... We’ve given you a Ford Focus diesel instead.”
Ah well. You can’t crib really (at least not TOO much) as it does state in the hire contract that they can substitute a car in the same group as you have booked.
Thus it was that the mad cabbie and family ended up driving around in a Ford Focus ... Read review
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A review by the_mad_cabbie on Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi July 12th, 2004
Author's Car rating:
Safety
Good
Comfort
Good
Road Handling
Excellent
Security
Good
Looks
Satisfactory
Advantages:
Comfortable, versatile, economic . Good resale values .
Disadvantages:
Lack of boot space . It's STILL a diesel !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full car review
~ ~ I might have known I wouldn’t get what I had asked for! What am I talking about? The seeming inability of car hire companies to give you the car you have booked with them. This year it was the turn of Budget Car Hire at Toulouse Airport in southern France. “Sorry sir. We don’t have a new model Renault Megane available this morning. We’ve given you a Ford Focus diesel instead.” Ah well. You can’t crib really (at least not TOO much) as it does state in the hire contract that they can substitute a car in the same group as you have booked. Thus it was that the mad cabbie and family ended up driving around in a Ford Focus for a fortnight while on holiday down in the Basque region of France. (St. Jean de Luz, just south of Biarittz) Or more specifically, a brand new Ford Focus 1.8 LX TDCi with just over 1,000 kilometres on the clock. (At least, at the start of the holiday!)
~ ~ My first impression of the car wasn’t great. At first glance, the Focus looks like a small car, and this was borne out when I began to load the holiday luggage, especially my golf clubs. In my own car (Nissan Maxima) I always load my tournament golf bag first, placing it lengthways across the back of the boot, and then loading in any bags and suitcases in front of it. I can even manage this trick in my wife’s Nissan Primera. But there was no way my golf clubs were fitting into the Ford Focus in this way. Instead, I had to lower one of the rear seats, which meant they were intruding through onto the passenger cabin. This caused untold hassle throughout the entire holiday, as it meant that my (expensive) golf equipment was constantly on open view, and I couldn’t leave the car parked anywhere out of my sight for fear of theft! The Focus took the rest of the luggage without too much problem, but certainly I could never consider it as a potential purchase if for no other reason that my golf clubs simply didn’t fit properly in the boot as the car wasn’t wide enough. God only knows how you would manage if you were going on a golfing holiday with a couple of mates, and you had to fit not one but three sets of golf clubs into the back! One plus was that the car was a 5-door hatchback, and you could easily remove the shelf in the back window to give yourself a wee bit more space.
~ ~ My first impression of the car’s appearance wasn’t great either. “A tin box on wheels” was my first thought, and the rounded bonnet and general appearance of the vehicle didn’t do a lot for me, or set the old pulse racing. (Unlike the Alfa Romeo 156 I had on hire in Italy a couple of years back!) This was borne out when I actually got behind the wheel and started driving. I don’t like a car where the front of the bonnet isn’t visible from the driver’s seat, and this is the case in the Focus. It means that you are never too sure of your position on the road, and this can cause you major hassle especially when you are parking a car that you’re not used to driving. But the overall visibility in relation to other cars was OK.
~ ~ In fairness, the interior of the Focus belies its exterior “tin box” appearance. The first thing that struck me on sitting into the car was its spaciousness, and the comfortable seats and driving position. The driver’s seat adjusts up and down and backwards and forwards, and the steering wheel is adjustable, so with a bit of fiddling you’ll soon get in a good driving position that suits you. There’s plenty of room for the driver and front seat passenger to get comfy, and my wife seemed to be happy and comfortable enough in the back seat. (At least, she said she was!) As with most cars in this class, you wouldn’t want to be going too far with three fully grown adults in the rear though, unless they were into close encounters. (It would be a VERY tight fit) But there’s plenty of room for two grown-ups with the legroom behind the front seats being reasonable. The controls were all easily accessible, and one feature I particularly liked was that the radio/cassette/CD player could be controlled from a stalk on the side of the steering wheel. Volume, station, roaming, and presets could all be easily accessed without ever having to take your eyes of the road or your hands of the steering wheel. This is a great safety feature, which Renault were first to introduce in their cars back in the 1980’s (I had it in a 1984 model Renault 25) and which many other manufacturers now appear to be copying.
~ ~ Front electric windows and mirrors were standard, and there were airbags for both the driver and front seat passenger. Mind you, the windows weren’t opened that much, as we used the (very effective) air conditioning system to keep us cool when the temperature inside the car became unbearable. A wee word of advice to anyone hiring a holiday car in a hot climate. NEVER be tempted to hire one without air-con in an attempt to save a few pounds or Euro! Air-con is an essential in really hot weather, and provides welcome relief when you’ve been trudging around somewhere in hot weather. It’s like stepping into a cold shower it’s so refreshing. Another thing I liked were the two drink holders in the front. A cool soft drink is a must on a long drive in hot weather, and my wee lass and I kept well stocked up on Fanta Orange and Diet Coke to slake our thirst. (Why does Fanta Orange taste SO much better on the Continent than in Ireland or the UK, by the way??) The Focus even had an optional drink holder located between the front seats for the rear passenger. I say “optional” as it was cleverly hidden away under the rear seat ashtray, which when removed revealed the drink holder. (My clever wee lass discovered this) It also had an extra electrical socket (cigarette lighter) in the back seat, which you can use to operate things like travelling kettles, or to recharge your mobile. (Handy) A smallish glove compartment, but it had plenty of little nooks and crannies (side of the doors, behind the gear lever) for stowing things like maps, brochures, sunglasses, mobile phones, etc.
~ ~ On our first night in France we were hit by a thunder and lightning storm while we were out at dinner. Even with the blower on full and the air-con working the windscreen was still badly affected by condensation, making driving difficult due to the poor visibility. But this is no problem with the Focus, as it’s fitted with a heated windscreen as well as the standard heated rear window. A flick of the switch, and the glass both front and rear was as clear as a bell. This is the first time I’ve had to use this feature on a car, and I was VERY impressed. Less impressive (at least at first) was the lever to open the bonnet. Or should I say, the LACK of a lever to open the bonnet! We ran out of windscreen washer fluid, so I filled a large plastic bottle one morning and went down to refill it. After a fruitless hunt all around the cabin for the bonnet release switch I had to eventually admit defeat, and resort to looking it up in the owner’s manual. No luck there, as it was all in French, and I simply couldn’t work it out. (Stupid mad cabbie!) Enter my wee lass, who discovered that it’s operated by a hidden lock under the little Ford logo badge on the front grille of the car! I was fit to be tied by this stage, but on reflection have to admit that it’s a clever idea, and could possibly stop your car from being nicked, as it would be very hard for a potential thief to discover unless they were familiar with this particular model of car.
~ ~ OK. What was it like to drive? Let it be said from the outset that (unlike most taxi drivers!) I’m not particularly a big fan of diesel-powered cars. I prefer the extra “oomph” you get with a petrol engine, and am quite happy to pay the extra cost of the fuel in order to achieve this. But I have to admit that of all the diesel cars I have driven the Ford Focus has to be one of the best. You still get that slightly tractor-like growl when you first start it up, and the engine noise is fairly harsh for the first few miles until the engine warms up and reaches its optimum running temperature. But after that you would be hard pushed to even realise that it was an “oil burner” you were driving. Even on a French motorway at speeds in excess of 100mph (OK, I know!) you could hold a conversation with ease without shouting at each other the engine noise was so unobtrusive. Also, the wind noise from the doors and windows was practically non-existent.
~ ~ Engine power was great. It has to be noted that this is a 115bhp, direct injection, 1.8-litre (1753cc) turbo-charged diesel engine, but even having said that I was a bit surprised at just how responsive it was, and the good acceleration. Diesel engines tend to have a wee bit more torque (pulling power) than their petrol equivalents, and the Focus had it in spades. If you felt like giving it a rip, you could reach the 60mph mark in less than 11 seconds, (10.74 to be precise) and it would carry you onto a top speed in excess of 120mph. 122mph is the quoted top speed, although I never tried to prove it. (Although I did hit 110mph or thereabouts on the odd occasion!) The Focus has a highly versatile 5-speed manual gearbox. I say versatile, because it was just as happy chugging along at 25mph in fifth gear as it was at over 100mph. And the pulling power was great right through all the gears, especially if you were overtaking. Drop it into fourth and floor the pedal and it blasted past nearly everything in sight. (OK. Maybe NOT the Ferrari we spotted in Biarittz. Heh, heh) Front wheel drive (most cars are these days) so the road holding was grand, although it has to be said I’m not really inclined to take corners like Michael Schumaker. But certainly I always felt totally in control, and never at any time in danger of losing the run of the car.
~ ~ Now comes the good bit. This car will run practically forever on a full tank of diesel! OK, obviously that’s a slight exaggeration, but you WILL be getting out your wallet far less frequently with a diesel than with a petrol car, at least to fill it with fuel. Quoted consumption figures are somewhere around the 40 miles plus per gallon around town, and about 65 miles per gallon on a long run. This gives an average fuel consumption figure of around 51 miles per gallon. Even driving it very hard on the French motorways, I reckon I was averaging about 45 miles per gallon. This is cheap motoring, considering a gallon of fuel in France is about 12 cents a litre dearer than here in Ireland. The drawback to a diesel engine (if you own the car) is that servicing costs tend to be a bit higher than with a petrol engine. The oil and filter have to be changed about twice as frequently. (My taxi driver friends do this every 5,000 or 6,000 miles) So the best thing is to shop around until you find somebody that will do this for you at a good price. (Or do it yourself!) Another advantage to owning a Ford is that there are a LOT of them around, so that if something major goes wrong in the engine, you can often pick up second hand parts at a breaker’s yard (from a crashed car) or buy “spurious” (copied) parts in a motor factors. (But watch the quality of the parts you buy!)
~ ~ Pricewise (in the UK) you can expect to pay in the region of around £14,300 to about £16,000 for a new model Ford Focus 1.8 LX TDCi. (Prices sourced at Autotrader) Used you can pick up a 1999 model for about £3,500 upwards. One thing to remember when shopping for a Ford Focus is that it’s one of the most popular cars in its class, and tends to have high residual values, (holds its price well) so you’ll pay more for a Focus second hand than you will for say a Vauxhall Astra. (Or equivalent car) This is good if you are buying a Focus new, but bad if you are in the market for a used car.
~ ~ Would I personally buy a Ford Focus diesel? Well, no, but only because I have a preference for larger cars. I would certainly give it a strong recommendation for anyone who is in the market for a car of this size and type. Four stars out of five from the mad cabbie.
Advantages: Lots of them around. Cheaper now in the old shape Disadvantages: Please see below
...On arrival at Ford we were greeted with the sight of a Ford Focus Zetec 1.8 TDCi in silver with the climate pack for just over 10 grand (with 15K miles). We test drove the car and it's higher powered brother (the one with 115 horses as opposed to 100 horses) and didn't find much difference so decided to opt for the slightly cheaper 100bhp Ford Focus. With hindsight we should have had more than one test drive although that was not really encouraged ... ...point me thinks.
The Ford Focus has had rave reviews since it's inception in 1998 and is probably the best selling car annually. The Focus raised the standard for cars in this class and well in my opinion stopped.
I have now had the car for over a year and been driving it everyday. I've done the best part of 20k miles in it and frankly have had enough. While the car has seemingly wooed motoring journalists into thinking it a wonder car it had left ...
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average very helpful
Advantages: comfortable, cheap to run, reliable Disadvantages: flat spot
...up driving the then new Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI LX (115bhp). I had heard good reviews about the Focus and had travelled in the rear of one for several hours in comfort in the past. My first impression of the cars styling was nothing spectacular, it's not an Aston Martin and the colour matters little as I am colour blind.
What first impressed me when I drove it was the exceptional torque the 115bhp engine produced compared to other diesels I had driven, ... ...and purchased a nearly new Ford Focus TDCI LX (115bhp) with 5000 miles on the clock for £11,500.
Review after two years and 50, 000 miles.
I have taken the titles from another review and added my opinions.
Reliability
Cutting out at low revs and flat spots - The car has on occasion cut out at low revs, and this seems to be a common problem with Ford diesel cars. It mainly happens at junctions when you go to pull off at low revs, unlike petrol's ...
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average very helpful
Advantages: In-gear grunt, refinement, economy Disadvantages: It's just another Focus
...rough under full power. The Ford TDCi pulls cleanly and lustily from 1800 RPM round to the 4,500 RPM red line with an encouragingly throaty note. There is usable power from 1,100 RPM so the car will pull cleanly from 25mph in forth on a level surface. Also notible is the drive-by-wire throttle which links to an anti-stall system. Simply take your foot off the throttle in any of the first three gears and the car will pull itself along, even up steep ... ...- especially used (buying a Ford new is surely financial suicide!). Against other diesels (e.g. the Peugeot 307 HDI) the Focus TDCi has a clear performance advantage.
Now we come to how the car performs against Petrol cars. Well, let's be honest, in terms of the 0-60 sprint it's nothing special. The 1.8 Focus will beat it and the 2.0 will be car lengths ahead. In-gear however (and how often do you do a 0-60 sprint these days?) it takes a well-driven ...
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average very helpful
Advantages: Comfortable economy car Disadvantages: its not a rolls or BMW
I bought my new Ford Focus 1.8TDi in January and have been greatly impressed all round.
Driving
I can confirm that its pick up speed allows for a good 0-60 in well under 30 secs as I have beaten many others at the start of our motorway and not while acting like a boy race either. Ist gear is a little too quick pickup wise so be careful with that.The car is well insulated from windnoise but you will get some as its not as soundproof as say a BMW ... ...responsive.
Power Steering very good handling capabilities even making sharp turns at higher speeds.Howver watch out if its fitted with soft sidewall tyres as these are not good with cornering or parking close, if you have a bump it will ruin the sidewall and new tyres will be needed. I have never found this on another car so maybe a peculiarity of this car.
Diesel economy 450 miles per tank or 10 miles to the litre on average. The engine noise ...
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average helpful
Advantages: lots of room, good engine, mpg Disadvantages: none
...and backup services associated with ford make this a good work horse of a car.
I highly recommend this car with the highest of praise for its design and usefulness a truly good car.
And as my car is only 3 years old and about to turnover its 85000 mile I can say this from experience. ...
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Ciao members have rated this car review on average helpful
Advantages: Fuel economy. Insurance group, Engine power. Handling Disadvantages: Deprication value very rapid
...Our car is just over a year old now and handles fantastic. The styling on the outside makes it look very sporty but with interior luxury. We had leather fitted as part of the manufacturers spec and that is a must. What a great idea on a cold morning to have heated seats!
The quickclear windscreen removes any ice so no more standing outside scraping.
Built in is a great deal of options from air con which can be controlled by temperature or manual and a six disc cd player. All buttons and controls feel in the right place and we recently drove down to devon non stop. I feel so comfortable and the leather even in hot weather is nice and smooth.
We have the 1.8 diesel 115ps model and the engine performance is superb. It has good acceleration when needed great fuel economy. I find the abs and traction control very good in bad weather. We...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: High MPG, Comfortable, Quite and plenty of leg room. Disadvantages: Extra costs hidden in services
...During the second years service (2006) the dealer discovered the scuttle cover was warped and needed replacing.
New scuttle cover / pollen filter cover was fitted, and anti-bacterial spray treatment applied - the cost was over £44.00. (Removal of the scuttle destroys the seal and it has to be replaced).
As the car is less than 2 years old I suggested it should come under a warranty replacement.
The dealer said I would have to take the issue up with Ford.
This I did and the Ford customer service department stated they have no history of there being a problem with the Focus scuttle cover, the scuttle cover is part of the trim and is therefore not covered under any warrantee agreement, and they would not honour any refund to me.
I said that I have the part that was removed and would be willing to send the part to them...
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Advantages: Won't get you noticed, Radio OK Disadvantages: Dull, Interior quality, 42mpg for a diesel!!
...the dash board trying to get to the very awkward fuse box.
Behind the wheel the car is nothing more than OK. The diesel 1.8TDCI is good and drives well, but I think compared to it's French counterparts it is noisy and unrefined. It does feel steady on the motorways and sure footed on twisty B roads but it really is no better than any other cars that I have driven ithis class. I just can't understand why so many Fords get such glowing reviews in the motoring press. It really does baffle me.
Much as I wanted to like this car, I just can't bring myself to. It fails in so many areas. It just doesn't inspire or have any outstanding features to interest. Its french counterparts off more style and quirky talking points such as the C4's mad dash ar the Meganes backside. The Golf has an appeal across all classes the Focus can't match. The new Auris...
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29.09.2005
05.12.2006
