| Product: |
Ford Focus 1.8 LX Estate |
| Date: |
16/05/01 (1376 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Easy to drive
Disadvantages: baby seat won't fit, fuel consumption, restricted rear view
I bought an estate car because we are due to have a baby and thought that the extra boot space would come in handy.
The car is great to drive (but very thirsty around town) and hasn't had any problems apart from when it came to try to get a baby car seat to fit.
Because of the air bag, the (rearward facing) seat has to be fitted into the back. Unfortunately all the standard seats by Graco, etc. do not fit because the seatbelts are too short to fit around the back!
We tried four different ones and none fitted. We asked at the local Ford dealers who said that they couldn't disable the airbag (it's allegedly illegal!) or fit longer belts because they can only get the standard ones.
Eventually we found a couple of different types of car seat where either there is a detachable base that you leave in the car (not ideal) or the lap portion of the belt is routed under the seat.
Summary:
|
Last comments:
 |
- 05/11/03 Shame Ford don't have the feature found on Peugeots (and some others) which lets you disable the passenger airbag by means of a little key-switch on the dash. Doesn't excuse the problem of inadequate seatbelts, but at least it would provide a workaround. |
 |
- 17/07/03 Worthy point, and if this was the purpose of the review then it was successful, however not very much about the car. |
 |
- 08/07/02 Hired the 1.6 version of this from Avis for a week. I have a <1yr old and a 4yr old daughter and had no problem fitting either car seat in the back. Like ahenry says the Britax Club Class (Extra) fits with little effort - in fact it's easier to fit than in my Rover 200!
As to the airbag, afaik you CAN disable the airbag only if the manufacturer has made provision to do so, e.g. the Alfa have a screw-type switch on the door post. Agree about the fuel economy - it's dire! |
View all
6
comments
|
Deutschland 
España 
Italia 
France - 
