My wife wants to buy a new car in about a months time. We have about £12k to spend and have narrowed the choice down to a new Ford Focus 1.6 (LX or Zetec) or a new Toyota Corolla T3 1.6. We are planning to keep it for about 6 to 8 years.
We would like some help / advice to enable us to make our decision.
Thanks in anticipation
Jason
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Jason, J.D.Power and other surveys suggest you will have a better all round owning experience with a Toyota. I subscribe to a monthly motoring magazine which has a readers' problem page. Over the years I have been shocked by Ford's attitude to its customers. I have yet to see a Toyota feature on this page. Draw your own conclusions. I'ts your money!
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The, er, corollary is that the Toyota will still be worth something in 6-8 years' time...
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You must be kidding! A new car that's actually worth something in 6 to 8 years time?
Oh I've just seen a pink elephant fly past my window :-)
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I'd go for the Corolla. I've got my dad's old 1995 diesel and absolutly nothing has gone wrong with it in those seven years.
My dad's got a year old Avensis and my brother a Yaris and they are excellent.
I think the focus looks stupid and quite a few magazines are recommending the Corolla over the Focus, plus it's a newer design, you get more kit and the dealers are excellent - they aren't exactly stressed.
My dad's experiences of Fords have put us off for life.
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"..actually worth something in 6 to 8 years time?"
Well, not a lot perhaps, but still more than the Focus. Then they could sell it to me, and I would probably run it for another 6-8 years...
(Our garage comprises one 12-year old, one 13-year old and one 24-year old, so it's all relative)
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My wife runs a 1995 Corolla GS which has done about 56,000 miles .
It has never had any problems. Worth around £1300 as a trade in I think.
A small fuel tank is a bit of a pain , seems to be around 8 gallons.
I heard that there is also a problem with corroding sumps on Corollas of this age.
Ours is pretty rough looking and so I've just given it a spray with WD40- but a friends did actually rust through.
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My wife bought a new MR2 from Trade Sales in Slough and saved over £3,500. Completely painless experience which was a bit of a surprise as I was looking for the catch(es) throughout the whole process and it never came. Only downside no in-car sound - easily sortable for £300. Everybody else's comments about Toyota relaibility and better residuals are true. Toyota dealers also well ahead of Ford and very helpful. Take the Focus for a test drive though, they're a hoot to drive! Good luck
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