| Product: |
Ford Focus CL in general |
| Date: |
16/11/02 (1311 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Economical, Nice drive
Disadvantages: Early days
I have only owned my Focus for about a month so you need to bear in mind this review is based on first impressions. As with my previous car review I will update it regularly when things go wrong, hopefully not!
I bought my 1999 V plate Focus 1.8CL Diesel for £4,950 which sounds very cheap, but it has done 70k miles which means it is a reasonable price.
I did a lot of research on the internet before buying, the Ford Diesel unit which the Focus uses is well tried and tested being based on an old design, a bit harsh compared to modern versions but it is strong enough to easily last to 150k miles and beyond so I wasn't too concerned buying such a high mileage unit.
It is important if buying a high miler to make sure you get service history (FSH) and my Focus has this.
The car was in general in good condition for the mileage, a few stone chips on the bonnet and the gear knob had a small scratch on top of it, nothing else too major.
I never owned a diesel before but decided to get this one as my wife is expecting and we wanted a reasonable sized car which was going to be cheap to run. The Focus is group 6 insurance and will do over 50mpg so that was a big selling point. It also just fits into my garage which is handy.
I was amazed how refined the engine seemed when test driving the car and this really sold it for me. It is a bit noisy when idling but once on the open road you really can barely hear the engine, maybe this is just down to lots of soundproofing but I certainly was impressed.
Looks
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Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder so this is very much objective, either you like it or you don't. Personally I like the look of the car which is different to most cars out there but perhaps the back end is a bit ugly.
Also the car is getting ever more common so if you want to stand out then this is not the car to do it in. There aren't that many colours to choose
from either but mine is a purpley-blue colour which is quite unusual in Focus circles.
Driving
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This is surprisingly good, from the driving position to road holding and performance. You sit quite high up giving a commanding view but the car is very solid on the road, little body roll and what's more for a diesel it is pretty quick. Handling is very good with the power steering being just the right weight.
The bare stats of 0-60 in just over 12 seconds don't sound good and this is mainly due to 1st gear being quite short but once you get over 30mph the torque is excellent. This means you can overtake very well in 3rd gear and the car pulls well up to 70mph, I imagine it would do well towing also.
Only drawback is that you can't see the end of the bonnet as it curves away and it is a little tricky judging the position of the back of the car as the large rear pillars give a slightly claustrophobic feel. This is something you do get used to though and not a major drawback.
Economy
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So far I am getting about 45 mpg and that is mainly town driving and when I do get on the open road I am not driving slowly so the figures are good so far.
Servicing intervals are every 10k miles or yearly and a serice will cost from £65 - £99 so this is pretty cheap as well.
Interior
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Plenty of room in the front and the passengers I have carried in the back have commented on how spacious and comfortable the ride is. Certainly the suspension is comfortable yet firm enough to take the corners well.
The boot is a decent size and the rear seats can be folded down in numerous ways to incorporate larger payloads.
General
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The only niggles I have are minor. I am quite tall and have banged my knee a few times getting into the car on the corner of the dashboard. Since moving the seat back this seems to have stopped happening.
The dashboard is well laid out and attractive being a leather effect but it is curved so you can't put things onto it. The glove box is big enough to take my junk however.
The steering wheel is very good, might not sound important but it's fairly small and I find it makes the car more fun to drive, not like my old Corsa with it's bus-like steering wheel!
Another niggle is the car seems quite prone to steaming up, the air conditioning sorts this out but the normal fans seem a bit weedy.
The car is very well built and has scored well in the NCap tests which is reassuring when carrying children.
There is an imobiliser as standard and other good security features like a locking bonnet.
Features
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My Focus came with the following:
Heated front and rear screens -
very handy when it's frosty, word of caution is to check there are no stone chips in the windscreen as this can be an MOT failure and a new screen (heated) is around £400
Air Conditioning -
This is very handy when it is wet and you are getting steamed up, probably useful when it's hot too but I have yet to encounter such conditions! Careful with this as it does affect fuel consumption.
Electric mirrors and windows -
Just for lazy people like me, but very intuitive to change the mirror settings.
Overall I recommend this car to most people, being all the things you would want from a small-medium family car. I have been a bit stingy in my ratings but will change that in a few months time.
So far I have had to replace a brake lamp and the wiper blades, the usual things you expect to go wrong on any car.
Summary:
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