Ford Focus as first car?

Furton

Furton

Furton

Soldato
Joined
9 Aug 2003
Posts
2,715
Location
Liverpool
I've been doing some reading on here and the general consensus seem to be Ford Focus. Had a quick look on autotrader and found a few under 2k which is roughly my budget.

Is there a specific model or engine I should look out? I'll probably be doing a bit of work related driving as I've just got a new job.

Insurance wise, I've had quotes of £500 fully comp? Is it even worth going fully comp for a 2kish car? I'm 25 but only been a named driver on another car since I passed my test at 18, this doesn't count for No claims does it?

Radio wise, I'd much rather move away from having a stupid cigarette holder for my iPod/Sat nav. Any recommondations on a radio with iPod and USB connectors?

Finally, any other car I should consider? Cheers
 
£500 fully comp doesn't seem that bad for your age (my 206 cost £730 to insure fully comp a few months back when I was 26, although admittedly I don't have your history having only recently got around to driving).

As for the Focus? Decent first car I reckon (looked at them myself initially), but from what I could see at the time you had to spend closer to 3K to get one in decent condition. Might be different now, but all the ones I saw at around 2K (my limit) were high mileage and poorly looked after. Could just be my crap luck though.
 
Look for a zetec with climate pack. Avoid the 1.8 - it has 2.0 running costs but performance isn't great enough over the 1.6 to warrant them. 1.6 or 2.0 is down to your preference and whatever effect it has on your running costs and/or insurance budget. For £500 go FC, things like vandalism or windscreen cover make it worthwhile for that money.
 
I drive a 2.0 Zetec ESP and absolutely love it. Insurance group is only 9E I believe, it's two door and absolutely awesome :)

I still use the Allpine 9880-r I bought ages ago. USB, Ipod, MP3 functionality, great sound quality, good looking and suits the interior well.

I'm just beginning a serious sound system overhall :D

Ant :cool:
 
I had a Focus MP3 1.8 Ltd Ed, insurance was cheap for me as I'm older etc but I noticed the tax went sky high before I was selling it, just watch out for that.
 
As above try and find one with the climate pack that gives you the heated front screen works a treat, worth paying extra for, and air con, (if its still working)

1.6 or 1.8 - you need to drive both mines a 1.6 and found it move revvy and smoother that the 1.8's I drove, its a slightly different engine,

I've done 70K in mine now on 107K 2001 and touch wood been OK, only bits that have failed was the speed sensor (£70), front arb drop link (£45) and a idle bearing being noisy, cambelt is about £220,
 
Zetec models come better equpied with better seats, dash and shocks.
There are many limited edition models based around the Zetec including: MP3, EDGE, Silver and the rare Black!

1.6 or 2.0 (if you can afford the extra costs).

All you need to look out for is rust around the arches which shouldnt happen if well looked after.

Your insurance quote is pretty good, ive been driving since i was 17, and ive just paid £347 for my 1.6 zetec fully comp.

Join up to car forums for better advise, and also FFOC (google search it) has friendly memebers that sell cars to other memebers before they part ex them. Some great bargains have been posted on that forum.
 
I'm looking at TDCIs at the moment and they are all relatively expensive compared to their petrol cousins. Am I right in assuming modern diesels tend to command quite a premium? Also, 3 door cars tend to be more expensive than 5 door, is this just a case of them being less common?
 
Zefan said:
I'm looking at TDCIs at the moment and they are all relatively expensive compared to their petrol cousins. Am I right in assuming modern diesels tend to command quite a premium? Also, 3 door cars tend to be more expensive than 5 door, is this just a case of them being less common?
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I think its more down to the fact they are more popular with the typical people buying them, ie, young drivers looking for a first or second car.
 
They do indeed command a premium - to be honest you'll see 40mpg from the 1.6 petrol anyway so probably not worth it in this case. They do have a fair bit more grunt than the 1.6 but I wouldnt want a 2k one - so stick with the 1.6

The saloons are normally bargainerific as nobody really wants them
 
iaind said:
The saloons are normally bargainerific as nobody really wants them
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There's a reason for that. ;)

I have a 51 plate 1.6 3dr Focus for my first car and will be looking at selling it soon, probably for £1.5k. Very good first car but slightly dull. Has done me well only needing 2 front tyres and some windscreen wipers in 10 months. :)
 
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They get my recommendation.

Picked up my 2002 1.6 Zetec nearly 2 years ago for my first car, it's nearly at 100k with me putting the last 20k on it and it's not skipped a beat. Think I paid £2700 so they should be a fair bit cheaper now.

With a few subtle modifications I think they look pretty smart. :)

5216_1026522281690_1784291537_56624_2321103_n.jpg
 
Looks nice mate, what mods did you do?

Been looking for info on radios. Appears that you need a fascia to go with the radio. Are these easy to install or would you recommend getting installing professional? I'm good at building computers but not sure I'd want to install a radio.
 
Yeah that's right, the current unit is slightly bigger than the aftermarket ones so you need to get a fascia to fill in the space. It's a pretty simple job, just pull the old one out and push the new one in, 15 min job tops. You'll also need an ISO converter, think I picked them both up for around £15-20 on the bay.

Regarding mods, it's had everything colour coded, US spec rear lights, smooth rear wiper, aero wipers on the front, clear side repeaters, a LHD reverse light, an ST170 lower grill and the obvious lowering/17" OZ Superturismo's. I've also fitted a few ST170 snorkel, airbox and a K&N panel filter. To be fair, i've picked up everything on the cheap from eBay/various forums and the like.

I was thinking of replacing it this year but I can't really justify it yet - it doesn't cost me much to run, I think it looks pretty nice and although it's only a 1.6, it'll happily sit at 80 on the motorway all day long and never fails to put a smile on my face when I go for a spirited drive. :)

Would much rather have one of these than the usual Corsas/Fiestas etc that people have as their first cars.
 
I don't see why you're looking at such expensive ads, there are what appear to be perfectly decent cars for sale at just over half that price. £2.5k+ is talking TDCI money. It's driven quite a few miles for the year and doesn't state if it has any service history (which if it did, would almost certainly be stated). You can get better.

The post facelift model names get a bit silly, I'm unsure of what exactly an Edge is, however it seems to be nothing more than a Zetec - that's what it is according to Parkers as well.
 
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