£6k to spend, which car?

[smr]

Hi all,

Need a new car... last car I drove was an automatic, and I'd like an automatic again.

I do about 10-15k miles a year mostly driving through a mixture of towns and villages, A and B roads. Sometimes drive further afield for holidays etc.

So a diesel or petrol is ok, during the week I'll be using the car for work though where its driving through the outskirts of the county etc (A and B roads). so petrol probably better.

Looking for five doors (4 and a boot) and something for me and two seats in the back for my boys, so don't need an MPV.

I'm thinking of going for something like a Ford Focus, 13/14 plate but am open to suggestions.

Thanks for any advice.

edit - all the focus cars im looking at seem to be powershift, and i'm just reading up on them, apparantly the consensus is "avoid like the plague"

It's a manual gearbox which shifts automatically, or something, if that makes any sense. And Ford ditched them because of complaints and how poor they are.

I've no idea what kind of automatic gearbox is in the S-Max I've been driving for the past 4 years, but it has been faultless and really smooth. A joy to drive really.

So if the powershifts are gearboxes to avoid I think that rules out Focuses completely. As all cars up to £10k even seem to be powershifts.

 

[-Ad-]

A Mclaren for you surely?

That gearbox sounds random, never heard of such a thing. I'd not go near such a thing. Have a look at a SEAT Leon around that price range, they are pretty solid cars. BMW 1-series?

Go have a good browse around some at a car supermarket to get an idea of what you like, then come back here and have a good research online.

 

[wedrum]

https://www.pistonheads.com/classif...ar-xf-3-0-v6-s-luxury-4d-auto-275-bhp/9507882

 

[smr]

https://www.pistonheads.com/classif...ar-xf-3-0-v6-s-luxury-4d-auto-275-bhp/9507882

Very nice!
Not sure the fuel economy or insurance would agree though. Stunning car though.

A Mclaren for you surely?

That gearbox sounds random, never heard of such a thing. I'd not go near such a thing. Have a look at a SEAT Leon around that price range, they are pretty solid cars. BMW 1-series?

Go have a good browse around some at a car supermarket to get an idea of what you like, then come back here and have a good research online.

Series 1 and 3 BMWs look very nice. Slightly more than £6k at £8k for a 2012 model with under 80k on the clock but may be a good option.

 

[Jony27]

I'm in the same boat with very similar requirements. So far I've test driven a 1.2 TSI Leon MK3 which was great. Are there any 1.0 Ecoboost Focus near you? This is 2nd on my list to test which might be today.

 

[smr]

I'm in the same boat with very similar requirements. So far I've test driven a 1.2 TSI Leon MK3 which was great. Are there any 1.0 Ecoboost Focus near you? This is 2nd on my list to test which might be today.

I'm sure there are. tbh something like a ford focus 1.6 zetec powershift sounds ideal apart from the gearboxes sound horrendous.

 

[smr]

I'd avoid the Ecoboosts.... Just read this on autotrader...

"BE WARNED..........steer well clear of anything with ecoboost on it!!!!!!! Focus 1.0 ecoboost Purchased Nov 2016 with FFSH with documented 23800 miles on it, 2 previous owners & always serviced to Ford schedule at Ford main agent. At first great car..........but @ 40,000 miles noticed coolant leak from header tank...repaired at Ford, £127..coolant continued to ‘disappear’....replenishing fortnightly thereafter until back to Ford for investigation and to find leaking heater matrix seals and combustion gases in coolant (head gasket failure). NOT A HAPPY CHAPPY!!!!! With a straight face my local Ford agent informed me that a NEW ENGINE was required as there is no repair and Ford do not want to know about any finincial assistance and which appears to indicate to me that a new engine on a vehicle with under 50000 miles is ok!!!???? So I now have a vehicle which is 6 years old and requires a repair that is more than the value of he vehicle. The world has gone mad!!!!! This is not an isolated case.....there are thousands of these occurrences in the uk. A very driven lady by the name of loiuse o’riordan has a FB page running and legal representation in order to bring Ford to heal over this issue. I can afford to lock my broken focus up in my local Ford dealers and refuse to collect it till sense is seen but a lot of other folk can’t. It is disgraceful behaviour from a bullying corporation. So...again .....never look at any Ford with ecoboost mechanicals because if you do you’ve only yourself to blame as life expectancy is very limited!!!!!!!"

 

[Kaeo]

You saw one person complaining and he should avoid completely? Great advice.

 

[Kenai]

edit - all the focus cars im looking at seem to be powershift, and i'm just reading up on them, apparantly the consensus is "avoid like the plague"

It's a manual gearbox which shifts automatically, or something, if that makes any sense. And Ford ditched them because of complaints and how poor they are.

It's a dual clutch automated manual, the same as VW Group DSG, BMW DCT, etc. but the Ford units are notorious for their poor reliability.

 

[smr]

You saw one person complaining and he should avoid completely? Great advice.

I said I would avoid. I didn't tell him to avoid? So what's the problem? And I have read numerous things before reading that about the ecoboost engines being poor. So it's not like I read one thing and then scrambled quickly to post that as soon as I could. Cheers.

 

[Scania]

I’d highly recommend a Focus, I’ve got a 61 plate Titanium X estate with the 1.6 “Duratorq” Diesel engine, economy hovering around 48mpg (despite predominantly short around town use) its a manual as the power shift should be called power **** in terms of reliability!

I’d avoid a front wheel drive automatic personally, I’ve never driven one that was as smooth as a more conventional in- line box as found in a RWD car.

I’d certainly recommend a 1 Series, my partners 118d is nice and I enjoy driving it but with hindsight she regrets not getting the automatic as it transforms the driving experience, very much for the better whereas in the Focus it’s very much the reverse imo.

 

[Nasher]

The 1.6 and 2.0 ecoboosts are good though there was a recall for cooling problems. It's mostly the 1.0 which has issues as these tiny turbo engines are difficult to cool and run too hot.

Also yes the power**** gearboxes have a bad reputation

 

[Armageus]

I'd avoid the Ecoboosts.... Just read this on autotrader...

And Ford have since changed stance on that, and are offering financial contribution to all ecoboost engine failures.

I personally have a 2012 1.0 125bhp Focus Ecoboost and have had no issues in the 3 years I've owned it

There have been a number of recalls for the various Ecoboost engines which have largely addressed the issues, so important to check they have been done, which you can do yourself via Ford's Etis page: https://www.etis.ford.com/


Almost all engines/cars have some kind of common issue, just depends how much press it gets (e.g. the Ecoboost's have had more bad press than most due to some cases of Fire occuring), e.g. in contrast a lot of 4 cylinder BMW engines suffer from timing chain failure but outside of owners/enthusiast forums they are largely unreported.

It's mostly the 1.0 which has issues as these tiny turbo engines are difficult to cool and run too
hot.

For a moment I thought you were going to use the cliche bingo "highly strung" phrase

The vast majority of turbo engines run hotter, regardless of engine size - issues with the cooling system on a 2 litre engine (e.g. due to a defective coolant pipe design) will cause just as catastrophic issues.

 

[Nasher]

Yes but a 2.0 has a far bigger surface area to disperse heat. Even with a working cooling system the small engines run more of a risk.

 

[DXP55]

I have a 2010 Focus Powershift 2.0 diesel and so far touch wood I have never had a problem - I had oil changed at 37k and it is due again this year -

The UK Powershifts are I think all oil boxes -In USA they have the dry boxes (could be wrong) and I have read they have problems - I would say it's just as smooth as my other torque converter boxes on cars I have had- only snag like others is roundabouts where it hesitates "sometimes" but over all I am happy with it -

 

[ShiWarrior]

hmm, automatic , get a DSG gearbox

1.4 variety
Seat Leon
Skoda Octavia

If Focus (Powershift though and less economical that the above) 1.6 Ecoboost (not the 1L)

Another option (if safety is main priority) Volvo V60 ?

 

[ci_newman]

If you're happy looking away from Ford, look at the 1.4 TSI Skoda Octavia With the Elegance trim, you get a nice selection of toys, decent MPG and lots of space for the kids.

 

[smr]

I am happy looking away from Ford, not that keen on the Leon or Octavia though. Few Audi A3s around at 6-7k.

What do you think to the Focus 1.6 petrol 2012 ?

 

[Scania]

What do you think to the Focus 1.6 petrol 2012 ?

My partner ran a 12 plate Focus Zetec 1.6tdci from 5 to 55k miles over 5 years, never had a problem with it bar a broken spring (which was fixed under warranty) she occasionally had the 1.6 petrol as a courtesy car and we both thought the equivalent diesel was better, certainly on economy, engines aside, good kit, excellent chassis , with very good handling, and it had a "modern" feel.

She replaced it with a 65 plate BMW 118d which whilst being undoubtedly quicker and better built she still regrets changing the Focus for it, the Focus has sharper handling despite being FWD which I think is high praise for the Ford.

 

[andy_mk3]

FWIW the 1.0 Ecoboost engines do not run 'hot' nor do they struggle to keep cool. The engine failures mostly come from a loss of coolant through a few common faults, and then overheating. If this has happened Ford are fitting new engines FOC.