Ex-AA driving school Focus

[Angry Sheep]

My mother's after a new car and is quite keen on a Focus. She's looked at one today that she really liked. The problem is, there are lots of signs that it might be ex-AA driving school (1-year-old, 1.6, high mileage, Lombard Direct on the V5, silver, GF registration).

It does seem to be priced well however so she's not totally put off.

It's a Titanium spec with heated seats, cruise control etc. Would a driving school car have such a high spec?

She's arranged to go and test drive it once it's out of the workshop having the brake pads changed. I've told her to pay particular attention to how heavy the clutch is!

[sinizter]

Could be a private driving instructor's car. They could be high spec as some of them also use them as their main personal/family car.

I took my test in one such - that particular instructor only did very little teaching.

[Jimmyarm]

When you say 'high mileage', is it high enough to take it out of Fords 3 year/x miles warranty ?

If it is then I wouldn't want to know unless it was hugely discounted over a similar spec'd one from a stealer.

[neiljohnson]

Check the passenger footwell carefully the trim will be cut at the back to clear the secondary controls, i doubt this will have been replaced it its ex driving school & yes a lot of the AA cars are high spec.

[Blue Oval84]

The car will be fine I'm sure, they don't take as much abuse as people think.

[Angry Sheep]

Jimmyarm said:

When you say 'high mileage', is it high enough to take it out of Fords 3 year/x miles warranty ?

If it is then I wouldn't want to know unless it was hugely discounted over a similar spec'd one from a stealer.

No - 35k, high for a one-year-old car but I think the warranty is 60k.

I wonder if it was just a fleet car which coincidentally is from the same fleet as AA cars and happens to be the same model and engine size.

[Angry Sheep]

Blue Oval84 said:

The car will be fine I'm sure, they don't take as much abuse as people think.

I dunno, I learnt in an AA Focus and I don't think I'd want to buy that one - and I'm sure there were other drivers who gave them more abuse than me!

[Blue Oval84]

Maybe I should re-phrase, MY car didn't get that much abuse!

[YoungOne]

My driving instructor went through 3 clutches in 2 years, but that was a clio.
I'm sure some students must treat them ok, I wouldn't touch it though

[Angry Sheep]

There must be a reason the AA changes them every 6 months. My instructor changed his car while I was learning - his old one was struggling to get into reverse when he got rid. Not good on a nearly new Focus!

[scorcher]

I wouldn't be too worried about 35k on a school of motoring car. My Skoda Fabia VRS has 155000 abused miles on it and drives fine (better than the 35k one we had). Still on its original clutch aswell. Fords are probably a bit more fragile though.

[Shaw Tarse]

Angry Sheep said:

There must be a reason the AA changes them every 6 months.

Could be financial?

Angry Sheep said:

My instructor changed his car while I was learning - his old one was struggling to get into reverse when he got rid. Not good on a nearly new Focus!

I'd be reluctant to buy an ex driving school car, the type of driving they get can't be god for them?

[Angry Sheep]

After my initial reaction of "I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole" I'm now wondering if it'd be ok. It does seem to be the cheapest 2010 Titanium in the country, comes with a warranty and is pretty much what my mother's after.

[Eggman]

Angry Sheep said:

It's a Titanium spec with heated seats, cruise control etc. Would a driving school car have such a high spec?

My brother used to be an AA franchisee and istr that the more senior instructors (like wot he was, fwiw ) got speccier cars, but had to pay extra if they wanted diesel.

He used to get sent a new car every 3 or 4 months due to the rate he clocked up mileage; I don't think there was much wrong with them when they went back, so probably wouldn't have much hesitation about buying one if the price was right. It's not like they've been used as minicabs or anything; the worst you might expect is for the life of the clutch to have been slightly reduced.

[Blue Oval84]

Eggman said:

It's not like they've been used as minicabs or anything; the worst you might expect is for the life of the clutch to have been slightly reduced.

^ What he said.

Let's say that the clutch is now half worn already, it wouldn't be a huge bill to change the clutch on a 1.6 petrol Focus and your mother will still probably get years out of it anyway.

The clutch is the only bit that gets particularly heavy wear, most of the mileage is done on a warm engine too so should be less wear from that regard.

[gareth.e]

I don't think everyones taken into the consideration of mechanical sympathy or anything into consideration..

I've seen some pretty bad people trying to learn to drive.. from crunching gears, stalling 5 times in a row, hitting curbs, 7k hill starts, slipping the clutch on gear changes lol

[Angry Sheep]

I can remember my instructor's Focus was very creaky and had a few niggly things wrong with it when it was replaced. I suppose these will come to light on the test drive.

[Kiltox]

How cheap is it really?

I assume you're buying from a small independent dealer rather than straight from the horses mouth at auction.

[Angry Sheep]

Kiltox said:

How cheap is it really?

I assume you're buying from a small independent dealer rather than straight from the horses mouth at auction.

It's the cheapest of that spec and age on Autotrader. Most (admittedly with lower miles) seem to go for a grand or so more. It's at a big, well known car supermarket.

[Kiltox]

Providing it's not the kind of big car supermarket that denies you a test drive I'd say with some serious scrutiny it could be a good buy.

Make sure it's been serviced enough times by now (mileage based servicing) because I've seen fleet/hire cars miss them and this will void the Ford warranty.