Ford Focus Hatchback 1.8 TDi LX 5d (AC) (2002/52) Owner Review
Want to know everything there is to know about this car?
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Economy
Value
A cracking used buy. 2/3 the price of an equivalent Golf TDI at 3 years old. Less powerful engine aside, is it really only 2/3 as good?
Costs
Fantastic economy. A reliable 500 miles to the fuel light (45 mpg) and even on a fully laden, ""flat out"" run across Northern Germany it returned 40 mpg. Stick to the limit on motorways and you easily get 50 mpg. Servicing and parts cost peanuts.
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On the road
Driving
You take it for granted with familiarity, but even a brief drive in anything else makes you realise how good the Focus is. Steering in particular is superb, but the chassis as a whole is beautifully sorted. Huge fun to throw around.
Performance
Actually feels rather quick around town thanks to a punchy midrange, and excellent throttle response for a diesel. At the end of the day though it's only 90PS in a fairly heavy car, so the result is predictable. Engine is also rough and intrusively noisy.
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Living with it
Reliability
67,000 hard driven miles in just over two years and not a single fault. Car feels unburstable.
Image
Easily the driver's choice in its class, but many can't see past the Ford badge. Their loss. I prefer to think it tells people I care more about the drive than the badge.
Comfort
Excellent driving position and typically faultless Ford ergonomics let down by flat, unsupportive seats. Upper back and neck ache after a couple of hours.
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Security and Service
Security
As good as anything else in the class.
Service
Competent dealers and a friendly enough bunch, but I once owned an MX-5 and Mazda dealers go the extra mile in comparison.
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Problems and Ownership
Problems
Engine
"Drive by wire" throttle causes the car to accelerate by itself if you let the revs drop around the 1k mark with the clutch engaged (i.e. in slow traffic). Driven 3 others and all the same so not a fault as such.
Other
OEM rear tyres were faulty (out of round at 10k). Replacements well worn 50k on, but perfectly evenly.
Ownership
Did you buy the car new?
New
Would you buy the same model again?
No
Did you buy from the same manufacturer again?
Yes