Looking at buying a rather nice 05 focus, at a reasonable price but on my final inspection we noticed that all four tires are worn flat on the inside edge only. The rest of the tire was excellent, atleast 5mil all over, with exception of the edge facing the middle of the car, which as i said was bald.
This seemed more severe than just a alignment issue, so we agreed with the dealer to go no further in the deal until it had undergone a full geometry test.
One thing we did note is that the rear suspention bars (i think thats what there called, the hinged bar that holds the wheel to the chassis) had been replaced. Thouhg we have no way of knowing whether this is to correct the problem and they left the old tires on, or if the problem had developed since.
does anyone know if this is a common focus II issue, or had this before, or have any ideas on what causes it and how to solve it?
Cheers
Zak
Edited by Pugugly on 29/06/2009 at 22:57
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Speed cushions?
On my delightful last mile into Sherwood Park (nr M1 J27) I have to drive over the cushions that you're supposed to put a wheel each side of. In reality, only HGVs have a sufficiently wide track that allows them to hurtle down at an unencumbered 40mph. Most cars end up with each wheel on an angled bit. The wonders of Google - here's the bumps I mean:
maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.072792,-1.257586&...0
I wouldn't be surprised if driving over them at a decent speed could give the wear you're talking about.
Although as you point out, it could be alignment
Hope that helps
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Walk away from the seller immediately and inform Trading Standards.
The car on sale is not fit for purpose to sell, whoever is try to sell it is breaking the law as a car must be road worthy and fit to drive before being offered for sale. This Focus is an MOT failure and should not be on sale in its current state.
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Thats a very interesting idea R2, and the fact that it is a ex rep car would fit with that theory.
As far as mike says, thanks for your concern. My farshar is an ex vehicle mechanic, has inspected the car which is otherwise fine, and both of us a perminently sceptical and thorough. We have aranged for an MOT to be done, and the geometry to be assessed before we go any further. That said, why the hell this wasnt done and they didnt notice this when they first bought the car is beyond me. Equally though, they are a fairly large reseller, and if they were duff word would soon get around, i would imagen.
Devon Trade Centre, anyone had an experiences? good or bad?
thanks all
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/bump any more opinions would be appreciated please
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There are thousands of Focus littering dealerships all over the UK. If this one isn't right go and see a few more.
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I agree with daveyjp. Your gut instinct tells you something's not right with this car, and in my experience, gut instinct is almost always correct. I have walked away from cars before where something told me it wasn't right. Maybe I lost a good buy, but what I didn't do was buy a pup, or something I'd go on to regret.
Do you need the hassle? You can probably find 50 identical cars on Autotrader within a reasonable distance without too much hassle.
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How severe is the wear? if its just the edges that are worn, frequently carrying a lot of weight could do it, Does it have a tow hitch? towing a badly balanced caravan/trailer could wear the rear tyres in that fashion and the fronts may just be towing out to much - but its all speculation.
Devon is my part of the country but I dont know the firm in question.
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