Surely not. It can't be. It shouldn't be allowed. Another Ford Focus review. Hasn't everyone in the country already owned one, driven one or read about them until they dreamt about them? Well...yes. But this review has an contextual relevancy to it: The new Focus has just been released, and as such the old one has gone from being the a great second hand bargain to the ultimate second hand steal.
About a month ago, I bought a 1999 Focus 1.8 "Liberte" (a badge I have yet to see on any other Focuses, thus thinking mine's utterly unique), green in colour and with a shade over 30,000 miles on the clock. The previous driver, based on the scratches on the bumper and body, was either blind or grew up driving a mini, as her (how sexist) style of driving was based very much on how the car felt. Against metal. Still, for something that was to be used bombing up and down the M1 and to be kept in a the student areas of Nottingham, flashy isn't desireable, and the scratches only served to reduce the price and create the right imagine. It also made me less paranoid about scratching it myself. This little car cost £4,750, although with given it had three different types of tyres on the wheels, my mother dear volunteered to fork out for some identical Pirelli's, which added somewhat to the cost.
Nevetheless, in a month of running it, it's proved a fantastic buy. Driving around the Peak District made me long for the days of tearing through the Alps when I'd only just got my license, the handling in such a small car being quite remarkable. It's not a powerful car - the 1.8 litre engine feeds 113 horses pushing 1125kg of metal, and those horses can sometimes feel a little laboured. On the other hand, for city driving, it's perfectly fine, quick off the lights and happy to cruise at slow speeds. It's only on the rare occasions you can push it on the open road that it's weaknesses show, and they're hardly glaring. And even if you never get it out onto the open road, it's a comfortable enough car to sit in. The seats are supportive, although by no means hugging, the A/C is effective, and Ford's front demister has been effective the two times I've had to use it. Whilst mine didn't come with a CD player, £40 on an iPod adapter and power plug provides more music than CDs ever could, so it's no great loss.
The running costs aren't excessive, insurance is relatively cheap, and a combined mpg of 37 is more than acceptable. Long motorway journeys aren't too bad, although the engine doesn't agree with a cruising speed of 85-90, which puts the revs at 3,500-4000, it hasn't actually given up on me yet.
With a car as popular as a Focus, safety isn't really an issue - 4 star EuroNCAP, airbag's aplenty, ABS as standard. My 1999 model feels largely indistinguishable from some of the newer models I test drove, proof that if you look around, you can find a very, very good bargain of a second hand car.
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May 18th, 2005
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