£5k Fun economy petrol: Giulietta 1.4 TB OR Focus 1.6 SCT

[leepox]

I'm looking to get a fun petrol as my address will be a ULEZ area soon. I currently drive a boring saloon but had a 147 before which was great fun in the back roads. So my question is, which one of the two above should I get? I can get those for under £5k (road tax less than £150) but the mileage is looking to be around the 80k miles mark for this budget. So I guess the question is which one has the most reliable engine?

My old 147 ate through suspension components and I'm worried that the Giulietta will do the same given the italian quality of parts. So I'm leaning towards the Focus.

Looking at leasing but I've done zero miles in the last 4 weeks but will be looking at commuting (1 hr) once a week after lockdown lifts so can't justify as I might only do at most 100 miles a month in general use. I just want something that's fun if I have a boring weekend.

Any thoughts?

Edited by leepox on Sunday 7th March 02:00

[craig_m67]

There’s no correlation between the lifespan of the 156/147/GT chocolate suspension and the Giulietta.

Worry not.

I’ve not changed a single piece of my Giulietta QV’s suspension, and it’s about to hit 150K km.
Given I did the 156’s at least three times in as many kays, I am constantly wondering if I should at the very least change the shocks. But there is no noise, squeaks, groans, clunks, nada. And I drive my car everywhere in D. Perhaps a new set of PS4’s though, they really make a difference

Buy the Alfa, and make it the 1750tbi.

[leepox]

craig_m67 said:

There’s no correlation between the lifespan of the 156/147/GT chocolate suspension and the Giulietta.

Worry not.

I’ve not changed a single piece of my Giulietta QV’s suspension, and it’s about to hit 150K km.
Given I did the 156’s at least three times in as many kays, I am constantly wondering if I should at the very least change the shocks. But there is no noise, squeaks, groans, clunks, nada. And I drive my car everywhere in D. Perhaps a new set of PS4’s though, they really make a difference

Buy the Alfa, and make it the 1750tbi.

Your description of chocolate suspension made me chuckle. I had two 147's and I can only attest to it.

I'd really like the 1750tbi but they're really rare and is way beyond my budget (plus higher tax band and insurance) as I'm looking at 2013+ models. At that price point I would be really tempted to get a Focus ST as I drove them before and they really are great handling cars

[Jonny_]

The Giulietta in 170bhp 1.4tb form is plenty quick enough to be fun, and they're reliable cars as long as they get serviced properly. Our 2010 Giulietta is up to 120000 miles now and still runs and drives beautifully. The 1.4 Multiair engine is brilliant, it's very smooth, plenty of torque at low rpm, and - unusually for a turbocharged four - sounds quite pleasant as well.

Our car needed bottom arms and drop links around 100k (replaced these myself), front springs, shocks and top mounts around 115k (done by a garage as I loathe and fear spring compressors!). Engine has required nothing beyond regular servicing. Tailgate wiring loom is a known weak point on these cars, it's a £70 part and replacement DIYable if a bit fiddly.

The Multiair units have been known to fail on early cars, this is almost always related to oil. Preventative measure is to use the correct (albeit quite expensive) Selenia oil, service at 9000 rather than 18000 miles, and clean/replace the Multiair unit inlet strainer each time. Again all servicing has been DIY, generally a doddle other than having to undo about a million bolts to get the undertray off and access the sump plug!

[ZX10R NIN]

They're both good cars, I'd agree with the above in that servicing both every 10k will make them fair better in terms of engine reliability.

When looking for an SCTI try to find the 180bhp models, they're rare but worth seeking out.

Titanium X 180

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102259...

Titanium X 150

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101218...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103069...

Titanium 150

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101278...

I really like the Focus but in this case I'd go for Giulietta in Veloce form:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102209...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012187...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103049...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102239...

[Boringvolvodriver]

Had the 170 Alfa with the auto as a company car for a couple of years and can highly recommend- never felt too slow and the handling was fun! In fact I suspect I could have pushed it harder but I lacked the courage!

Would go for the Alfa rather than the Focus just because they are not as common on the roads.

[leepox]

Jonny_ said:

The Giulietta in 170bhp 1.4tb form is plenty quick enough to be fun, and they're reliable cars as long as they get serviced properly. Our 2010 Giulietta is up to 120000 miles now and still runs and drives beautifully. The 1.4 Multiair engine is brilliant, it's very smooth, plenty of torque at low rpm, and - unusually for a turbocharged four - sounds quite pleasant as well.

Our car needed bottom arms and drop links around 100k (replaced these myself), front springs, shocks and top mounts around 115k (done by a garage as I loathe and fear spring compressors!). Engine has required nothing beyond regular servicing. Tailgate wiring loom is a known weak point on these cars, it's a £70 part and replacement DIYable if a bit fiddly.

The Multiair units have been known to fail on early cars, this is almost always related to oil. Preventative measure is to use the correct (albeit quite expensive) Selenia oil, service at 9000 rather than 18000 miles, and clean/replace the Multiair unit inlet strainer each time. Again all servicing has been DIY, generally a doddle other than having to undo about a million bolts to get the undertray off and access the sump plug!

Thanks for the info Jonny, that's exactly what I like to hear. Was really not sure about the Multi Air engine, but as you've said it looks like 2013 onwards seem to have addressed the issue. Front suspension parts I always agree are consumables. Either the upper or lower wishbones or drop links. They're easy enough jobs now that I've got tools and done them many times now (again thanks 147). Plus I service my cars every 8-10k miles. I guess I will hope to find one with a good example and FSH from main dealer ideally so at least I can assume they've been using the right oil. And then as with most of my cars, I always drive them up to around the 150-200k miles mark before selling off maybe in 5 years... so far my car ownership using this strategy has always been cheaper than leasing/pcp/etc.

I've also heard that these engines do mid 40's on a motorway run, is that correct?

[leepox]

ZX10R NIN said:

They're both good cars, I'd agree with the above in that servicing both every 10k will make them fair better in terms of engine reliability.

When looking for an SCTI try to find the 180bhp models, they're rare but worth seeking out.

That 180bhp... extra 10bhp from the alfa makes them pretty intriguing. Thanks a lot for taking the effort to list options, I've put them on my save list and will start making a decision in the next few days

[Jonny_]

leepox said:

Thanks for the info Jonny, that's exactly what I like to hear. Was really not sure about the Multi Air engine, but as you've said it looks like 2013 onwards seem to have addressed the issue. Front suspension parts I always agree are consumables. Either the upper or lower wishbones or drop links. They're easy enough jobs now that I've got tools and done them many times now (again thanks 147). Plus I service my cars every 8-10k miles. I guess I will hope to find one with a good example and FSH from main dealer ideally so at least I can assume they've been using the right oil. And then as with most of my cars, I always drive them up to around the 150-200k miles mark before selling off maybe in 5 years... so far my car ownership using this strategy has always been cheaper than leasing/pcp/etc.

I've also heard that these engines do mid 40's on a motorway run, is that correct?

I reckon mid 40s should be doable on a decent motorway run. Ours doesn't do many long drives, it's mostly driven by my fiance, and rarely does more than a 20 mile run. On the odd occasion I've taken it further afield it's got into the low 40s - and will undoubtedly be capable of more if driven gently, only I can't resist hoofing the thing at every opportunity

This one has been with us for close to 4 years now, and despite her sliding the poor car into a kerb when we had the snow and costing me £900 to put right the suspension/wheel/tyre damage , it's averaged out at just under £195 a month (inclusive of initial purchase price, and exclusive of resale value - if we sold it today for £2k, it'd work out at £150 a month).

[leepox]

Jonny_ said:

I reckon mid 40s should be doable on a decent motorway run. Ours doesn't do many long drives, it's mostly driven by my fiance, and rarely does more than a 20 mile run. On the odd occasion I've taken it further afield it's got into the low 40s - and will undoubtedly be capable of more if driven gently, only I can't resist hoofing the thing at every opportunity

This one has been with us for close to 4 years now, and despite her sliding the poor car into a kerb when we had the snow and costing me £900 to put right the suspension/wheel/tyre damage , it's averaged out at just under £195 a month (inclusive of initial purchase price, and exclusive of resale value - if we sold it today for £2k, it'd work out at £150 a month).

Wow. That's pretty good value (especially if it did not slide onto a kerb). Also I do a lot of long miles on weekends for outdoor stuff so it even becomes better value given that I would probably exceed the 10k miles per year once lockdown ends.