Focus Titanium or an Astra GTC - Opinions/Views

GHazy

GHazy

GHazy

Associate
Joined
18 Sep 2008
Posts
362
Location
Wales
Hi All,

Been looking at a car for the girlfriend that within our budget size car and it seems that Ford have some good deals.

What are peoples opinions on a 64plate Focus Titanium? It's either this or an Astra GTC as the honda civic are offering rubbish deals right now.

As a car that we only intend keeping for max 3 years what are the focus titaniums like?

Thanks
 
The 12 plate Focus I had wasn't a Titanium, but it did come with a few extras like the alloys, some kind of package that included bluetooth and upgraded stereo, and parking sensors.

Bloody excellent car, and was miles better than the Vauxhall Astra I had driven previously. Would recommend with the manual transmission, havent tried one with an auto.

As an aside, Why not a 2 or 3 year old car instead of a 64 plate? You will take way less of a depreciation hit.
 
I detest the interior of the new focus, but what engine are you talking? The little 1 litre turbo would probably be worth it

The astra is a relatively old car now too
 
Never driven a Focus of the current generation but be aware of the impending facelift if that concerns you. Vast, and seemingly much needed, improvements to the interior and it looks a little different (maybe better, still not sold).

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ford/focus/first-drives/2014-ford-focus-first-drive-review

If it's between the Ford and Vauxhall I'd go for the Ford no question. Never been able to convince myself to like, or ever mind Vauxhalls.

Out of interest what is the budget, anticipated mileage and requirements? Are you going to buy in person? I'd strongly suggest looking at websites such as Autoebid, you'll get FAR more for your money and it might bring some nice cars into your price range.

At this price point you could get a Mazda 3 Sportnav petrol (supposing your GF's driving doesn't warrant a diesel) that has as much power as the ecoboost and most likely better real world economy. In my eyes it's a vastly superior car. Drive one for yourself and see. On Autoebid they're about £600 apart.
 
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We are financing via a PCP deal as we have only just got a new house and no money to buy one outright.

The reason we are looking at new is due to better finance deals on new rather than pre-reg or second hand. The current focus has a dealer contribution of almost £4k due to the new facelift coming out in November so they are selling off their current stock. This way the savings are pretty much taking the deprecation out of the equation with a much lower rate of apr.

It is the 1.0 Ecoboost 125bhp titianum we looked at and will test drive on the weekend. Honda had crap offers but car is nicer, not looked at the mazda offers so will have a look.

In terms of distance, she only does 20-25 miles a day so no point getting a diesel personally.
 
I have a 62 plate 2.0 Diesel Focus Titanium and *love* it - do about 450 miles a week in it.
I would gladly get another one.

~60mpg on the motorway, smooth, comfortable and packed full of technology.
 
[TW]Fox;26870890 said:
It seems strange that people think a brand new car is the answer if they have no money to buy a used one.
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Sorry Fox, but I don't think you understood what I said. We don't have cash in the form of a lump some, but can easily afford £250 a month. This way it would allow to save some money in 3 years time in order to have a larger deposit to buy a car whether that be old or new.

My gf's car is on the verge of costing a lot of money to repair and simply isn't worth it. This is why we are looking at this route to market.
 
[TW]Fox;26870890 said:
It seems strange that people think a brand new car is the answer if they have no money to buy a used one.
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100% this.

You have no money yet the answer is a brand new car :confused::confused::confused:

GHazy said:
My gf's car is on the verge of costing a lot of money to repair and simply isn't worth it. This is why we are looking at this route to market.
Click to expand...

Expand on this.
 
Car is a 57 plate Corsa, her brother is a mechanic and the electric are starting to melt the back of the lighting looms. The aircon/heating matrix is on the way out (only blows on 4), the rear near side suspension arm and spring will need replacing. MOT is due in November and will fail. The car also needs a new bonnet and front grill due to an accident involving a dear!!

So if you add up the costs to repair on a car that in it's current state is worth no more that £1000 then why would you pump money over the value of the car?

I new car mean no mot, it's cheaper on tax, better on insurance by over £220 per year, better mpg etc

This has all come at a bad time as we have purchased a house which all savings went on. Not everyone has disposable cash coming out of their backside :p
 
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It's currently £145 a year on road tax, the 1.0 focus is £30. So yeah her corsa has plenty of life in it, infact I think the dead dear she left in the road has more life in it!
 
Your car needs a new suspension arm and a minor electrical issue with the heater sorting. You tell us you have no funds. How these two things should result in a brand new Focus I honestly have no idea.
 
Strange how this thread has changed. Pretty sure my question was what are these cars like not an assesment into my financial stability. Thanks for your comments Fox but in all honestly it's not really what I asked for.

And as for repairs to the corsa, it will far exceed £1000, and the electric fault is not minor, it is effecting far more than what I mentioned.
 
Play fair guys: we all know buying new is almost never the sensible option, financially. And in OP's position, from what we know, I would buy something older - probably in the region of £4-5k. But .....I forget where I'm going with this..... ;)
 
TheVoice said:
£115 a year saving is nothing compared to the £250 a month it'll cost you.
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Yet again the question was what is the cars like we have considered. Add up all that I have said and only after 18 months will it start to cost more that repairing a car that is 7 years old, over 90,000 miles and worth nothing will cost.

Think it's time to close this thread please admin!
 
You asked for views, so people are giving you views.

If you are that desperate for a new car an 11 plate example of the current Focus funded with a bank loan will have a lower total cost of ownership and will leave you owning a car rather than having nothing as per your plan.

It sounds like you are massaging the numbers because you want to convince yourself a brand new Ford is anything but the most expensive option. I doubt a 57 plate corsa is only worth a grand.
 
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:(
cheesyboy said:
Play fair guys: we all know buying new is almost never the sensible option, financially. And in OP's position, from what we know, I would buy something older - probably in the region of £4-5k. But .....I forget where I'm going with this..... ;)
Click to expand...

In terms of buying new, no it's not the best financially but then again not everyone actually cares or wants to own a car outright. a lot of people like PCP/Lease deals as you have care free motoring to a point.

Myself I own a 10 plate bmw that I brought but everyone has a different opinion and what is best for their particular circustance. Again I go back to the orginal question of what is best out of a astra and a focus!

:eek:
 
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