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Thank you for all of your meesages - as a novice car buyer I appreciate your feedback. Update from my side:
Decided to not buy the car.
A decision made by head over heart.
The issue with the 4 failed emissions 2011 - 2014 raised my concerns a little - although I was still prepared to take a punt (I didn't think the CAT would be the issue, as it first failed in 2011 at 34,000 miles, I assumed if the CAT was broken it would have not taken until Jan 2014 52,000 miles to make owner aware it needed fixing) and also based on the feedback above I was happy to go with the theory it had not been driven 'hard' enough to clear the carbon build up.
The recent £700 drop in price also made me a little nervous (why such a big drop?), and when questioned about most recent MOT failed emissions - I was then told a new exhaust system and CAT to the tune of £250 had been fitted last week (but I wasn't told this when I saw the car / took the car out for a drive - maybe seller didn't want to scare me by saying something had to be fixed? But could have been pitched as a selling point e.g - "I've just had a new exhaust and CAT done - so you don't need to worry about that"). Could be something could be nothing, but again made me a little nervous.
I then found out the 2005 plate Focus has a known issue with water getting into the spark plug plug ports from the washers on the bonnet, leading to all kinds of trouble with, misfires, EML, rusty / broken spark plugs etc.
That final 'discovery' tipped me to walk away so to speak. Happy to lose a deposit, than buy a car that may cause me considerably more in repairs etc. As it would also be our only car which I use to drive to work, I really cant afford to be without a car (or expensive repairs).
Gutted as I really liked the drive, how it looked inside and out etc.
Am now looking at newer than 2005 Focus'.
Thanks again for everyone's advice and input - bit sorry this tale doesn't end on a happier note of me getting the car, but hopefully I will get a good one in the end.
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