Faults:

Fan belt at 60000 miles.

Gearshift return spring at 61000 miles.

General Comments:

Fantastic to drive.

Seriously rapid.

Noisy engine.

Abysmal wind noise.

Poor interior quality and lack of basic equipment (not even a glove-box light!)

TOO MANY RATTLES AND CREAKS.

Great value for money, and cheap to repair too!

Faults:

Wheel Bearing failure at N/S/R (Left Rear) at 130,000 miles.

Failed Central Locking Motor at around 140,000 miles.

Burst Boost hose at around 150,000 miles.

Leaking Injector Pipe at around 160,000 miles.

General Comments:

I love this car!

I always wanted a Focus since their UK launch in 1998. This one came up at a reasonable price when I was thinking of getting rid of my previous 1995 MK6 Escort. It was a diesel, which I need since I usually do over 25,000 miles a year.

This car isn't the fastest on the road. The engine is only 90PS (Around 88-89 bhp), however it's plenty quick enough for me. It has never refused to start, and has never failed in a manner that made it undrivable.

The interior is nice to look at, with Ford's late-90's "new age" era hitting with a bang. The interior is definitely not the boring items you'd find in all of the Focus' rivals at the time! It's a nice place to be with comfortable seats.

The car handles superbly! It's very easy to drive, and lets you know exactly what's going on. The steering is neither heavy nor too light: It's just perfect. The "control blade" suspension makes for fun cornering.

My example is an ex fleet car, which is why it's on such high mileage. However, despite it's high mileage, it still looks good, and drives well with no worrying noises. Many people have been passengers in my car and ask the mileage. I say "165,000" and their reply is "it's good for 65,000 then!". I repeat: "ONE HUNDRED and sixty-five thousand" and then it clicks: And they always say "well, it's even better for 165,000!!"

I could recommend the Focus to anyone. It's a superb all-round car, and my example has been excellent as far as reliability is concerned.

Some dealer prices are a bit extortionate, however, and I've seen Ford doubling the price for a part in the space of a couple of months. This is about the only downside to Ford ownership.

General Comments:

This is probably the best car I have ever had. It handles really well, looks cool and reliability is not a problem. After previously owning a Mazda 323fastback, which looks fantastic and had all the extras, but was the most expensive and unreliable car I have ever had, to now having a car which puts the fun back into my driving. I cannot recommend this car highly enough. It had been a ex-rental car, and with 96k on the clock I expected some problems, but it is a fine piece of engineering.

Faults:

The diesel glow plugs were on the way out.

The boot release function had a major fault. I could only open it with the key in the end.

General Comments:

I loved this car, even though it was a diesel.

The acceleration was excellent, and the ride was fantastic when cornering or on country lanes, considering how I was driving!

The only problem I had with this car is that it didn't have Air Conditioning, otherwise I would have kept it for a lot longer.

I put a lot of mileage on it (25000) in 5 months, and it has stood up very well.

This has changed my mind about diesels - fantastic fun!

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with the car yet, but I haven't had it long so I don't want to speak to soon!

General Comments:

Very impressed with the handling and performance. It can corner particularly well at speed and doesn't complain too much!

I like the look of the car and find the cabin very spacious compared to my Escort, but can someone tell me why I have grey wood trim instead of the standard wood trim please?

The brakes are magnificent also, very smooth.