4.5.02 - SORRY I have been away from Ciao for 5 weeks - my work commitments have been horrendous (st...
4.5.02 - SORRY I have been away from Ciao for 5 weeks - my work commitments have been horrendous (still are) but I intend to catch up on Ciao asap. PLEASE bear with me. Mike
Member since:18.10.2001
Reviews:13
Members who trust:17
I bought a Panther Black Ford Focus Estate 2.0L Zetec ESP car 11 months ago and consider it to be the best car I have owned even though it cost considerably less than quite a few of my previous cars. Although the Focus may be very common, the 2.0L Zetec ESP is quite rare and as the Focus range is supplied in its 'de-badged' state, a keen eye is required to identify one of these beasts among its lesser siblings. I'll tell you how to spot one later but first, let me tell you why I chose this car.
WHY AN ESTATE? The time had come to replace my Chrysler Voyager but I didn't know what to get. For my work I need an estate car which the Voyager was excellent - you can take out as many of the seats as you require or simply fold them down. For our personal life & major hobby which revolved around taking our daughter with friends & parents to dance festivals around the North West, the Voyager was perfect, it could carry 7 people and all the dance costumes and props in comfort.
However, at the age of 11 our daughter left home to go to dance school and once there, could no longer enter festivals. That meant that we no longer needed
7 seats but still needed an estate for work. What's more, the 360 mile round trip to the dance school soon began to show its toll on the Voyager's petrol consumption - I wanted something more economical. So I looked at all the available estate cars, just looking at 2.0L models because I still wanted the car to have power but it needed to be tax efficient. Finally I plumped for the Focus because it not only fulfilled my requirements and had all the extras that I could want but it also felt right.
2.0L GHIA vs 2.0L ZETEC ESP The 2.0L Focus Estate is available in the Ghia or Zetec ESP versions. In a nutshell, the Ghia concentrates on 'luxury & comfort' in that it has an on-board computer for fuel consumption, a CD stacker unit, electric windows at front and rear, variable intermittent windscreen wiper speed whereas the Zetec ESP concentrates on 'sportiness & safety'. The ESP model has only a single CD unit , front electric windows only and only a single intermittent windscreen wiper speed. But it has larger, low profile alloy wheels, firmer road suspension giving it a more 'sporty' feel, traction control and most importantly, the ESP system. Although I'm a careful driver, the ESP system has saved me twice so far, once on ice and secondly on hitting loose gravel on a bend. For those not familiar with ESP (Electronic Stability Program) if you lose control because you hit ice or simply by taking a bend too quickly, an orange light comes on telling you that the ESP computer system has just taken over the control of your car and once it's safe again, control is passed back to the driver. I can assure you that when that orange light goes out, you are pleased you had bought it!
COST The estate version within the Focus range costs an extra £500 and at the time of purchase, the on the road price for the 2.0L Estate Zetec ESP was £15,500. However, by looking around and negotiating, I got the price down to £14,560. Unfortunately, negotiation on price is limited on the ESP version because there are so few available whereas I believe it is possible to get very nice discounts on the other models within the Focus range.
OVERALL SPEC What do you get for this money? Quite an impressive array of features in my mind: - Two Front Air Bags - ABS Brakes - Disk brakes on all 4 wheels - Traction Control System - Electronic Stability Program (ESP) - 16" Alloy Wheels - Front & Rear Fog Lights - Digital Clock - Heated Front & Rear Windscreens - Air Conditioning - Adjustable Steering Wheel - CD/Radio with Remote Control on Steering Wheel - Electrically Operated & Heated Door Mirrors - Bonnet Locked by Ignition Key - Central Locking & Immobiliser
MAINTENANCE & RUNNING COSTS The Focus requires to be serviced every 12,500 miles and my first 12,500 service at my local Ford dealer came to £79.03 including VAT - this is a joke compared to the Voyager service bills! The Insurance Group is 8 and therefore could be expensive for a young driver.
PERFORMANCE 0-60mph: 9.6 seconds Top Speed: 125mph On average, across all types of driving I'm getting 38-40 mpg so the trips to and from dance school don't hurt so much.
HANDLEABILITY For a truly spacious estate car, this model is fast, powerful and very responsive. On bends it feels as though the car is glued to the road and it has a braking system to match its powerful performance. With the Traction Control and the ESP you can feel totally safe.
HOW TO SPOT THE ESP Because the Focus range is 'de-badged' i.e. there's no sign of the car engine size so you can't tell whether the car is a 1.4L, 1.6L, 1.8L or 2.0L, you need extra sensory perception to spot an ESP model! At the time of purchase, the only colours available for the ESP were Silver and Panther Black, so if you saw any other colour , you knew it couldn't be an ESP. If the car were Silver or Panther Black, then you've got to look at the wheels. The ESP wheels are larger and do not have a 'lip' on the outer edge of the alloy wheel - so you do need ESP after all!
BAD POINTS If I'm really nit-picking, then I can only give 2 bad comments:
- the driver's seat seems to be at a very slight angle which means that over a long drive, it is more comfortable to drive with one hand on the steering wheel - something we all know we shouldn't do. This fault might apply only to my car, I've not asked others if they have experienced this effect.
- on odd occasions, I have problems in selecting 3rd & 5th gear i.e. they are so close that I mix them up. Now this could well be due to my sloppy driving and I half expect it is!
OVERALL I think I can forget those bad points!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I really like the look of the focus and your op has helped to some degree although I think all I'd need is a 1.8 Focus. Do you happen to know much about the ST170? Does the 170 stand for its BHP?
CJD007 12.03.2003 19:28
Do you not find a load numbs the experience some what. I find ESP a hassle, too unpredictable. Good op though!
MRSCANADA 08.03.2002 05:37
I drive a Ford too...but I don't know if they sell it in the UK..LL
Advantages: Spacious, Powerful, Power Steering, Sleek Bodywork, Disadvantages: Can be costly to buy depending on model & Extras, Insurance too high for young drivers like myself :-(
NJFortune 09.12.2002 (09.12.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Ford Focus 2.0
Advantages: Good all round visibility, responsive acceleration, on board computer, fold-down rear seats. Disadvantages: difficult removal of rear headrests
derek-j-a 28.04.2005 (22.05.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Ford Focus 2.0
Advantages: Spacious, Powerful, Power Steering, Sleek Bodywork, Disadvantages: Can be costly to buy depending on model & Extras, Insurance too high for young drivers like myself :-(
NJFortune 09.12.2002 (09.12.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Ford Focus 2.0
Nov 25th, 2001
very helpful by (99%):
helpful by (1%):
