1.8 Zetec

Cracking car!

As HJ says this is a brilliant car, bought on the back of his review at the time. Never regretted it for a moment.

Bought with 49K on the clock, now has 170K. Reluctantly retiring it due to sill corrosion and ridiculous quotes to change the clutch. Can't complain that the original clutch lasted this long though. Still no squeaks or rattles, very well screwed together.

Simple to work on, serviced it DIY every 7K.

Has had a few problems over the years, wishbones, temperature sender, thermostat, coil pack (and cat - my own fault for driving on two cylinders!), leaking coolant pipe, corroded brake pipes, leaking power steering fluid cooler, warped disks. However I think that's fair for the age and mileage and most importantly it's never failed to start first time, never let me down and lever left me stranded, which is more than can be said for the VW Passat it replaced. Only other bad point is that the bumpers are very fragile - remind me of an egg shell. (Surely the purpose of a bumper is to shrug off minor impacts without damage!)

Ford parts aren't as cheap as they once were, however quality has improved tremendously. Ford have great logistics, availability of Ford parts never a problem, longest I had to wait for anything was overnight. Main dealer parts department very helpful. Parts for most of the common faults and wear items are readily available for much less from a motor factor. (Got a new cat for 30 + vat!)

Tip on coil pack - set the spark gap to 1mm instead of 1.3mm. Engine runs fine once ECU re-tunes itself but keeps the voltage down and doesn't eat coil packs and leads.

Love the steering set up and the sharp handling, also pleasantly quick.

Very sad to see it go! :o(

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