Reliable, comfortable, practical for £2K - Focus?

TerryWogan · 28 Jun 2010 at 01:57

Hello!

I have a budget of £2K tops and I need a new car. I'm not interested in performance at the moment, I just want something reliable and practical with a few creature comforts. I'm thinking Ford Focus but I'm open to suggestions.

What should I be looking to get for £2,000 in a Focus? Seems I can get a Ghia with a few toys on around 70-80,000 miles if I look hard enough. I'm not overly fussed on mileage of course, but the above seems to be generally what you get for that sort of money. Is that about right? Anything to look out for? What engine is the best to go for? I imagine the 1.4 is a little bit dull and then there's the 1.6 and the 1.8 I think? Not particularly interested in an oil burner unless you lot convince me otherwise.

My apologies for the incredibly mundane thread.

working class · 28 Jun 2010 at 02:05

As I said in another thread, I bought a 99 plate Audi A4 tdi last year for £1600 wiht 115k miles on it, full service history, all keys etc, even got the warning triangle thing in the boot. Most reliable and economical car ive ever had!

Zefan · 28 Jun 2010 at 02:10

General concensus is that 1.4 is pants and the 1.8 doesn't deliver the power it should for the increased fuel consumption. No points getting diesel unless you're doing mega miles as the TDCI (TDI not normally worth a look as they are pretty unrefined) commands a suprisingly large premium.

TerryWogan · 28 Jun 2010 at 02:15

Aha, cheers! 1.6 it is, then. As for diesel-miles, I definitely won't see the MPG benefits, I was just wondering if the diesels were better in any other ways.

Also, cheers for the Audi advice, I'll take a look, although I imagine Audi parts will be a tad more expensive than Ford parts should anything explode.

iaind · 28 Jun 2010 at 07:38

I just bought an x reg accord for 1500 quid. 80k miles on it, 1.8 SE Executive so has full heated leather, climate, sunroof, bose stereo, cruise, electric everything including drivers seat.

Reliable - it's a Honda. Mine has a few niggles but nothing serious
Comfortable - extremely, more so than a focus
Practical - more so than a focus, room for 5 and a big boot

Worth a look, better value for money than the obvious suggestion of mondeo

DBT85 · 28 Jun 2010 at 08:03

I've had my 01 Focus for about 6 years now and i'm very happy with it.

in that time i've had to replace:
Front disks (car had 60k on it when i bought it, theyt needed doing at about 70k)
gear shifter spring (the shifter would auto center from the left but was floppy on the right. easy fix. £4 DIY, £80 at a garage!)
2 blower fan resistors (£12 each DIY)
1 speed sensor (about £30 diy, the speedo would drop to 0 and then come back up while driving)

I have the 1.6 Zetec and its great fun to drive. Its not as soft a ride as others but it feels nicer to drive. The 1.6 i find has more than enough poke to get you out of and into trouble easily enough and has fun upto about 6.5k. Once you've got 4 passengers in and luggage or something you'd want a bigger engine though.