Anyone here owned a MK2 Focus?

"Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell." (oppisitelock)
05/12/2016 at 06:04 • Filed to: None

My dad is finally pulling cash together to replace his rotten Micra and this is one of the front runners. I’ve been in a couple and driven one briefly but I’m more concerned about longevity and such. I preferably want to find a cared for one, keep up with maintenance and keep it for a good few years at least. The only downsides I can see is that the 1.6 petrol isn’t too great running costs wise compared to the superminis hes used to (we’d be definitely getting a petrol) and the 1.4 is just not enough to haul the car around.

DISCUSSION (22)

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 06:16

Well, I haven’t had a mk2, although back when my dad had a mk3, I was kinda active on the dutch FocusClub forum. What I noticed from there is that the mk2 was a really large step in reliability and rust-proofing compared to the mk1. From what I remember both the 1.6 and the 1.6 Ti-VCT are quite bullet proof, however still a bit under powered according to some people. However coming from a Micra (1.2?) I think that shouldn’t be a problem.

Edit: A point of attention for the 1.4/1.6 is that washerfluid can leak into the valley where the sparkplugs are located, due to ill designed windscreen washers, which can damage the cup plugs in the valvecover/head. Further leakage can be prevented by adding a Volvo spark plug cover, used on Volvos with the same engine such, like the S40/V50/C30. This mod is recommended, even if the engine shows no signs of the washer leakage, and only costs about €20.

Cé hé sin > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 06:19

They’re normally reliable enough although not as much so as say an Auris - but cheaper too.

The 1.4 should be enough for anyone, the 1.6 is just higher fuel bills if he’s doing short journeys. If he lives on a motorway he’d be better off with the 1.6 though.

kanadanmajava1 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 06:33

When I was a test engineer in Lapland for one winter season the company that I worked for had 2.0l models as test vehicles. They were mostly used for various tire tests as they had good driving characteristics and their ABS was quite good.

They were very fun cars during the handling tests and they are surprisingly tail happy in winter conditions. They were facelifted models and looked quite ugly though.

Edit: They mostly worked but the life as a test car was quite hard for the brakes and they needed some attention. Their daily routines included +100 heavy accelerations and brakings on snow/ice.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Cé hé sin
05/12/2016 at 06:34

He drives mostly 60mph roads to work and the 1.4 has the same quoted mpg as the 1.6. Plus the 1.4 is quite rare, probably because no one saw the point in it.

I looked at Auris but like you say they’re higher priced since they hold their value well.

TA4K > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 06:35

My dad used to have a 2.0 Duratec HE that we now have as a company car for the sales rep. If it is a 2.0 manual made in France in like 2006, then the bearings in the gearbox like to totally shit themselves. Otherwise it has been pretty good. Decent boot, seats are alright and they handle well enough.

facw > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 07:01

Ooh, a real mk2 Focus, not the fake facelifted mk1 we got here in the states:

Kinja'd!!!

djmt1 > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 07:17

The lady who used to pick me up from school had one, however I clearly remember spending more time in a Mazda 3. So I would look deep into reliability and ownership experiences.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer
05/12/2016 at 07:23

Thanks for the advice, I’ll definitely get those parts fitted if we get one.

Klaus Schmoll > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 07:35

All I can add is that a friend of mine bought an ex-rental one about 5 or 6 years ago, still drives it, and plans on keeping it. So they can’t be that bad.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > kanadanmajava1
05/12/2016 at 07:35

Interesting, if they managed to survive such heavy us they surely have a bit of toughness about them. Thanks for the input.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Klaus Schmoll
05/12/2016 at 07:36

Well if it survived being a rental it can survive my dads leisurely driving haha.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > facw
05/12/2016 at 07:37

That actually doesn’t look half bad though...

Klaus Schmoll > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 07:40

Kinja'd!!!

That’s the facelift though. They started with grafting the nose of a MK2 on a MK1 and called it a day, those were really ugly.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Klaus Schmoll
05/12/2016 at 07:43

Yeah that one looks really odd.

facw > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 07:49

I never liked it. Always saw the design as “Aren’t you embarrassed you can’t afford a Fusion” Taking the Fusion’s design language and scaling it down seemed really awkward to me. We also lost the hatchback and wagon versions.

I did like the UK car-orchestra commercials for the mk2, Ford would never advertise a car that way, especially an “economy” car like the Focus:

beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 08:14

I know of one that’s hit two roos and a wombat and is still going, so that’s something.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 09:04

The only one I’ve driven was one with the 2.0 Duratec, and it wasn’t exactly what I would call “adequate power”.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
05/12/2016 at 14:52

It’d probably feel like a rocket ship coming from a 1 litre micra though.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 14:58

Good point.

Laurence > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/12/2016 at 17:23

I’ve never heard anything bad about them; I’ve spent plenty of time in a quite a few, as well as the c-max it shares a platform with. They’re good enough, but the interiors aren’t up to par of their rivals, even on the higher spec ghia models. People in my family (who are virtually all big ford fans) have owned them, and liked them enough to buy another afterwards

Mattbob > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
05/12/2016 at 17:48

dat mileage tho. (Just got a gen 1 focus with the 2.0 duratec, coming from a jeep xj)

Have car, will drive (now has a motorcycle too) > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
05/13/2016 at 04:01

I have a 2008 with the 2.0 duratec that I’ve owned since new. The build/materials quality of the interior is a bit poor on the South African built cars we got here in Aus but I suspect the cars you would be looking at wouldn’t have that problem. Mechanically it’s been faultless, I plan to keep it for a while yet.