Mine is the 2.0 LE with the manual rather than auto-box, but...
Suspension : yes, it could be classed as "soft" -- but no worse than many other cars I have driven {and remember : it's NOT meant to be a sports car!}
Air-con : Guess you should get it checked... mine works fine {cools everything nicely even on very hot days, & can ice-up the windscreen if you set it to "cold" in the winter!}
"The radio looks like it was stolen from someone else." Funny... mine blends in with everything else!
"The central locking isn't even remote."...true, if you have a very early '05 model {essentially, a 2004-built car}. The proper 2005-on models all come with remote locking.
"All the window switches seem to be the wrong way around"... how do you mean "wrong way around"??... the front-window switches are to the front of the armrest panel; the left-window are on the left-side of the panel; push forwards for down & backwards for up {in other words, same as every other car I've driven with E/W}... so how is this "the wrong way around"??
"The petrol consumption is poor, and matches the performance."
From the point of view of a "manual" owner : yes, around town it's not the most economical of cars {not helped by the gearing or the weight of the car}... can get to low-teens or early 20's MPG, but on the motorway I can easily attain upwards of 40MPG {and usually around 45-47MPG} by keeping the revs in the 2250-2750 RPM range.
As for "poor performance"...again, remember it's a large HEAVY car {especially compared to a Focus!} built more for "cruising" than sport. Saying that, I've had mine up to 128MPH {sat-nav reading, not speedo!} on the Autobahn near Köln {at which point it was still accelerating}!!
{Newer '05-onwards 2.0 petrol Magentis' had a VVT engine, which was more powerful & more economical}
"Save your money!!"...well in my case, I paid £2,000 for my 2005 Magentis -- 13 months old & less than 12K miles {with full service history}... It's now 6 years old & done over 62K miles. In that time, all I've had done {other than oil & filter changes} is a new set of tyres at 45K miles & a replacement cambelt at 61K miles {recommended change is 70K -- the newer models have timing chains with a much longer service life}. No rust, and no electrical or mechanical problems whatsoever!!... Not bad for a "truly dreadful car"!!
In the same timeframe, a friend with a newer {2007} & lower-mileage Focus has had to replace 2 coil-packs & had several electrical faults due to the cable-runs being too short to allow for any "play".
13th Feb 2011, 04:08
Mine is the 2.0 LE with the manual rather than auto-box, but...
Suspension : yes, it could be classed as "soft" -- but no worse than many other cars I have driven {and remember : it's NOT meant to be a sports car!}
Air-con : Guess you should get it checked... mine works fine {cools everything nicely even on very hot days, & can ice-up the windscreen if you set it to "cold" in the winter!}
"The radio looks like it was stolen from someone else." Funny... mine blends in with everything else!
"The central locking isn't even remote."...true, if you have a very early '05 model {essentially, a 2004-built car}. The proper 2005-on models all come with remote locking.
"All the window switches seem to be the wrong way around"... how do you mean "wrong way around"??... the front-window switches are to the front of the armrest panel; the left-window are on the left-side of the panel; push forwards for down & backwards for up {in other words, same as every other car I've driven with E/W}... so how is this "the wrong way around"??
"The petrol consumption is poor, and matches the performance."
From the point of view of a "manual" owner : yes, around town it's not the most economical of cars {not helped by the gearing or the weight of the car}... can get to low-teens or early 20's MPG, but on the motorway I can easily attain upwards of 40MPG {and usually around 45-47MPG} by keeping the revs in the 2250-2750 RPM range.
As for "poor performance"...again, remember it's a large HEAVY car {especially compared to a Focus!} built more for "cruising" than sport. Saying that, I've had mine up to 128MPH {sat-nav reading, not speedo!} on the Autobahn near Köln {at which point it was still accelerating}!!
{Newer '05-onwards 2.0 petrol Magentis' had a VVT engine, which was more powerful & more economical}
"Save your money!!"...well in my case, I paid £2,000 for my 2005 Magentis -- 13 months old & less than 12K miles {with full service history}... It's now 6 years old & done over 62K miles. In that time, all I've had done {other than oil & filter changes} is a new set of tyres at 45K miles & a replacement cambelt at 61K miles {recommended change is 70K -- the newer models have timing chains with a much longer service life}. No rust, and no electrical or mechanical problems whatsoever!!... Not bad for a "truly dreadful car"!!
In the same timeframe, a friend with a newer {2007} & lower-mileage Focus has had to replace 2 coil-packs & had several electrical faults due to the cable-runs being too short to allow for any "play".