£700max cheap mk1/mk2 focus
Discussion
Hey guys and girls!
So my circumstances have changed, money's got slightly tighter. I do about 15000-20000 miles a year.
I live in Yorkshire, got family all over, and commute on the b*astard m62 daily to Manchester.
Budget wise I'm pretty broke but recently toying with the idea of getting a mk1/mk2 focus, some great looking models coming through for less than 700 with around 50k+ mileage. I'm thinking one of these would fit the bill, cheap cheerful but mildly comfortable.
Any advice before buying one? Petrol or diesel? Any common faults or should I swerve them like the plague?
Thanks in advance
Original Junglist
So my circumstances have changed, money's got slightly tighter. I do about 15000-20000 miles a year.
I live in Yorkshire, got family all over, and commute on the b*astard m62 daily to Manchester.
Budget wise I'm pretty broke but recently toying with the idea of getting a mk1/mk2 focus, some great looking models coming through for less than 700 with around 50k+ mileage. I'm thinking one of these would fit the bill, cheap cheerful but mildly comfortable.
Any advice before buying one? Petrol or diesel? Any common faults or should I swerve them like the plague?
Thanks in advance
Original Junglist
Hi,
I have Mk1 facelift from 2004. It's 3 door 1.8 16v petrol manual. Bought the car in summer 2015, use it mainly for commuting (cold engine, etc.). It has never missed a beat. Only problem was alternator, so that had to be changed. It has 215K kilometres (I live in Prague), and it still drives very well. Have to say, I drove both MK1 and MK2, and I prefer driving Mk1 - more fun. Although Mk2 feels more grown up, probably will be more comfortable on longer journeys. My car really drives very well, the 1.8 petrol is easily fast enough to keep up with traffic. The best thing with the focus is the handling. Especially in twisties it's really good fun!
The fuel consumption around town isn't great (around 30 mpg), but I don't care much as the overall running costs are really low.
I would say chose petrol, they are quite dependable engines. Avoid automatics and diesels (1.8 non turbo is reliable but slow, the others are unreliable). 1.4 petrol is generally slow. 1.6 petrol is usually the one to go for but there wasn't any nice one when I was buying the car. 2.0 has higher fuel consumption and doesn't have much more power. Therefore I would chose between 1.6 or 1.8 purely on condition.
Look mainly for rust (everywhere), as this is the main problem of Fords of this era. They say that the facelift Mk1 is more rust resistant than the prefacelift, although I found few rust spots on my car as well (around badge on boot lid and front wings).
Good luck!
I have Mk1 facelift from 2004. It's 3 door 1.8 16v petrol manual. Bought the car in summer 2015, use it mainly for commuting (cold engine, etc.). It has never missed a beat. Only problem was alternator, so that had to be changed. It has 215K kilometres (I live in Prague), and it still drives very well. Have to say, I drove both MK1 and MK2, and I prefer driving Mk1 - more fun. Although Mk2 feels more grown up, probably will be more comfortable on longer journeys. My car really drives very well, the 1.8 petrol is easily fast enough to keep up with traffic. The best thing with the focus is the handling. Especially in twisties it's really good fun!
The fuel consumption around town isn't great (around 30 mpg), but I don't care much as the overall running costs are really low.
I would say chose petrol, they are quite dependable engines. Avoid automatics and diesels (1.8 non turbo is reliable but slow, the others are unreliable). 1.4 petrol is generally slow. 1.6 petrol is usually the one to go for but there wasn't any nice one when I was buying the car. 2.0 has higher fuel consumption and doesn't have much more power. Therefore I would chose between 1.6 or 1.8 purely on condition.
Look mainly for rust (everywhere), as this is the main problem of Fords of this era. They say that the facelift Mk1 is more rust resistant than the prefacelift, although I found few rust spots on my car as well (around badge on boot lid and front wings).
Good luck!
I have an MK1 on an 03 plate with smth around 70k miles on in. When I bought it, it only had like 55 k but clutch needed changing. Ever since I've done like 10k miles with it and never had any issues. It's goin for MOT in april and I planned to do a sort of major service on it which includes timing belt. A new set of front brake pads+oil+filter+fanbelt+timing belt kit 207 pounds in total (130 for the timing belt kit alone). So maintenance should not be a problem. Some of them have problems with the dashboard like not showing anything or just jumping around. Usually they are not rusty, but that depends on the car as well. I have the 1.6 Zetec mpg is around 35-40 which is really not bad. They are good cars and luckily enough parts are everywhere and you can get one for buttons 
Good luck!
Good luck!
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