Advice on car choice needed!! BMW 3-series/ Ford Focus?

[Golden fleece]

Guys/ Gals,

I am about to buy a car for the wife and need to choose between a 2005 Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia auto and a 2002 BMW 320iSE auto. Both are one owner, FSH and priced at a firm £3,600 from small dealers. Both in excellent condition, quite high-spec (with the Beemer having full leather). Focus is 45k miles on the clock and the BMW 80k miles. Opinions??

Wife doesn't mind between the two, so which do I buy?? My priorities are reliability, value for money and holding value going forward. Luckily both are good to drive!

Thanks in advance for all input - I need to make a decision by the end of this week!

[HellDiver]

One has the engine from a Kenwood Magimix attached to a device that changes the pitch of the noise coming from the engine.

The other is a BMW.


BMW every time.

[STW2010]

Golden fleece said:

Guys/ Gals,

I am about to buy a car for the wife and need to choose between a 2005 Ford Focus 1.6 Ghia auto and a 2002 BMW 320iSE auto. Both are one owner, FSH and priced at a firm £3,600 from small dealers. Both in excellent condition, quite high-spec (with the Beemer having full leather). Focus is 45k miles on the clock and the BMW 80k miles. Opinions??

Wife doesn't mind between the two, so which do I buy?? My priorities are reliability, value for money and holding value going forward. Luckily both are good to drive!

Thanks in advance for all input - I need to make a decision by the end of this week!

In terms of reliability I would say the BMW. Repair and maintenance bills will be higher for the BMW though.

The BMW will hold value better than the Ford, and so will still be worth around £3k in two years time, whereas the focus will be worth a bit less.

I am biased (I drive a 3 series), but I prefer the RWD, so would always choose a BMW over a Ford.

[Golden fleece]

Appreciate the prompt replies so far!

In terms of the asking price - does £3,600 look right for either car?

[STW2010]

Golden fleece said:

Appreciate the prompt replies so far!

In terms of the asking price - does £3,600 look right for either car?

Depends on overall condition. If both are in very good condition inside and out then it sounds ok. Also, the service history- I would be looking for evidence that they have been well looked after, so is the FSH main dealer or not? Invoices/receipts/recall work?

I am very fussy when looking at cars

[FraserLFA]

I'd say Focus, purely as it's like a Canaray. CHEAP!

The BMW will always have the badge, making it more appealing, but if no one's bothered, take the Focus.

[Golden fleece]

FraserLFA said:

I'd say Focus, purely as it's like a Canaray. CHEAP!

The BMW will always have the badge, making it more appealing, but if no one's bothered, take the Focus.

But if you look at my original post you will see that both cars are the SAME price! £3,600. However, I think the Focus will lose more money in two years so I will probably go for the Beemer.

[7 Sevens]

Is there any benefit to your wife for a hatchback or saloon?

[RobM77]

I've driven both, and found the Focus cramped for the driver, poorly engineered (look at the mpg/bhp for starters) and I know a number of people who've had reliability issues, but they aren't that expensive to fix when they go wrong. The BMW is far nicer to drive and more comfortable, and perhaps slightly more reliable, although much more expensive to fix if it does go wrong. The one concern with retained value is the 100k mile mark on the BMW - cars lose a lot of value passing this, and the BMW is near to that point... I'd still get the BMW though over the two. Ignore people who tell you its all in the badge, they just don't know anything about cars and want to say something clever - they'd probably say a Bosch or Kenwood kitchen appliance was all badge, or a Miele vacuum cleaner, whereas in fact we all know that they generally work better than other brands on offer.

Edited by RobM77 on Tuesday 7th December 11:29

[thinfourth2]

One can get a dishwasher in the boot the other can't

I'd lean towards the ford but go look at honest john and see which has the longest list of known faults

[Golden fleece]

Thanks for all the input guys. Much appreciated!

[rb51]

The focus is a nice car but the 1.6 engine is really poor in my opinion no power at all, the BMW everytime for me nice car all round with a proper engine and will hold value much better.

[frosted]

The 1.6 auto focus has some terrible mpg figures, thats what I would go for .

[RobM77]

Something I forgot to mention - most cars will need new dampers and maybe bushes too around this time. The Focus won't be driving like new, and the 80k BMW certainly won't. Well, ok, they won't need them, but if you're interested in driving and want the cars to feel good they will. These parts will invariably be more expensive on the BMW. It'll be obligatory at around 110-120k miles on the BMW - they have very balanced handling and tell to feel all wrong with worn out suspension, and sometimes even rub their arches or suffer from unwanted oversteer. The Focus is inherently less balanced and less well suspended, so you'll notice it less, and of course this particular Focus is a lower mileage to start with anyway.

[Golden fleece]

RobM77 said:

Something I forgot to mention - most cars will need new dampers and maybe bushes too around this time. The Focus won't be driving like new, and the 80k BMW certainly won't. Well, ok, they won't need them, but if you're interested in driving and want the cars to feel good they will. These parts will invariably be more expensive on the BMW. It'll be obligatory at around 110-120k miles on the BMW - they have very balanced handling and tell to feel all wrong with worn out suspension, and sometimes even rub their arches or suffer from unwanted oversteer. The Focus is inherently less balanced and less well suspended, so you'll notice it less, and of course this particular Focus is a lower mileage to start with anyway.

Thanks for the advice. All good points!

[GSP]

Golden fleece said:

RobM77 said:

Something I forgot to mention - most cars will need new dampers and maybe bushes too around this time. The Focus won't be driving like new, and the 80k BMW certainly won't. Well, ok, they won't need them, but if you're interested in driving and want the cars to feel good they will. These parts will invariably be more expensive on the BMW. It'll be obligatory at around 110-120k miles on the BMW - they have very balanced handling and tell to feel all wrong with worn out suspension, and sometimes even rub their arches or suffer from unwanted oversteer. The Focus is inherently less balanced and less well suspended, so you'll notice it less, and of course this particular Focus is a lower mileage to start with anyway.

Thanks for the advice. All good points!

Bearing in mind this is for your wife... I would probably go for the Ford. Easy to maintain, newer car, less miles, cheaper to run, cheaper to insure, easier to drive in our increasingly crap winters.

I never believed how bad BMW's were in the snow until I got mine.

[Golden fleece]

GSP said:

Golden fleece said:

RobM77 said:

Something I forgot to mention - most cars will need new dampers and maybe bushes too around this time. The Focus won't be driving like new, and the 80k BMW certainly won't. Well, ok, they won't need them, but if you're interested in driving and want the cars to feel good they will. These parts will invariably be more expensive on the BMW. It'll be obligatory at around 110-120k miles on the BMW - they have very balanced handling and tell to feel all wrong with worn out suspension, and sometimes even rub their arches or suffer from unwanted oversteer. The Focus is inherently less balanced and less well suspended, so you'll notice it less, and of course this particular Focus is a lower mileage to start with anyway.

Thanks for the advice. All good points!

Bearing in mind this is for your wife... I would probably go for the Ford. Easy to maintain, newer car, less miles, cheaper to run, cheaper to insure, easier to drive in our increasingly crap winters.

I never believed how bad BMW's were in the snow until I got mine.

Also good points!! However, as I live in West London, luckily snow isn't too much of a problem and if its really icy and cold, she doesn't go out anyway! Lazy cow, I know!!

[STW2010]

I have a BMW and don't agree with 'bad in the snow'. As long as you realise that it is RWD and don't drive like a muppet then it's fine. RWD are going to be trickier in the snow, but it's not a spin at every corner

[RobM77]

GSP said:

Golden fleece said:

RobM77 said:

Something I forgot to mention - most cars will need new dampers and maybe bushes too around this time. The Focus won't be driving like new, and the 80k BMW certainly won't. Well, ok, they won't need them, but if you're interested in driving and want the cars to feel good they will. These parts will invariably be more expensive on the BMW. It'll be obligatory at around 110-120k miles on the BMW - they have very balanced handling and tell to feel all wrong with worn out suspension, and sometimes even rub their arches or suffer from unwanted oversteer. The Focus is inherently less balanced and less well suspended, so you'll notice it less, and of course this particular Focus is a lower mileage to start with anyway.

Thanks for the advice. All good points!

Bearing in mind this is for your wife... I would probably go for the Ford. Easy to maintain, newer car, less miles, cheaper to run, cheaper to insure, easier to drive in our increasingly crap winters.

I never believed how bad BMW's were in the snow until I got mine.

That's a little sexist In actual fact, out of the non petrolheads that I know, I genuinely hear more comments from women along the lines of "that BMW/MX5/Merc etc that I drove felt a lot more balanced and stable in the bends than my Focus/Fiesta/Micra/Mondeo etc", than I do from men. Women just seem to be more sensitive to these things. My Dad for example does 30k miles a year and my Mum just 2 or 3, yet after they've test driven a new car when I speak to them it's always my Mum who's noticed the "Evo-esque" things.

If it was me, then I'd go along with my wife (I wish!) to test drive both cars, and ask her what she thinks. She may not mind now, but she may find that when she drives them she develops a preference. It may not be the driving, it might be something silly like the position of a few switches, but I'd be surprised if anyone remained neutral after driving both cars.

[FraserLFA]

Golden fleece said:

FraserLFA said:

I'd say Focus, purely as it's like a Canaray. CHEAP!

The BMW will always have the badge, making it more appealing, but if no one's bothered, take the Focus.

But if you look at my original post you will see that both cars are the SAME price! £3,600. However, I think the Focus will lose more money in two years so I will probably go for the Beemer.

I meant due to maintenance more than anything...