£490 MK1 Focus zetec shed
Discussion
After the engine in my i40 went pop in April I was left in a bit of a quandary about what to get next. I've had a string of seemingly nice but ultimately unreliable cars that have cost me a fortune in repairs and depreciation and as much as I usually enjoy car shopping I was just sick of cars completely by this point.
I toyed with the idea of getting something nearly new with warranty or maybe a cheap lease but the idea of a long term financial commitment just wasn't floating my boat.
Eventually I decided to try shedding for a bit, get something under a grand, keep it for a year while I save and mull over what to get next. I've been scouring eBay, gumtree and Facebook marketplace for weeks and then yesterday this popped up, 1.5 miles from my house.
I do love an advert with rubbish pictures for some reason! I arranged to see it this morning and as I was due to do a run anyway I incorporated my weekly 5k into it and so it would have to be a right heap for me to not buy it and walk home.
So off I went with £500 in my pocket and only got moderately drenched to find a really nice, straight, clean Focus waiting for me.
A quick test drive revealed the clutch is a little on the high side but wasn't slipping so had plenty of life, no knocks or anything untoward from the suspension, what little equipment there was worked, I was happy as Larry!
A deal was struck for £500 but the PO gave me £10 back as he felt bad about there being not much fuel in it. The light wasn't even on! Proper nice chap and he threw in a Haynes manual for it, though the fact he had one can be interpreted as a positive or a negative 😂.
So home I drove with my new purchase, other than the brief test drive this was the first time I had driven a MK1 Focus and I love it! Obvs not much power from the 1.6 petrol lump but it handles so well for a 17 year old car on mismatched budget tyres, I'm really, really pleased with it.
So plans? Nothing! I'm trying to resist the urge to buy bits for it like mats and such and just stick to the full shed life. It needs new wipers desperately and the back tyres are cracked to buggery so they'll have to be changed but other than that I'll just drive it and enjoy having a car that cost me less than the VED of the golf R32 I had a few years ago.
I toyed with the idea of getting something nearly new with warranty or maybe a cheap lease but the idea of a long term financial commitment just wasn't floating my boat.
Eventually I decided to try shedding for a bit, get something under a grand, keep it for a year while I save and mull over what to get next. I've been scouring eBay, gumtree and Facebook marketplace for weeks and then yesterday this popped up, 1.5 miles from my house.
I do love an advert with rubbish pictures for some reason! I arranged to see it this morning and as I was due to do a run anyway I incorporated my weekly 5k into it and so it would have to be a right heap for me to not buy it and walk home.
So off I went with £500 in my pocket and only got moderately drenched to find a really nice, straight, clean Focus waiting for me.
A quick test drive revealed the clutch is a little on the high side but wasn't slipping so had plenty of life, no knocks or anything untoward from the suspension, what little equipment there was worked, I was happy as Larry!
A deal was struck for £500 but the PO gave me £10 back as he felt bad about there being not much fuel in it. The light wasn't even on! Proper nice chap and he threw in a Haynes manual for it, though the fact he had one can be interpreted as a positive or a negative 😂.
So home I drove with my new purchase, other than the brief test drive this was the first time I had driven a MK1 Focus and I love it! Obvs not much power from the 1.6 petrol lump but it handles so well for a 17 year old car on mismatched budget tyres, I'm really, really pleased with it.
So plans? Nothing! I'm trying to resist the urge to buy bits for it like mats and such and just stick to the full shed life. It needs new wipers desperately and the back tyres are cracked to buggery so they'll have to be changed but other than that I'll just drive it and enjoy having a car that cost me less than the VED of the golf R32 I had a few years ago.
Alfahorn said:
Love it. Cracking car.
Regarding rubbish ads. My 147 bought for £500 was poorly advertised with rubbish pictures and virtually no information and it's proved to be a great buy.
My Mk2 Focus was a bit like that, no pics as the trader hadn't got round to doing any and has proved to be a cracking car, as I put in my thread it sailed through the MOT yesterday with only advisories on tyres and the EML, not a bad showing for a 13 year old car with nearly 200k on the clock. Regarding rubbish ads. My 147 bought for £500 was poorly advertised with rubbish pictures and virtually no information and it's proved to be a great buy.
Eyersey1234 said:
Alfahorn said:
Love it. Cracking car.
Regarding rubbish ads. My 147 bought for £500 was poorly advertised with rubbish pictures and virtually no information and it's proved to be a great buy.
My Mk2 Focus was a bit like that, no pics as the trader hadn't got round to doing any and has proved to be a cracking car, as I put in my thread it sailed through the MOT yesterday with only advisories on tyres and the EML, not a bad showing for a 13 year old car with nearly 200k on the clock. Regarding rubbish ads. My 147 bought for £500 was poorly advertised with rubbish pictures and virtually no information and it's proved to be a great buy.
Great purchase for not a lot of money, mk1's have great handling,I know you don't want to spend any money on it but a decent service, which you can do yourself on the drive, will make the engine happier, they benefit from decent matched tyres too, I've had a few and currently have two mk2's, any help or advice just shout!!!
Great vfm, seems like you got a good one for the price, interior looks cleaner than mine.
I will be honest, am a MK1 focus fanboy as I drive one. Was used for a tip run today, rear seats down and carried loads of junk with ease!
You will be surprised how nippy these cars are, mine is a 1.8 manual but I think the 1.6 is the most popular esp in Zetec trim.
I will be honest, am a MK1 focus fanboy as I drive one. Was used for a tip run today, rear seats down and carried loads of junk with ease!
You will be surprised how nippy these cars are, mine is a 1.8 manual but I think the 1.6 is the most popular esp in Zetec trim.
Thanks for the shed love all!
I haven't driven it yet since collecting it as I'm waiting until July 1st to tax it, fully embracing shed money-grubbing and I don't want to lose a months tax for the sake of waiting a few days!
When I've got some time I want to have a bit of a poke about and check the air filter, plugs etc to see if I can find out if it's had any kind of maintenance lately - I've got no history to speak of. There's some home servicing on the cards I think, never done one before but always wanted to learn and this seems as good a learning tool as any.
I haven't driven it yet since collecting it as I'm waiting until July 1st to tax it, fully embracing shed money-grubbing and I don't want to lose a months tax for the sake of waiting a few days!
When I've got some time I want to have a bit of a poke about and check the air filter, plugs etc to see if I can find out if it's had any kind of maintenance lately - I've got no history to speak of. There's some home servicing on the cards I think, never done one before but always wanted to learn and this seems as good a learning tool as any.
Eyersey1234 said:
Nice car OP well bought.
Cheers Eyersey, I've been following your thread for a while and I had a read through it from the start recently as part of my shed research!steveo3002 said:
they all seem to have a high clutch , i got ours replaced as didnt trust it and the new one is much the same
Yeah I'm hoping it's mainly just a quirk of the car having never had one before so we'll see how it goes, fingers crossed Alfahorn said:
Love it. Cracking car.
Regarding rubbish ads. My 147 bought for £500 was poorly advertised with rubbish pictures and virtually no information and it's proved to be a great buy.
My thinking is hopefully I've stumbled on someone who isn't tech savvy and doesn't know what the car is really worth because if they can't work a camera and write an ad properly they won't be able to trawl other used car ads and realise they've under-priced it! Lots of wishful thinking in there but it's all part of the fun innit?Regarding rubbish ads. My 147 bought for £500 was poorly advertised with rubbish pictures and virtually no information and it's proved to be a great buy.
Bobberoo99 said:
Great purchase for not a lot of money, mk1's have great handling,I know you don't want to spend any money on it but a decent service, which you can do yourself on the drive, will make the engine happier, they benefit from decent matched tyres too, I've had a few and currently have two mk2's, any help or advice just shout!!!
Thanks for that, I've got a feeling i'll be asking for help and/or advice sooner rather than later!VR99 said:
Great vfm, seems like you got a good one for the price, interior looks cleaner than mine.
I will be honest, am a MK1 focus fanboy as I drive one. Was used for a tip run today, rear seats down and carried loads of junk with ease!
You will be surprised how nippy these cars are, mine is a 1.8 manual but I think the 1.6 is the most popular esp in Zetec trim.
I was surprised at how nippy it was, I guess that's down to the low weight. It does look really tidy for the age and miles. I've always been a fan of the MK1 Focus but they were a bit off my shed radar as everything I'd seen was rusty as flip and I was certain I wouldn't find a good one. I've not had it up on a ramp or anything but all the areas I can see look rot-free so I'm very happy to have been proven wrong!I will be honest, am a MK1 focus fanboy as I drive one. Was used for a tip run today, rear seats down and carried loads of junk with ease!
You will be surprised how nippy these cars are, mine is a 1.8 manual but I think the 1.6 is the most popular esp in Zetec trim.
Exciting times in focusland, I actually had 15 minutes relative peace (relative because I had my 3 year old with me but hey ho) so I set about replacing the wipers which were completely shot.
Before:
After:
Fancy Bosch aerothingies cos I'm a tart, much better!
Next I decided to have a poke about to see if it's had any kind of maintenance lately so checked the pollen filter:
Yeah....
How about the air filter:
Not too bad to be fair, I think I'll replace it anyway because it's cheap and a piece of proverbial wee wee to change.
I was running out of time and the 3 year old was running out of patience so I checked the new wipers worked which they did spiffingly, however it revealed the rear washer doesn't work and water was p*ssing out of the interior trim around the roof of the boot. Such is shed life!
Before:
After:
Fancy Bosch aerothingies cos I'm a tart, much better!
Next I decided to have a poke about to see if it's had any kind of maintenance lately so checked the pollen filter:
Yeah....
How about the air filter:
Not too bad to be fair, I think I'll replace it anyway because it's cheap and a piece of proverbial wee wee to change.
I was running out of time and the 3 year old was running out of patience so I checked the new wipers worked which they did spiffingly, however it revealed the rear washer doesn't work and water was p*ssing out of the interior trim around the roof of the boot. Such is shed life!
JackThrust said:
Exciting times in focusland, I actually had 15 minutes relative peace (relative because I had my 3 year old with me but hey ho) so I set about replacing the wipers which were completely shot.
Before:
After:
Fancy Bosch aerothingies cos I'm a tart, much better!
Next I decided to have a poke about to see if it's had any kind of maintenance lately so checked the pollen filter:
Yeah....
How about the air filter:
Not too bad to be fair, I think I'll replace it anyway because it's cheap and a piece of proverbial wee wee to change.
I was running out of time and the 3 year old was running out of patience so I checked the new wipers worked which they did spiffingly, however it revealed the rear washer doesn't work and water was p*ssing out of the interior trim around the roof of the boot. Such is shed life!
If my ageing memory serves me, i think the wash wipe tube pulls off the connector for the boot lid, just manipulate the rubber grommet out at the top of the aperture and that's wher your problem will be!!! Before:
After:
Fancy Bosch aerothingies cos I'm a tart, much better!
Next I decided to have a poke about to see if it's had any kind of maintenance lately so checked the pollen filter:
Yeah....
How about the air filter:
Not too bad to be fair, I think I'll replace it anyway because it's cheap and a piece of proverbial wee wee to change.
I was running out of time and the 3 year old was running out of patience so I checked the new wipers worked which they did spiffingly, however it revealed the rear washer doesn't work and water was p*ssing out of the interior trim around the roof of the boot. Such is shed life!
VR99 said:
Is it fairly easy to switch the wipers? The wipers on mine are likely done too as they are the originals and 16 yrs old now...squeak a lot. Your wipers have inspired me..think I should do the same!
Simple, just a slide and click fit, pull the wiper away from the screen until the arm is 90 degrees to the screen, grasp the arm towards the wiper end and you'll see the wiper literally just slides up into a u-shaped catch at the end of the arm.Bobberoo99 said:
VR99 said:
Is it fairly easy to switch the wipers? The wipers on mine are likely done too as they are the originals and 16 yrs old now...squeak a lot. Your wipers have inspired me..think I should do the same!
Simple, just a slide and click fit, pull the wiper away from the screen until the arm is 90 degrees to the screen, grasp the arm towards the wiper end and you'll see the wiper literally just slides up into a u-shaped catch at the end of the arm.JackThrust said:
.
Next I decided to have a poke about to see if it's had any kind of maintenance lately so checked the pollen filter:
Make sure you check the scuttle above the filter is still sealed to the windscreen now you've disturbed it. These are notorious for leaking as the rain pours down the glass under the scuttle and straight through the pollen filter. You then end up with a very wet passenger footwell.Next I decided to have a poke about to see if it's had any kind of maintenance lately so checked the pollen filter:
Ford sell the part to reseal it but its only a piece of 4 or 5mm double sided foam so you could use something suitable in the garage/shed/wherever instead if necessary.
Bobberoo99 said:
If my ageing memory serves me, i think the wash wipe tube pulls off the connector for the boot lid, just manipulate the rubber grommet out at the top of the aperture and that's wher your problem will be!!!
Thanks, I'll have a mooch at that, I'd rather not have to start taking bits off trim off as I'm a bit cack-handed at the best of times VR99 said:
Is it fairly easy to switch the wipers? The wipers on mine are likely done too as they are the originals and 16 yrs old now...squeak a lot. Your wipers have inspired me..think I should do the same!
It is pretty straightforward however the new ones I used were a bit of a pain to get on. The Focus has a little kink in the wiper arm near the end with the blade and these bosch ones didn't seem to like that, I got them on in the end though and they work really well.RenPug said:
Make sure you check the scuttle above the filter is still sealed to the windscreen now you've disturbed it. These are notorious for leaking as the rain pours down the glass under the scuttle and straight through the pollen filter. You then end up with a very wet passenger footwell.
Ford sell the part to reseal it but its only a piece of 4 or 5mm double sided foam so you could use something suitable in the garage/shed/wherever instead if necessary.
Thanks for the tip, see above about cack-handedness! The bit by the windscreen still looked attached pretty well but i'll double check it when I replace the filter.Ford sell the part to reseal it but its only a piece of 4 or 5mm double sided foam so you could use something suitable in the garage/shed/wherever instead if necessary.
I've managed to do it a bit more fettling with the Focus, as usual it's 2 steps forwards and 2, maybe 3 back
First up changing the manky pollen and air filters, new items acquired:
New air filter in
Old one was pretty minging
no picture of the new pollen filter in 'cos it was a bit of a b*gger and I coudn't be bothered!
Next I turned my attention to music, I really CBA with having loads of CDs about the place and all of my music is on my phone these days. My options were either replace the standard head unit which isn't too hard or get a cheap dodgy chinesium FM bluetooth transmiter thing off eBay. As this is shedland there was only one answer so off to eBay I went!
There are loads of these things about and after getting distracted by hilarious marketing material such as this:
I finally settled on a likely looking candidate and a couple of days later it turned up
Looks alright to be fair and where the cigarette lighter is mounted on the Focus dash it would be within easy reach for me. So much anticipation and I plugged it in
Absolutely chuff all! I was just thinking about what I would put in my negetive eBay feedback when I remembered a friend who had a Fiesta of a similar vintage that always used to blow the cigarette lighter fuse, so a quick google revealed the location of said fuse and sure enough
Winner winner chicken dinner.
So off I went to my fuse collection to find all I had were flipping mini-blades, urgh!
While all this was going on my 3 year old son was "helping fix daddy's car" and messing about inside as he likes to do, however he managed to leave the lights on, I didn't notice and a few days later when I went to fit the new fuse I had acquired it was completely dead. Yay! I drafted in a friend to jump start it and it's been fine since so that's something at least.
New duse duly fitted it was time to try again
Great success! The sound quality is actually pretty good so now I have bluetooth music streaming in my old shed for the princely sum of £8.99.
Flushed with success I treated it to a full tank of fuel and a trip to maccies where I discovered the cup holders are really, really good!
Takes a large cup easily, doesn't get in the way of your arm when you change gear like most modern centre console jobs, lovely stuff.
This was somewhat tempered by the stench of petrol that gradually appeared on the golden arches sojourn and by the time I got home it just reeked of fuel. Quick gander underneath and I could see fuel leaking down the back of the tank.
B*gger.
First up changing the manky pollen and air filters, new items acquired:
New air filter in
Old one was pretty minging
no picture of the new pollen filter in 'cos it was a bit of a b*gger and I coudn't be bothered!
Next I turned my attention to music, I really CBA with having loads of CDs about the place and all of my music is on my phone these days. My options were either replace the standard head unit which isn't too hard or get a cheap dodgy chinesium FM bluetooth transmiter thing off eBay. As this is shedland there was only one answer so off to eBay I went!
There are loads of these things about and after getting distracted by hilarious marketing material such as this:
I finally settled on a likely looking candidate and a couple of days later it turned up
Looks alright to be fair and where the cigarette lighter is mounted on the Focus dash it would be within easy reach for me. So much anticipation and I plugged it in
Absolutely chuff all! I was just thinking about what I would put in my negetive eBay feedback when I remembered a friend who had a Fiesta of a similar vintage that always used to blow the cigarette lighter fuse, so a quick google revealed the location of said fuse and sure enough
Winner winner chicken dinner.
So off I went to my fuse collection to find all I had were flipping mini-blades, urgh!
While all this was going on my 3 year old son was "helping fix daddy's car" and messing about inside as he likes to do, however he managed to leave the lights on, I didn't notice and a few days later when I went to fit the new fuse I had acquired it was completely dead. Yay! I drafted in a friend to jump start it and it's been fine since so that's something at least.
New duse duly fitted it was time to try again
Great success! The sound quality is actually pretty good so now I have bluetooth music streaming in my old shed for the princely sum of £8.99.
Flushed with success I treated it to a full tank of fuel and a trip to maccies where I discovered the cup holders are really, really good!
Takes a large cup easily, doesn't get in the way of your arm when you change gear like most modern centre console jobs, lovely stuff.
This was somewhat tempered by the stench of petrol that gradually appeared on the golden arches sojourn and by the time I got home it just reeked of fuel. Quick gander underneath and I could see fuel leaking down the back of the tank.
B*gger.
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