate with the car or put it on retention and the car will refer back to it's orginal plate.

Watch out for rust along the bottoms of doors and sills and around the boot

I've had 2. Idle speed control valves go, they are heavy on petrol and not aswell put together as a golf. Although they are a good steer they are far from quick.

Thanks for your sound advice, would the original plate be sent to me or him, doesn't matter as were next to each-over, but just wondering?

[jk888]

I had one of these for 5 years. As already mentioned the one thing to look out for is the speed idle control valve. They have a habit of cutting the speedo out and there is a noticeable power loss, I found a lot of people had the same problem. It's a common fault with them. As far as I'm aware regarding the plate, if the previous owner wants to keep it he will have to apply for it to be taken off the car and put on retention. The DVLA will then issue a new V5 with the original reg on it, once you have this you will be able to put the original plates back on. I'm assuming the previous owner still has the actual plates themselves? It used to be a lot easier as you could just pop along to your local DVLA office and get it all sorted there and then but now since they closed them all everything has to go through Swansea which can take a good few weeks

[V8LM]

He can apply to transfer the entitlement of the registration to another vehicle or put it on retention. The plates are just pieces of plastic. This is before he sells. If he sells before transferring the entitlement, his right to use the registration is lost.

[ralphrj]

okie592 said:

They don't have traction control only the 2.0 esp does.

Unless it has the optional reflex pack but that is fairly rare.