33, male, married, no kids, foodie, bargain hunter.
33, male, married, no kids, foodie, bargain hunter.
Member since:11.11.2002
Reviews:14
Members who trust:6
I bought a 1 year-old 1,8 Zetec this year, and have to say from the outset it's the best Ford I've driven. I had driven all the engine sizes from the 1.4 to the 2 litre as hire cars, and was most impressed by the 1.8. Hence the purchase. I was looking at buying a grey import, but was concerned about dealership support for the warranty. Instead, I plumped to buy a Ford Direct vehicle through a main dealer. It saved a huge amount of time to phone the dealers first and get a stock list faxed from them (you can get a free fax number which delivers fax to your e-mail from Yac).However, one dealer tried to palm off a 1.6 as a 1.8 even when the paperwork showed it was a 1.6. Bye Bye.
The car's two most impressive attributes are the engine and the build quality. The engine is nippy, and although a little harsh when revved hard has quite a bit in reserve when, say, pulling out to overtake at 80. It's certainly noticably more powerful than the 1.6, but a bit thirstier too.
The gearchange is slick and the ratios strike a good compromise to allow relaxed town driving and motorway cruising that's not to stressful.
The build is good - although not quite up to VW standards. The only rattle my model has developed after 18000 miles - and then I found it was a loose cable clip - easily repaired.
Rear visibility is poor, it must be said, and a family would struggle with the boot space. I'm also unhappy with the very unclear single multi-selector switch for all the exterior light functions - it's hard to know what you've got on, and what you haven't.
I'd recommend the car without hesitation, but question why the dealership support - and that from Ford's central customer service department is so poor. In future, I would think about buying privately, especially as repairs to the Focus are pretty cheap.
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very helpful op, you may be new but you can write a very good op, thanks
sarsons 12.11.2002 22:51
Not bad intro, but info on what the car has to offer would have resulted in a higher rating (eg comfort, ride, equipment, insurance costs etc.). If you ever redo this op, please let me know and I'll reread it and review my rating :)
Advantages: comfortable, cheap to run, reliable Disadvantages: flat spot
craighockenhull 08.03.2006 (08.03.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of FordFocus1.8 TDCi Hatchback
Nov 12th, 2002
very helpful by (67%):
helpful by (33%):
