Don’t do as I do - SLO76
While off on a two week Med cruise I bought a car unseen that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. A friend contacted me for a bit of advice regarding a newer car for her 83yr old dad. He settled on a Kia Ceed 1.0 turbo (he’s not sure which spec) but when I was told he’d been offered £1,000 for the 2013 Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi Zetec he’d had for the last 8yrs I quickly offered £1100 for it. It’s now sat on my drive awaiting my appraisal. Will report when I see it. If it’s as good as described it’ll do grand as a commuter for my work.
Don’t do as I do - SLO76
Update.

Needs about £200 of paint to the near side rear arch and that’s it. Drives great, no warning lights, no knocks or clunks, it’s immaculate inside and has half a tank of fuel as a bonus. Looks like a winner for £1,100.
Don’t do as I do - elekie&a/c doctor
Can’t go wrong with these . Just make sure it gets regular oil and filter change . Great smoker for a bag of sand . Might want to do the cambelt if it’s not already been done.
Don’t do as I do - SLO76
Can’t go wrong with these . Just make sure it gets regular oil and filter change . Great smoker for a bag of sand . Might want to do the cambelt if it’s not already been done.

Yeah, was digging through the history hoping to find a receipt for it. I’ll run it for a wee while to see if it’s ok and will get it done if so.
Don’t do as I do - gordonbennet

Hope you're feeling guilty SLO, you've done some poor starving car sales bod out of a nice little back hander and the trader who was going to retail it from a cool £1000+ flip profit.

Well done mate :-)

As above oil change pronto.

Edited by gordonbennet on 05/05/2025 at 06:00

Don’t do as I do - Orb>>.

I feel just as happy about the Kia venga I gave £2000 for 3 years ago. Does very few miles and had an interim service a few weeks ago. Youngrovergirl loves it as a good bit smaller than the Korando.

Keep us posted...

Don’t do as I do - paul 1963

Nice one SLO! Neighbours got one, never given any trouble.

Don’t do as I do - nellyjak

Good shout, Slo...and not a massive risk.

Don’t do as I do - Steveieb

Opportunities don’t come along like that everyday SLO.

As the tv advert says “ When you see an opportunity come along you have to grab it “

Don’t do as I do - Andrew-T

Hope you're feeling guilty SLO, you've done some poor starving car sales bod out of a nice little back hander and the trader who was going to retail it from a cool £1000+ flip profit.

Shame on you, SLO :-) As a trader you will know that £100 is a small fraction of any mark-up that might have happened - you could have been a bit more generous :-)

I could have got my 1991 Pug 205 'as is' from its one lady owner for nothing, but being an honest gent I asked her to get it through an MoT and I would pay a grand for it. That was 2½ years ago and I have spent rather more than that since, doing it up a bit. Didn't need a cambelt though, it got its first one at about 20 years old and 65K on the clock.

Don’t do as I do - RichardW

What have you done with the real SLO76?

All that bashing used diesels, and particularly the Ford / PSA 1.6, and now you have one :-)

The only real issue on this version is the cambelt (def wants changing ASAP) and occasionally chucking an injector. Not sure on the Ford implementation of the DPF, but the PSA system with the additive works really well.

Don’t do as I do - SLO76

What have you done with the real SLO76?

All that bashing used diesels, and particularly the Ford / PSA 1.6, and now you have one :-)

The only real issue on this version is the cambelt (def wants changing ASAP) and occasionally chucking an injector. Not sure on the Ford implementation of the DPF, but the PSA system with the additive works really well.

A reminder that to snag a bargain one needs to be none too fussy, just be at the right place at the right time.
Don’t do as I do - SLO76
Taxed my mighty new bargain banger (£20 for a year) and used it to travel to work and back without any issues - so far. Even the A/C works. Lots of wee scuffs and sc***es where elderly previous owner has had wee mishaps, but from a distance it’s quite presentable.

Edited by SLO76 on 05/05/2025 at 20:50

Don’t do as I do - expat

I will be very interested to hear how you get on with the diesel. They are generally thought to be a bad risk as they get older so if you can manage to keep it going without bursting the budget then perhaps they may not be so bad. Mind you one example being OK doesn't mean that most of them will be.

Don’t do as I do - catsdad

“Wee mishaps” is that in English or Scots? Hopefully the latter.

Don’t do as I do - Steveieb

Looks like your are a convert to Bangernomics SLO.

James Rupert will be proud of you !

Don’t do as I do - SLO76

Looks like your are a convert to Bangernomics SLO.

James Rupert will be proud of you !

James would only approve if I bought a 20yr old Jag or BMW X5 for the same money. He’s always advocating buying some daft heavy metal motors that would go in the bin after the slightest issue.
Don’t do as I do - DavidGlos
Love it. Your advice has always been:

Japanese
Petrol
Naturally aspirated
Don’t buy something you’ve not seen

…and you’ve done the exact opposite! Love it!

To be fair, provided you give it an Italian tune up once in a while and it gets regular oil changes, it’ll probably be good as gold.
Don’t do as I do - Xileno

Can't really go wrong for £1100. Worth a risk, although pleased to see from the comments above that this is a good model.

Don’t do as I do - Warning

I think it is good people are flexible and not rigid in the way they think. That's how you stay mentally young.

Don’t do as I do - SLO76
Two weeks in and all is well. Waiting on my local garage getting back to me with a price to do the timing belt and water pump. SWMBO very much prefers it to my old (and much missed) Toyota.
Don’t do as I do - focussed
As I remember these, the 1.6 diesel was ok, the one to avoid was the1.8.
Don’t do as I do - SLO76
Focus has a fresh timing belt and water pump plus a coat of polish and the Leaf’s private plate. It’s looking great, for an £1,100 car. Belt change cost £440 plus vat, £528 all in. Local Ford dealer wanted £900! Always worth asking the dealer for a belt change price as they are sometimes competitive. Our local VW dealer was always decently priced and gave a 5yr warranty on the belt.

Now one for John, what condition was that 12yr old belt with 95,000 miles up? I asked them to leave it in the boot and I’ve just had a good look at it, I’ve flexed it and checked it thoroughly. b***** thing is showing no signs of wear at all, I’ve every faith seeing it now that it would’ve ran for years more. To think I’ve always done timing belts at 5/6yrs at the longest. Not anymore. Aside from certain models that are prone to failures I’ll be much less inclined to bother.

That all said, SWMBO will be using it once the ID3 arrives so I had to be as sure as I can be that it won’t leave her stranded.
Don’t do as I do - Xileno

I'm sure a quality OEM belt will last a very long time but less certain about what tensions it.

Don’t do as I do - SLO76

I'm sure a quality OEM belt will last a very long time but less certain about what tensions it.

Good point, should’ve asked him to leave the tensioners too. Bearing would be worn at nearly 100k. Anyway, one less concern. Found the invoice for the car from the last owner in the glovebox, he traded a Mk I Focus diesel in with 177,000 miles up for this one. Apparently he’s struggling to get used to his new car, too many buttons etc. He’s missing the simplicity of the wee Ford.
Don’t do as I do - Big John
Now one for John, what condition was that 12yr old belt with 95,000 miles up? I asked them to leave it in the boot and I’ve just had a good look at it, I’ve flexed it and checked it thoroughly. b***** thing is showing no signs of wear at all, I’ve every faith seeing it now that it would’ve ran for years more. To think I’ve always done timing belts at 5/6yrs at the longest. Not anymore.

But belts do fail although I suppose belt tech has moved on. Back in early 80's the belt failed on my 1977 2.0 Auto Capri - fortunately the 2.0 Pinto was a non interference engine, just replaced the belt and off we went... However the same engine had the hex oil pump driveshaft of doom that later had a second go at taking the engine out when it went "round" and oil pressure dropped to zero.

Edited by Big John on 03/06/2025 at 22:23

Don’t do as I do - RT

When I bought my '96 Cavalier 2.0, Vauxhall recommended belt change at 80,000 miles - they subsequently changed it to 40,000 but failed to tell all owners - mine failed at 42,000, a frightening experience at 70+ in the outside lane of a busy motorway - I had the head rebuilt and eventually got Vauxhall to stump up the cost.

Don’t do as I do - Andrew-T
I’ve every faith seeing it now that it would’ve ran for years more. To think I’ve always done timing belts at 5/6yrs at the longest..

My latest Pug 205 (1991) had its only belt change after about 20 years and 66K miles. That was 12 years ago (now only 80K) and I doubt it will get another.

When the TU engines were first put in the 205 and 309 in 1988, Peugeot didn't know how long they would last, and didn't specify a change interval until experience suggested 48K miles. My daughter had an early car and had it serviced at that mileage, but the dealer didn't change the belt, which failed soon after, trashing the engine.

Don’t do as I do - pd

The recommended cambelt change interval on these engines seems to vary depending on which manufacturers car it is installed in.

I think when in a PSA car (as was) it is something like 160k miles which rather implies they think it will last the life of most cars using it.

Don’t do as I do - elekie&a/c doctor
We owned a 1998 Honda Accord and decided to replace the timing belt at 90k ( 2 belts in these as it’s got a balance shaft belt) . Inspection of the old belt showed it still had the original Honda writing on the belt with virtually no wear . Interestingly, Honda only recommended replacing the pulleys and tensioner if they are noisy.
Don’t do as I do - paul 1963

Bit of a lottery with timing belts, you can never properly assess there condition unless it's off the car and in your hand.

My old Berlingo work van needed a water pump at 90k, looking at the old belt it was very worn and cracked, Friend had her belt changed on her Clio at 125k, old belt 'looked' like new so it really comes down to how lucky you feel, anything with a wet belt I would definitely get changed before the recommended interval, seen a couple at my mates place that really made you wonder how they hadn't let go.

Edited by paul 1963 on 04/06/2025 at 09:10

Don’t do as I do - Falkirk Bairn

>>Honda only recommended replacing the pulleys and tensioner if they are noisy.

Seems daft - for a little bit extra for parts it makes sense to change tensioner etc etc when you are in.

A son had a Lexus where the water pump was weeping. Garage said replacing belts etc when the car was stripped made sense.

Don’t do as I do - elekie&a/c doctor
Worked with Honda late 90/00s . Never had a problem with cambelt pulleys . Quality components then , not sure about now though.