Anyone use the above for general bike/child hauling duties?

I think it might be JUST big enough with a roof mounted bike rack.

You could get away with just a Focus hatch.

I drove a mk1 to Edinburgh with a bike inside/pram and childseat on the split fold back seat.

Mk2 is even bigger internally.

Get a Mondeo then, it’ll cost the same to buy/run and it’ll have more space.

Yes – I have one. Bike rack on the roof for when the boot is proper full – 3 kids.

It’s been good – would be tempted by a mondeo or similar for the extra space next time though – but the focus is fine

Yes. It’ll be perfect. Once you’ve had an estate you’ll realise how crap hatchbacks are too.
Although I’d avoid the roof rack if you can and get a nice tilting tow ball mounted rack. Far superior. We can get 4 bikes and 4 riders in/on ours easily. 🙂

Yep, got a 2012 model.

Previously had a cavernous Mondeo estate which swallowed things whole but the Focus isn’t too bad.

With the 2/3 split rear seat down I can get two bikes in with front wheels out and seat posts down, with seats up I’d struggle to get one bike in the boot with both wheel off.

Cabin wise I had 4 big blokes in there with no complaints.

Big road trips/camping needs a roof box.

Tend to agree with Hora(!) Downsized from a 56 estate to a 08 hatch and not noticed much difference on a day-to-day basis. Roof box and/or trailer covers the count-them-on-one-hand times I need to move lots/big stuff per year.

I have just picked up an 08 estate focus. Seems nice enough, but its not a patch on the hatchback Mondeo for boot space.It does better mpg though. Which is the main driver for me. Pretty soon I’ll be putting a tow hitch on it, so I won’t need to worry about bikes in the back anyway.

Tend to agree with Hora(!) Downsized from a 56 estate to a 08 hatch and not noticed much difference on a day-to-day basis

No, you won’t. Very true. But come the time you want to chuck a bike in, wheels fitted, heaving it over that deep sill will be a pain in the arse, if it’ll even fit. Take the wheels off and a bike will go in the back, seats up, load cover fitted, totally invisible….
And of course an estate doubles as a handy bench for sitting in too. Which is, err, handy. 🙂

Not even considering a hatchback.

Much prefer the estate layout. It’s whether the Focus is big enough which for 99% of time I think it is.

The Mondeo estate is just ridiculously big, not an issue for me, however the lady wife feels differently.

Focus ’12 estate here. 3 bikes on boot rack, roof box full of luggage, missus in passenger seat, kids in back, 2 dogs + more kit in boot. Self-catering holidays for the family in country cottages (near great riding areas of course) a piece of cake. Mondeo would be slightly more spacious but Focus more than adequate

Own a Mk1 focus estate (tddi) and a mk3.5 mondao estate (130 tdci) and a 2 & 5 year old.

For a long trip (eg when we are catching up with friends/family at xmas over 10 days of travelling) the mondeo is by far the better car – bikes on the back, massive roofbox on top and the actual car not cluttered with everything (hell, I even got a custom built flatpack chicken coup my dad had made in the back of the mondeo which made customs chuckle) as the load space is so cavernous. It’s also built for motorway crusing and it shows – really stable and too easy to get over the speed limit if not paying attention, drives very nice everywhere else.

But it is massive – long, long nose that I find hard to judge (it’s the wife car tbf) and although it has a great turning circle a lot of parking spaces are a bit tight.

For general day to day short/middling distances the focus is grand – engine is a bit under powered on A roads (it’s only 90bhp) when loaded, handling even with the comfort pack is very good. I’m 5′ 11″ and I find the driving position quite high which i would prefer to be lower but I get that on nearly every car I drive. The lower height of the boot when open gives more protection against rain when having your butties/taking muddy spd’s off too without bashing my head. My dad has the newer focus and his boot lid is almost in orbit compared.

I always think servicing the focus is easier – mainly because the oil filter is so easy to get to – but you need to replace the sump plug washer each time. Whereas it’s an paper cartridge on the mondeo and you need a 32/36mm socket to get it off/on which I always take 15 mins to find again. Although the smaller focus engine takes more oil – go figure. Oh and lightbulbs are easier to change in the focus – dashboard lights go quite a lot on our mondeo which is easy but time consuming to change.

Reliabilty wise – Focus on 120K has required new timing chain/belt and a near rear lightbulb – oh and I removed the pollen filter housing. Mondeo (160k) has needed 2x new rear bearings (a bugger to get off – get the jaguar branded one, cheaper as genuine parts) and some TLC under the fuse box due to a specific fault in the mk3.5 (block 33 pin 9) plus the quickclear windscreen has corroded points on the drivers side (natch).

TL:DR – The Focus is good for 2 adults and 2 kids with bikes going away for a weekend.

I should add fully loaded with roof box and big blokes my 1.6 diesel will happily sit above 70mph hours on end and do 50+ mpg

No, you won’t.

Well, it’s been nearly 2 years now and I really haven’t noticed or missed the extra space – roof box/towbar rack/trailer covers anything ‘exceptional’

Focus will be fine. I have had my 07 hatch from new and it has been great at everything. We have 2 kids and when going on holiday the cabin has barely had anything in it apart from journey essentials (pork pies and coke) even when we needed to take a buggy and a travelcot with us there was plenty of room. I have had a sofa in the back on more than one occasion granted that needed the boot open but it was fine. I can get 3 bikes and 3 people in the back with enough kit for a whole weekend and even the person in the back was reasonably comfortable.

Mrs_Ache has a C-Max now so the Focus has been retired to just get me to work and riding spots.