My wife's N reg Fiesta will soon need replacing. Our initial thoughts were to maybe get a sports car, but then, practical thinking took over and a Ford Focus looks like a sensible bet.
Our local Ford main dealer has a nice 02 one year old Focus 1.6 Ghia (10,000 mls) for £9995. This looks slightly high compared with a book dealer value of about £9300. Should I
1. Knock him down to £9500, and ask for a tow-bar to be fitted (to occasionally pull a small trailer)?
2. Go for a brand new Focus 1.6 Ghia from a supermarket for about £10,500?
3. Pay a bit extra and seek out a 1.8 Ghia. Is the extra 200cc worth it?
4. Be a bit more adventurous and go for a ST170, and are they any good anyway?
I'd be very grateful for any views on this.
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If you're considering new look at prices from brokers too - supermarkets are generally imports and/or pre-reg, whereas a broker car will be UK and direct from your local dealer. Some eg new-car-discount.com will do part ex too.
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Please forgive my ignorance, the answer may have been discussed before. In mentioning "supermarkets", I was thinking of all cheaper new car dealers. Could you explain the difference between "supermarkets" and "brokers", please - or maybe point me at a relevent thread. Are there any other players in this arena?
How do you distinguish between them?
Many thanks.
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Focus , great alround car. I bought a 1.6 Zetec in March and tow a small trailer with it.
Not sure about the Ghia trim though, very 'pipe and slippers'
You can get all the toys, Air etc on the Zetec with a more modern look.
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You can get all the toys, Air etc on the Zetec
No you don't - the Zetec, even now, does not come with aircon as standard. It is usually added on in the Climate pack at 650 quid (with quickclear front screen, heated mirrors). Also available on it's own at 500 quid.
If buying used do NOT buy one without aircon unless you really aren't bothered and the car is at least 500 quid cheaper...
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You don't get all the toys with a Ghia unless you buy a 2.0litre and even then you don't get them all.
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Waino,
I was distinguishing between the retail supermarket sites eg Trade-Sales, Fords of Winsford etc where you go to a location and browse what they have on the forecourt (see HJ's column on the right for web addresses) and car brokers where you place an order on a car to a given specification and then your contract is between you and the local dealer with whom the broker places your order.
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I said 'can get' and not 'do get'.
My point was that I'd rather get a Zetec with extras than a Ghia because the Ghia interior is not to my taste.
Mine has the climate pack, the air con is great and I'm looking forward to the winter just so i can test out the 'quick clear' windscreen.
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Thanks for the comments. It seems that whatever the version - it's best to go armed with a checklist of goodies just to be on the safe side. The Zetec title seems to have been a moving feast ever since it used to refer to just a type of engine. The Ghia has been described as a bit 'pipe and slippers' - and, alas, I have reached an age where I try to avoid anything with this label! Has anyone an opinion of the ST170?
I've got a quickclear screen on my Mondeo and have found it very useful. Some have been put off by the fine wires running through the glass. Maybe your eyes are drawn to this initially but I have never found it a problem and , given the choice, would go for it again.
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