Ford Focus Estate Review 2024

Estate cars are a dying breed as ever more buyers switch to SUVs. They may not have the raised seating position and road presence that make SUVs so desirable, but estates still have plenty to offer if you need a car that can carry lots of stuff. The Ford Focus Estate is one of the best, and a worthy alternative to a Volkswagen Golf Estate, Peugeot 308 SW or Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer.

Let’s start in the Ford Focus Estate’s boot – which is, after all, the main point of such a car. It’s 575-litre capacity isn’t the biggest, but it’s still more than enough to cover most people’s needs. It’s certainly more space than you get in any midsize SUV. The boot’s flat and square, and the opening is huge, which makes it easy to load really big stuff. It’s relatively close to the ground as well, all the better for dogs to jump in and out.

Fold the back seats down and there’s enough space to accommodate a flat-pack furniture shopping trip.

There’s pretty generous space inside for people, too. Four tall-ish adults can fit comfortably, even five at a push, so a typical family is unlikely to have any complaints. The only potential negative compared to an SUV is that the seats are lower down, which isn’t ideal if you have to lift kids in and out.

Everyone has a good view out, though, which is an increasingly rare thing in the car world. Indeed, the Ford Focus Estate is generally a nice vehicle to travel in. Its ride is smooth (if a little on the firm side in ST-Line models), refinement is good, and the seats are super-comfy and supportive. The materials used in the interior aren’t up to the standards of premium-badged rivals, but it feels pretty plush and is very well-made.

The tech is impressive, too. The centrepiece is the huge 13.2-inch touchscreen display on the dashboard, which houses Ford’s latest SYNC 4 infotainment screen. The user-friendly system includes sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone connectivity, DAB radio, Bluetooth and a whole lot more besides.

On the road, the Ford Focus Estate feels fantastic. Whatever sort of journey you’re going on and whatever approach you have to driving, the experience is really rewarding and satisfying. That’s because the car feels light and poised and completely trustworthy. You feel connected to it. Indeed, the Focus does it all: it’s easy to park, a relaxing cruiser, and huge fun on a country road.

There are four trim levels to choose from: Titanium, ST-Line, Titanium X and ST-Line X. They all come equipped with the aforementioned SYNC 4 infotainment system, cruise control and front and rear parking sensors. The X pack adds plush Sensico leather-style upholstery and a large digital driver’s display.

Ford also sells SUV-style Active and hot-hatch-inspired ST versions of the Ford Focus Estate. We’ve covered those separately.

Engine choices include several versions of Ford’s brilliant 1.0-litre EcoBoost petrol motor, plus a 1.5-litre EcoBlue diesel. The 155PS petrol engine offers the best compromise between performance and efficiency. It has the muscle to haul a heavy load, too. The diesel is still a good option if you do lots of long-distance motorway journeys, though.

At the time of writing, prices for the Ford Focus Estate start at around £28,000 and stretch to just under £34,000. That’s in the same ballpark as most other midsize estates, which we reckon makes the Ford decent value for money.

The Ford Focus Estate is more practical and better to drive than the average midsize SUV, and will serve the needs of most families very well. More than that, the Ford Focus Estate is simply a good car that’s very enjoyable to use and own.

The Ford Focus Estate isn’t the most capacious car of its kind, but there’s no denying it has a ton of space for people and things.

Let’s start with the passenger compartment. There’s loads of space up front: enough for anyone of pretty much any size to get comfortable. In the back, the Focus Estate isn’t as roomy as a Skoda Octavia (few cars are), but there’s still sufficient space for a six-foot-tall adult to stretch out a bit. It helps that the Estate’s long roof creates quite a lot of headroom in the back. It’s also worth noting that the back seat is wide enough for three adults to sit abreast: a rarity in a midsize estate.

Open the tailgate and you’ll discover 575 litres of boot space. That’s less luggage capacity than a Skoda Octavia but, curiously, more than the outwardly larger Ford Mondeo.

The boot floor is flat and square, the opening is massive, and there’s no loading lip between the bumper and boot floor to lift objects over. Everything from the food shopping, to a sleeping Labrador, to a week’s worth of camping gear will fit easily.

Folding the back seats down opens up 1650 litres, measured up to the window line – roughly the amount of room that a fridge-freezer takes up.

If you’re coming out of an older generation of Focus, you’ll immediately notice the vastly improved interior of the latest Ford Focus Estate. It’s not quite up to the standards of premium-feeling rivals like the Peugeot 308, but it still feels rather plush in there.

That’s partly down to the seats, which are delightfully soft yet supportive. Most of the plastics used inside are warm and yielding, and everything feels like it has been made to last a long time. There are some tougher, scratchier plastics dotted about the cabin, but they’re in areas that tend to get knocked about.

Another massive improvement for the Ford Focus that came along with the 2022 facelift is a new infotainment system. It runs Ford’s latest SYNC 4 software and lives in a huge 13.2-inch touchscreen display on top of the dashboard.

The screen itself is not only significantly larger than before, it’s also brighter, the graphics look up-to-date and its responses are lag-free. You’ll spot the controls for the air conditioning arranged in a row along the bottom edge of the screen. The system loads the instant you turn the car on, too – for comparison, it can take several seconds in a Volkswagen Golf.

Features of SYNC 4 include sat-nav, DAB radio and Bluetooth connectivity. You can also pair your phone using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to access your preferred navigation and entertainment apps. The system is much easier to use than the old SYNC 3 setup, and there are fewer menus to navigate to find the feature or information you want. It also responds to voice commands.

In high-spec models, the driver gets a 12.3-inch display in place of traditional dials. This shows all sorts of useful information, along with a large-format navigation map. You can also use it to select music or scroll through your phone book.

Prices for the Ford Focus Estate start at £28,240 at the time of writing, which is £1160 more than the equivalent hatchback. The top-of-the-range model costs £33,830. That may seem expensive for a Focus, but it’s actually on-par with similar cars with the same kind of standard features.

There are lots of optional colours and features to choose from, all of which are reasonably priced. However, it’s surprisingly easy to add lots of them, which will significantly inflate the price you pay.

Shop around a bit and you can get a discount of £1,000 or so on a pre-registered Ford Focus Estate.

Inevitably, the Ford Focus Estate is at its most efficient with a diesel engine. The official figures show it can return average fuel economy of 57.6mpg. That’s in the same ballpark as other estates of a similar size with a diesel engine and automatic gearbox.

Likewise, the efficiency of the petrol engines is right on the money for this type of car. Depending on exactly which combination of engine and gearbox you get, you should see average economy of 52.3-54.3mpg.

CO2 emissions are fairly low. You’re looking at 116-135g/km from the petrol engines and 129-136g/km from the diesel. That translates to an annual vehicle excise duty (VED, or road tax) charge of £190. Company car benefit-in-kind tax rates won’t be too steep, either.

Ford’s servicing costs are always very reasonable and the car is covered by a three years or 60,000 miles warranty.

It doesn’t matter what sort of road you’re driving on or how long your journey is, getting behind the wheel of a Ford Focus Estate is a really rewarding experience. The weight of the steering feels exactly right in your hands, and the car feels light and nimble as you turn into a corner. You get a very good idea of what the road surface is like through the steering wheel and seat.

Ride quality is excellent, too. The suspension soaks up holes and lumps without transmitting the thud to your seat, and it doesn’t get bounced around by mid-corner bumps. The seats are really comfortable, which helps here.

Top-of-the-range models have more sophisticated rear suspension that does offer a smoother ride, but you’d drive to both setups back-to-back to really notice.

On top of that, the Ford Focus Estate is easy to park, it cruises quietly and feels absolutely rock-solid at motorway speeds.

It all adds up to a car that’s happy to be driven however you want to drive. Whether you take the safe and steady approach or like to get a shift on, the Focus Estate is genuinely game for anything. More so, we think, than any of its rivals.

The Ford Focus Estate is available with several versions of Ford’s brilliant 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost petrol engine, plus a 1.5-litre EcoBlue diesel.

The entry-level EcoBoost has 125PS and a six-speed manual gearbox. Next up is a mild-hybrid (MHEV) version of the 125PS EcoBoost with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Then the top-grade petrol engine is 155PS EcoBoost MHEV, available with either the manual or dual-clutch auto gearboxes.

The 155PS engine provides appreciably quicker performance, although the 125PS engine’s 0-62mph time of 10 seconds is swift enough for most people. But the bald numbers don’t tell the whole story. What really sets the 1.0-litre EcoBoost apart from similar engines available from other brands is how hard it can pull (when not heavily laden, at least). Plant the throttle at, say, 40mph in fourth gear and the car will gather speed at a surprisingly rapid rate. It even sounds quite sporty.

The EcoBlue diesel has 115PS and comes with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Diesel’s isn’t the default choice in this kind of car any more, and the engine’s rather leisurely performance doesn’t help its cause. However, it’s a pleasantly smooth, quiet and efficient engine – and a compelling option if you do lots of motorway miles.   

Safety experts Euro NCAP assessed the hatchback Ford Focus, but its five-star rating also applies to the Ford Focus Estate.

It scored strong marks in every part of the assessment, including 96 percent for protecting adults in a crash and 87 percent for protecting children. Its ability to avoid harm to other road users, such as pedestrians, was also highly rated.

The Focus comes with plenty of standard safety features, including automatic emergency braking, cruise control with a speed limiter, lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist. The optional Driver Assistance Pack includes extra safety features such as traffic sign recognition, automatic headlights and adaptive cruise control.

How much weight the Ford Focus Estate can tow depends on which engine it has. Petrol engines with a manual gearbox can pull up to 1000kg, while an automatic gearbox adds half a tonne to that: 1500kg in total.

The diesel is a little less capable, with a capacity of 1400kg. To put those numbers in context, they’re lower than for a comparable Volkswagen Golf Estate, not to mention plenty of midsize SUVs. However, the Focus Estate can tow a lot more than the hybrid Toyota Corolla estate, for example.

There are four models of Ford Focus Estate available: Titanium, ST-Line, Titanium X and ST-Line X. Titanium and ST-Line are marked out from each other by different packages of styling details. Titanium models have a chrome-effect front grille with a horizontal bar design, and a strip of shiny trim running along the bottom edge of the windows.

ST-Line models have a black mesh front grille, black window trim, deeper front and rear bumpers and a large rear spoiler. Inside, they have a flat-bottomed sports steering wheel and an aluminium gear knob. Note that all four models have their own alloy wheel designs.

As for standard features, Titanium and ST-Line have the same set. This includes Ford’s latest SYNC 4 infotainment system, accessed via a 13.2-inch touchscreen display. It comes with sat-nav, DAB radio and Bluetooth, plus you can connect your phone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. You also get dual-zone air conditioning, cruise control and front and rear parking sensors.

The X pack adds heated and electrically adjustable front seats, a heated steering wheel, Sensico leatherette upholstery, a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display, a wireless phone charging pad, LED interior lighting and a fantastic Bang & Olufsen surround-sound stereo. This applies to both Titanium X and ST-Line X.