Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Tue 29 Jul 2014 12:30

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - routledge92

Hi All

I've had an aweful few weeks....About 8 weeks ago now I had a running with a hedge and wrote off my car (06 1.4 tdci fiesta).

I thankfully came out without a scratch on me and, although frustrated at the impending inconveiniance of not having a car, I wasn't too disappointed. See my little fiesta had been poorly for a while and having had it at multiple garages I had no luck, so I was almost glad to see it go.

After a painful 4 weeks of back and forth with my insurance company, I eventually ended up with £2000 to spend on a car. So having found a few cars I liked the look of in Liverpool, I set out from my quiet corner of Cumbria, returning home with a new car later that day.

I loved this new car instantly. Despite being only 21 I am really a bit of an old man at heart. So a 56 reg focus 1.6tdci estate suited me down to a t. Not only this but it was the ghia trim coming with cruise control, reverse parking sensors and a very nice piece of wood in the dash. Although it had 100k miles on the clock it ran great..............for about 3 weeks.

Last week, something went wrong. I'm no mechanic so not really sure what but I think it is the turbo and my slightly more mechanically minded friends seem to agree. I am now trying to return the car from the garage it came from ti avoid this or any other hidden bills. I hope to return it peacefully eithout a problem, otherwise the sale of goods act and trading standards cards will have to come out.

However, this then leaves me looking for yet another used car........but which one?

My experience with my last 2 cars makes me want to avoid diesels, but have I just been unlucky and had bad experiences? I do about 16k mls a year mainly on windy country roads. Also as I said I'm only 21 and have a claim on my insurance. Really what I need is a car that is cheap to run, insure and is reliable, all for a budget of £2000 or less. Also interested to hear what people have to say on petrol or diesel.

Thanks

Matt

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 29 Jul 2014 12:53

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - brighteyes

Think you're in for a disappointment on this one despite your hopes on the sale of goods and trading standards. First of all you have to read your warranty document, including the small print, and thats assuming you have one. If you have and it covers all the relevant points the trader has a right to try to fix your problem and again, unless the warranty says otherwise there is no onus on him to provide a replacement vehicle whilst your is being repaired. I'll have a little bet that if the repair is too expensive the dealer will call your bluff and let you commence court proceedings and wait you out. From his point of view the worst that can happen is he settles the day before the court hearing is due and then you'll have to restart court proceedings again to reclaim your costs. By the time this has happened you'll have a lot more candles on your birthday cake. I really do wish you the best of luck.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 29 Jul 2014 15:06

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - routledge92

First of all you have to read your warranty document, including the small print, and thats assuming you have one. If you have and it covers all the relevant points the trader has a right to try to fix your problem and again, unless the warranty says otherwise there is no onus on him to provide a replacement vehicle whilst your is being repaired.

Hi thanks for you message. The car did come with 1 months engine and gearbox warranty....I've been trying to work out if this includes the turbo. Any ideas? In terms of small print there is none....just some excludsions on things like gaskets, leaks etc.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 29 Jul 2014 12:58

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - RobJP

For that sort of mileage, I'd stick with diesel. At your price bracket, you're not going to be buying a car with a DPF, and even if you did, 15k or more a year is likely to reduce the chances of any problems quite a bit.

Apart from that, just do research. You're on here, and that's a very good first step. Look at what's likely to give problems, what's rated by owners, and take it from there.

One other point. Don't fully eliminate petrol from what you're looking at. For similar cost price, you can get a far better/newer/lower mileage petrol car than the equivalent diesel, and running costs can even out if you get a couple of faults with a diesel (and they tend to suffer problems more often). A lot of those problems are relatively minor (EGR valves is a common one, they are in petrol cars too, but diesel ones clog up far more easily), but if a dual mass flywheel (DMF) fails, it can make a cheap to run diesel car into an expensive to run one (petrol cars, with less torque, tend not to have DMFs, they are there to reduce torque shock from the engine to the gearbox in low gears)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 29 Jul 2014 15:30

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - brighteyes

As the warranty only covers the engine and gearbox I suspect the dealer will say that the turbo isn't part of the engine it's part of the exhaust system. Splitting hairs it's neither as both engine and exhaust would work without it, albeit not as well. Would suggest you return it to the dealer and not mention what you think it is, let him find out, after all the only thing going for you is that it's up to him to find the fault and fix it if it's covered by the warranty. If it isn't at least he'll tell you what the problem is and quote you for the repair.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Tue 29 Jul 2014 16:56

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - Dabooka

My experience with my last 2 cars makes me want to avoid diesels, but have I just been unlucky and had bad experiences?

Well bearing in mind one was ploughed into a hedge, the type of engine was hardly a factor in it's demise was it?!

My gut feeling would be to look at condition over engine type at this value. A well maintained £2000 petrol might be a better bet than a diesel at that end of the market as you've discovered (I'm not certain but I think that engine has had more than it's fair share of problems with the turbo?).

However, first point is getting the dealer involved regarding the 'turbo' and to that I'd echo the sentiment above and just get it back to them and don't mention what you consider it to be, let them figure it out.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 30 Jul 2014 00:07

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - Andrew-T

The simplest message for me is that if you decide to buy a car with 100K on the clock, make sure it has been fully maintained - if you can't tell, look for another. That mileage will make repairs quite likely, so you need all the help you can get.

And you seem to be buying a long way from home, which isn't much help if the car needs to go back for work to be done.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 30 Jul 2014 11:48

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - routledge92

Thanks for all your messages, there definately some points I will think about.

For arguements sake lets say I do get my money back, what car would you suggest for me all things considered???

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 30 Jul 2014 21:23

Ford Focus - Buying a used car.....but which one? - Trilogy

MK1 Focus. Buy as cheap as you can get, with history, and low number of owners, and keep the change. Don't go to a dealer at this price. A warranty for this age of car isn't worth having. Nothing better than looking an owner in the eye, when you buy his or her car. Dealers can pull the wool over your eyes.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Ask Honest John

Sell Your Car

Real MPG

Fuel Calculator