Focus on the Max

Advantages: comfortable, economical, spacious
Disadvantages: Has a Ford badge on the front

...Well, here we are, after nearly a year, my new company car has arrived, or rather, I had to go and collect it from Bristol. It is a diesel engined focus CMax 1.6 TDCI Style. The Style is one of the cheaper versions but is more than acceptable in terms of comfort and equipment. It is going to be my home from home for the next four working years so I hope I chose wisely. <<Rant Mode On>>I deliberately chose a lower emission model as those horrible people at HMRC like to tax the drivers of company cars, as though having one was some kind of benefit. It's my workplace; does anyone else have to pay tax to sit in an office, factory or shop? I think not! Having to pay for the privilege of going to work seems to be the ultimate unfairness but I suppose that's what life's all about. Our government's goal in life seems to be to take...

JeffFromPoole 09.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus C-MAX 1.6 TDCI

First Focus Foray - Final Update

Advantages: Nice drive, economical, practical.
Disadvantages: None really, unless you're a badge snob.

...Just a quick update as I have now owned the Focus six months, the extra information is at the end. 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 1,8 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...

DavidJWest 16.11.2002 (15.10.2009) · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus 1.8 DI

Lets Focus On The Zetec...

Advantages: Spaceous, Excellent Handling, Low Insurance Group, Comfortable and Stylish.
Disadvantages: Has the family stigma attached to it which does not do it justice.

...I apologise now if I get too enthusiastic in describing this car, but I think the details will do it justice. The Ford Focus Zetec is in the higher end of the model range and often comes with uprated extras over the base models. My particular car came with what Ford call the 'Climate Pack'. This is a handy combination of air conditioning, heated front windscreen, heated mirrors and heated washer jets. These gadgets can seldom be appreciated in the warmer months, but are an absolute Godsend in winter. If you are looking to buy a focus, make sure you check it has the climate pack. Where most spend twenty minutes scraping ice off their windscreens on frosty winter mornings, you can simply start the engine and press the heat buttons for the front and rear windows. In just under three minutes, the ice would have melted - no more cold...

Goran 13.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus 1.6

Focus Dailies Contact Lenses

Advantages: You don't have to wear glasses to be able to see!
Disadvantages: Pricey.

...and asked them what they thought of me wearing them. Due to my age (I was only about 14-15 at the time) the optician had to see if I was ?mature? enough. Mature enough to wear contact lenses!! The questions were like ?So why don?t you want to wear glasses?? ?Do people bully you for wearing glasses?? ?Do you definitely not want to them?? After I passed the stupid maturity test, I could then start looking at the type of contacts that would suit my eyes. That?s when I was recommended to use focus dailies all day comfort contact lenses. As I was a beginner the optician thought it would be best if I used daily disposable contact lenses because I could chuck them away once I had used them and it would decrease my chances of getting any infections. I had to a tester with the contact lenses before I could buy any and start using properly. This was...

x_dani_x 15.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of CIBA Vision Focus Dailies All Day Comfort

Focus Monthly Contact Lenses

Advantages: Value for money if used wisely
Disadvantages: If not rinsed well or left in too long can cause discomfort

...Being a short-sighted Myopia sufferer contact lenses seemed like an obvious alternative to spectacles what with constantly losing or breaking them. Contact lenses eradicated this problem! Focus monthly's were the first brand of lenses I ever tried?not too expensive so as a student I could comfortably afford them. I must admit these lenses were quite comfortable?at first but due to the necessity of having to re-use and re-use them they had a tendency to fray round the edges, dry out and slightly deteriorate. If they hadn't been sterilised properly overnight and stored in the correct solution this felt on occasions like putting grit into your eye the following morning. Focus monthly's are a product of Ciba Vision and retail at most opticians for about ten pounds a month (can be purchased in three month batches if more appropriate...

K1r5ty21 11.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Focus Monthly Contact Lenses

Focus on finding out about our world

Advantages: great content together with a superb price and hardly any adverts
Disadvantages: Not the easiest mag to find - check out Smiths

...Focus is the magazine that allows you to discover the world around you – lots of science, technology and discovery articles. I have been reading this magazine for several years now, having become a subscriber, and I must say it is one of the most interesting magazines around. You don’t just need to be interested in science, as it is far more than that. It is all about the world today and is the magazine equivalent of a few hours on the Discovery Channel. Basically, the magazine splits its articles into five themes: science, technology, nature, adventure and culture, and within each theme each issue will have several articles of a very diverse nature: each magazine really is completely different from the previous one. No constant recycling of the same old information here. If we take the latest issue, July 2001...

peppermint 14.06.2001 · Read review
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Review of Focus

Focus on this

Advantages: Value for money, safe, reliable
Disadvantages: Common as muck

...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...

Mayoisms 18.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus 1.8

Focused driving

Advantages: Stylish, good drive
Disadvantages: Price

...per hour, the outside temperature and your current miles per gallon and how many miles worth of petrol you have left in your tank (based on your fuel consumption). For those of you who think in metric, a simple button push will change all this to metric. If the temperature is 4 degrees or below the computer will beep as you start your engine and switch to showing you the temperature, a light on the dash also remains lit until the temperature rises above 4 degrees. When you get down to 50 miles of petrol, the computer beeps and switches to showing you how much petrol you have left. -----UPDATE 29/01/01------ My Focus has spent today in the dealers for a repair. Basically on cold days the engine over revs once the car has warmed up. One morning I had travelled 17 miles and when I stopped the engine was at 3000 revs! They have called me...

KathrynE 17.10.2000 (25.03.2001) · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus 2.0

Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec

Advantages: A great car from all angles
Disadvantages: Not as many extras included as I would have liked

...I am now the proud owner of a ford focus 1.6 zetec and for the first time in many years I have actually found a car that pretty muc suits all my needs. I have spent many a time in cars that are too big, too small, not suitable, not comfortable etc but this is everything I could ask for. I own the three door version but the doors open widely and when the front seat is moved forward there is plenty of room to get anyone in the back, even my mother in law who is disabled. The back of this car is extremely spacious, comfortably fitting 3 large adults in. The boot size is deceiving in that it looks pretty small but is very spacious indeed. Perfect for all those shopping bags as well as a childs pushchair. The actual drive of this car is superb. Mine runs on unleaded and is very economical. I can get over 200 miles to £35...

bexx0907 27.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus 1.6

My trusty Focus estate.

Advantages: Frugal, spacious, built well, handles brilliantly, looks pretty good...
Disadvantages: Not the quietest of diesels.

...Last month I got myself another car. I wanted something economic as I do a hell of a lot of mileage so I wanted a diesel. In the end I got the car I'm writing this review on: A 1999 (V) Ford Focus 1.8TDdi [AC] LX Estate. It cost me £1,600. Got 104K miles (106K now) and had had a full service history til 79K, with a cambelt change at the last service. And to be so blunt, I'm chuffed to bits with it. Anyway, so lets get down to business. - The engine. On the Focus timeline there are two types of diesel engine. The TDdi and the TDci. The latter came along later to be the diesel engine now used in new Fords, it's more powerful, slightly more economic and basically a more refined engine. Well, I couldn't afford that, so I've got the old engine instead. And when I say old, I mean it's old, you find it as far back as the Mk3 Fiestas, although...

Ant309 27.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus Estate 1.8 TDCi Duratorq