Sold the RAV.... get a Focus??

Janesy B · 24 Jan 2011 at 18:57

SpazzyCazzy said:
I never used the air con anyway, used to drink the petrol up in the RAV4 lol

Do you think this actually IS a Zetec? Only it doesn't say that on it does it. That crossed my mind earlier. It doesn't look like the one parked at the school earlier. That actually said it on the back, but I cant remember what year it was.

I suspect it is, It's just weird to see one with a trip computer and that grille, maybe the previous owner tarted it up? Oddly putting in the reg of the car here: http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do brought nothing back. Maybe its had a reg change?

SpazzyCazzy said:
Good idea, cheers. As I would definitely want to get that done if there is any chance it could need it. Heard too many horror stories about cam belts, & I remember when my brother bought an old car once & the cam belt went within a week. I think he managed to get a refund in the end but it was hassle.

As above, the car you linked to is really due for a change, Ford are too optimistic with 10y/100k.

mattyfez · 24 Jan 2011 at 18:58

SpazzyCazzy said:
That'll do for me then.

2004 reg, 68k, 3495 pounds. (cant find the pound key, think the keyboard is on Amercan)

They are going to bring the car to me, as it's quite far away. It's a garage in Woking.

If they are bringing the car out to you, be prepared for a hard sell. If you don't feel confident, have someone with you who is, or refuse to do anything until you have had a few days to mull the deal over. There are plenty of foci on the market, if it's really the kind of car you want, there are plently more fish in the sea, as they say.

sigma · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:00

If you're buying this car to save money then the last thing you want is things like belts etc needing a change so be sure to use it as a reason to haggle the price, ring around and get some quotes for a belt change first, same for the bushes too. Then you'll have some ammo to fire in the salesman's face.

Sagalout · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:03

If you're prepared to travel a bit and look around carefully you should be able to get a mk2 with similar mileage for £4k. That would be a better buy IMO. Feels more modern and should hold it's value. I have an 05 plate Mk2 zetec 1.6 and it's incredibly reliable and an all round decent car. Very practical (I can fit my bike in the back without removing the wheels!) but not that economical unless you stick to 70 on the motorway.

Things that have gone wrong in 5 years of ownership:

Headlight bulb - £20
Rear light bad earth - £50ish
Power steering hose thingy - £150ish

SpazzyCazzy · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:18

Janesy B said:
I suspect it is, It's just weird to see one with a trip computer and that grille, maybe the previous owner tarted it up? Oddly putting in the reg of the car here: http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do brought nothing back. Maybe its had a reg change?

Ooooer that's weird? What do you mean reg change? I am definitely best to get a check on it?

As above, the car you linked to is really due for a change, Ford are too optimistic with 10y/100k.

mattyfez said:
If they are bringing the car out to you, be prepared for a hard sell. If you don't feel confident, have someone with you who is, or refuse to do anything until you have had a few days to mull the deal over. There are plenty of foci on the market, if it's really the kind of car you want, there are plently more fish in the sea, as they say.

Yeh he knows I can say if I dont want it, & seems to be cool with that.

sigma said:
If you're buying this car to save money then the last thing you want is things like belts etc needing a change so be sure to use it as a reason to haggle the price, ring around and get some quotes for a belt change first, same for the bushes too. Then you'll have some ammo to fire in the salesman's face.

Will do, cheers.

SpazzyCazzy · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:18

MuvverRussia said:
Haggle on it. (Edit - that's a Zetec looking at the photos).

As has been said - cambelt is 100k on these, I'd not be wanting to risk it that long though.

I had a mk 1.5 Focus zetec 1.6 for 2.5 years and 30k. It was a pretty good car. Stuff which goes wrong:

Heater blower resistor pack - you'll know this if the heater fan only works on full whack. Easy to change though so £50 tops in a garage. Happened to my one.

Power steering pump pressure switch - these can leak PAS fluid out. Bit of a pain of a job to DIY but easy for a garage - cost me £50 in a back street place to get this one fixed.

Clutch master cylinder - these can leak (as it's got a hydraulic clutch). £200ish to replace as the part isn't too cheap and it's a bit of a pig of a job.

Wheel bearings - apparently they can lunch their wheel bearings every so often. Didn't have this happen to mine though.

Ignition coil packs can fail - the car will run lumpy (as it's misfiring) and the check engine light will come on. Easy enough to fix though - part was about £40 if I remember right (garage would probably charge £70-100ish to fix).

Rear fog lamp is in a crap location for water ingression, so water gets in, fouls the connectors for the bulb and the lamp stops working. Quick fix with a file to clean the contacts and some silicone to seal it up better sorted it on mine.

Check for dampness in the passenger footwell. Often mechanics don't refit the seals properly when changing the pollen filter causing this to leak.

Check for any knocking noises from the suspension. On mine I had to do the rear anti roll bar bushes and the front droplinks.

Watch out if headlamp bulbs fail. Front off side is easy to do, near side is a pain. When I did mine I ended up removing the battery and battery tray to get access to it.

Other than that they're not bad cars. They handle fairly well and the 1.6 is a nice revvy engine. Make sure it's run on 5w/30 oil though. Mine was possibly a bit of a lemon when I bought it but realistically the stuff that went wrong wasn't a major pain (and for the most part, not really a major expense).

Gosh, that's quite a list! lol
What do you mean a nice revvy engine?

Janesy B · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:21

SpazzyCazzy said:
Ooooer that's weird? What do you mean reg change? I am definitely best to get a check on it?

I've never had that before, I've put 10 or so different Ford reg numbers in there and it's always worked, probably nothing to be too concerned about. Maybe the reg on the car now was bought as it had the previous owner's initials, not sure really.

SpazzyCazzy · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:32

Janesy B said:
I've never had that before, I've put 10 or so different Ford reg numbers in there and it's always worked, probably nothing to be too concerned about. Maybe the reg on the car now was bought as it had the previous owner's initials, not sure really.

Do you know any sites I could get a vehicle check on? That autotrader charges 20 quid for 1! The person that bought my car paid about 6 quid. But I sold mine through ebay. So they obviously use a different one.

[TW]Fox · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:32

SpazzyCazzy said:
Do you know any sites I could get a vehicle check on? That autotrader charges 20 quid for 1! The person that bought my car paid about 6 quid. But I sold mine through ebay. So they obviously use a different one.

http://www.mytextcheck.com

MuvverRussia · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:34

Revvy engine - the engine likes to be revved. There's not much low down grunt from it (as expected - it's a 1.6 petrol).

Janesy B · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:36

MuvverRussia said:
Revvy engine - the engine likes to be revved. There's not much low down grunt from it (as expected - it's a 1.6 petrol).

It's okay for bumbling around town in and 3k rpm at 70 so not as bad as some low powered hatches.

mattyfez · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:38

Janesy B said:
I suspect it is, It's just weird to see one with a trip computer and that grille, maybe the previous owner tarted it up? Oddly putting in the reg of the car here: http://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do brought nothing back. Maybe its had a reg change?

As above, the car you linked to is really due for a change, Ford are too optimistic with 10y/100k.

Quoted for truth, if I recall, ford reduced the cambelt intervals on a number of engines due to failiures.

Janesy B · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:41

mattyfez said:
Quoted for truth, if I recall, ford reduced the cambelt intervals on a number of engines due to failiures.

Ford haven't reduced the interval, they still quote 10 years / 100k on their service schedules.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11422169/serviceschedule (1).pdf

As for 10 years or 100k on the AUX belt - lol

That's a 6 year old belt after 30k, looking at the bills I have.

SpazzyCazzy · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:42

[TW]Fox;18304586 said:
http://www.mytextcheck.com

You little treasure, thanks!

MuvverRussia said:
Revvy engine - the engine likes to be revved. There's not much low down grunt from it (as expected - it's a 1.6 petrol).

Ok ta.
I have borrowed step dads Megane, until I get a new car, it's a diesel s reg I think. Talk about rattle, it sounds awful.

SpazzyCazzy · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:45

Whats a trip computer anyway?

Janesy B · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:47

SpazzyCazzy said:
Whats a trip computer anyway?

Tells you outside temp, MPG and a few other things.

sigma · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:49

Digital version of the little trip mile counter that you have at the bottom of older dashes which you can reset.

SpazzyCazzy · 24 Jan 2011 at 19:50

Oh wicked.

mattyfez · 24 Jan 2011 at 20:01

Janesy B said:
Ford haven't reduced the interval, they still quote 10 years / 100k on their service schedules.

Maybe I'm thinking of the 1700 vct which is badged as a zetec but isn't really, anyway, in my experience with fords, if it's due at 100k, get it done at 80k.

Janesy B · 24 Jan 2011 at 20:07

mattyfez said:
Maybe I'm thinking of the 1700 vct which is badged as a zetec but isn't really, anyway, in my experience with fords, if it's due at 100k, get it done at 80k.

Still a Zetec SE engine like the 1.6, just has VCT added and slightly larger capacity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sigma_engine

But yes, looking at the schedules, Ford has put it down at 5 years or 80k.