Another 'Which Car' thread – choice of three.

OK.
I'm after a Focus 2.0 TDCI hatch. 2.5 to 3 years old & preferably under 25K miles & £8.5k. Other options considered.

They're really aren't that many out there but currently I've three options.

1. Jan 07 ('56 plate) zetec climate, Blue, about 14,500 miles, about £7950, available 22nd Feb.
2. Mar 07 ('07 plate) zetec climate, Blue, about 21,000 miles, about £8,050, available 30th Mar.

Neither of these are local to me but both by the same Co. that specialises in ex – Co lease / fleet / motability cars.

3. June 07 ('07 plate) ghia, Red, about 27,000 miles, about £8,400 (but will negotiate down I think), available now and local to me from a Ford dealer. This has been a Sales managers car.

Can't decide whether to wait for option 1, on which I have a reserve, transfer the reserve to option 2, or go now with No. 3. This is out of my (arbitrary) boundaries but is on the newer plate better trim.

Not had a motor since xmas and it's been a bit of a pain.
I expect to be doing around 12 – 14k miles per year.

Opinions please.

Would probably go with 3. iirc (from when I was considering one), the minging wood trim on the Ghia is limited to a single interior panel, which is easily replaced for about £20. And you get cruise control too.

Ghia every time. Mileage difference is nothing

Why are you restricting yourself to Focus's?

Yeah,that "wood" trim is shite.Any of the above sound ok.

They're all good 🙂

Did the Focus come with two 2.0 TDCI engines like the Mundano? If so make sure you get the high output one (the Mundano was 130bhp at high output). People don't want the lower ones so selling on is a pain.

But – I know little about Focus' so I may be wrong…..

As said above – the mileage isn't a problem IF it's been serviced…..

Cheers for the advice guys.

Balance seems to be for the ghia though I still have to reconclie the mileage in my head. They're all fully serviced. The ghia was a Ford sales managers car, advertised with 20k miles at £8,499. It actually has 27k so should be able to get it cheaper.

Mileage difference between 1 and 3 is a years worth. In a year 1 will have 3's mileage whilst 3 will be nigh on 40k… Something to ponder.

Why are you restricting yourself to Focus's?

As I see it, alternatives are.
Golf – If I want to pay £1.5k or more extra for the same car or settle for 30 to 40k more mileage.
Civic – I would have one of these in a flash but same argument as the Golf.
Astra – I hate the indicator stalks (minor) and the hatch opening is quite narrow for getting mtb's into.
C4 – Maybe. French cars eh. Cheaper than the Focus or you get more for your money but I've had a Megane for the last 9 years and it's mostly been a pain to own. So that also rules out another Megane.
Any others?

Did the Focus come with two 2.0 TDCI engines like the Mundano?

(Mondeo?) Yep. 110ps & 136ps. I think the 3 above are all 136 but will be checking, ta 🙂

Simon_g, Are you sure the trim replacement is only £20. Is that for the bit or fitting as well?

Any others?

Yep the Mondeo bigger, more comfortable, better to drive, just economical, probably cheaper than the Focus like for like as well.

Yep, don't know why but Mondeo's do seem to be cheaper.
I prefer something a little smaller though & the misses will kill me if I get a big car 😕

Don't believe that rubbish about Sales Managers car. It's been a demo car whos gearbox has been treated like a jukebox. Mazda 3s are virtually the same and are worth looking at.

£10K

Mazda3 MPS – Scare the living daylights out of the Mrs;

Buy direct/privately or shop around. Autotrader is full of Focus's of c3yrs old. I bet you could save a grand on those prices.

Also don't beleive that ex – Co lease / fleet / motability cars. means its ex lease. It could also mean ex hire car and mobility drivers tend to have health problems so could have grouched gears, new clutch etc etc.

I borrowed the bro in laws lease Golf TDI not so long ago and although I returned it in as physical/same condition I treated it like shit.

😆 Sales Managers car. 😆

You mean the Dealer courtesy car (you know, the one you get when your car is having work/repairs etc on) and is given to numerous people every week 🙄

FORD = Fix Or Repair Daily

I would seriously look at the Mazda 3 as stated above

Hora speaks sense shocker….I would get one owned by someone with service history- honestly which do you treat better your brand new car or the comapny/lease car you dont even pay the bills on?

Do you need the 2.0l engine? I was amazed to go from am RX8 (190 BHP) to a 1.6 TDCi (110 BHP) and not feel lacking at all. The Mondeo might need something larger as its a heavier car but I'm more than happy with my 60MPG 1.6TDCI.

Mileage difference between 1 and 3 is a years worth. In a year 1 will have 3's mileage whilst 3 will be nigh on 40k.

You're looking at it from the wrong perspective. I see no reason why the 27k car will have more wear, given 14.5k in 3 years is very low mileage, which implies lots of short trips. Personally I'd choose one that's done 10k a year over one that's done 5k a year every time.

Yep, don't know why but Mondeo's do seem to be cheaper.

because the bigger the car – the bigger the car the more the depreciation ..

can't beat a big old barge for value on the 2nd hand market!

I see no reason why the 27k car will have more wear, given 14.5k in 3 years is very low mileage, which implies lots of short trips. Personally I'd choose one that's done 10k a year over one that's done 5k a year every time.

Quite. And a 3 year old car implies one that someone had on a 3 year lease/company car type deal. Most dealers swap out demo/courtesy cars every 6 months to stay on the current plate.

re: the trim, it just pulls off from a guide I saw (you take it off to get to the screws if you're swapping out the radio). Literally a 30 second job to swap over yourself.

Personally I'd say the extra for a Civic is worthwhile. But I'm a little biased.

IMO I'd just as likely to go for a 2.0 petrol as a diesel. Its circa 40mpg av. so not that far off diesel figures.

Hora.. 40mpg vs 60mpg is a 50% difference. That's quite a lot 🙂

When I looked at Focuses the 1.6 seemed definitely the best bet. Economical and adequately powered. Didn't much like the cars tho 🙂

For 12k miles, comparing 2.0 petrol and diesel:

40mpg @ 112.1p = £1528.82
51mpg @ 113.8p = £1217.26

£311 a year. From a look at comparable petrol/diesel prices on autotrader, it would take several years to recoup the extra outlay for the diesel.

molgrips – I had a 1.6 petrol Zetec- gutless IMO. I should have listened to binners when he said get the bigger engine!

From a look at comparable petrol/diesel prices on autotrader, it would take several years to recoup the extra outlay for the diesel.

Though you also make some back when you come to sell on (or if you keep your cars and run them into the ground which is my current plan, you more than make the difference back!)

I really don't believe that the difference between the petrol and diesel is 11 mpg. I'd suggest that the diesel will get at least 50% more mpg than the petrol. The best thing about our diesel focus is the range – 45 litres gets us 600+ miles.

Whoa, don't know where to start.

Thanks guys for all the advise. I'm coming round to the idea that the mileage on 3 isn't a problem. 1st registered end of June 07. Ford dealer serviced end of June 08 (8.5k) and end of June 09 (19k). Now has 27.8k. Been to see it this afternoon. Price down to £8250. will be serviced again & MOT'd before sale. Seems OK. Test drive tomorrow.

I've been looking now for a month and given age, price & mileage constraints I've been looking for I've only seen 2 or 3 that compete. Two of them are as above. The 3rd was a 57 plate 18k ghia for £8,800 but it went before I could get across the penines to see it. Bloody weather :-). There are certainly cheaper ones out there but they're older, or have more miles etc.

I could get the petrol version for about £1k less but like the way the diesels drive. Fancied one for a while.

I'll ask if it's been used as a demo or courtesy car… 😕

The 1.6 tdci looks like a fine car but fancied the 2.0 (don't need, just want 😀 )

I'd expect to get maybe 30% more mpg than the petrol equivalent and I'll be keeping it for (all being well) 5-6 years so should get some parity on costs with the petrol.

aP agree- but it depends how you drive. I shift quickly up in diesels- just before the labour-point so can always get the claimed figures. Other people dont though as they dont ride the torque properly.

I don't know what more I can add to pursuade you, I used to own a Focus and the Mondeo is so much nicer. AS to size, although the Mondeo is physically bigger, it feels compact and chuckable to drive

I can't imagine any car that the dealer owns clocking up 27K
have a look at the service book – if any other dealer has done any work on it or it was supplied by another dealer, they could be being economical with the truth
However, it's probably still a good car

have a look at the service book – if any other dealer has done any work on it or it was supplied by another dealer, they could be being economical with the truth

Aye, 27K does seem like a lot for a demo car. I saw the service book today. The same dealer that's selling it has done both services, as I mentioned above.

FunkyDunc, my dad has a Mondeo so I know what they're like and it's OK but want something smaller.

Just been scouring the ads for Mazda 3's as well The 2.0 diesel seems very rare.

Aye, 27K does seem like a lot for a demo car. I saw the service book today. The same dealer that's selling it has done both services, as I mentioned above.

Its not a demo car. Demo cars arent kept that long. Its the dealership courtesy car. Basically the same as a Hertz rental car. When you ask for a car to use whilst your car is in- thats the one that you are given.

Plus its red 😐 Theres thousands to go at. Its not a rare car. I'd say look at black or dark grey! I'd only buy red or 'that blue' if it was cheaper as its not a popular colour.

But why would a dealer use a 2 litre Focus Ghia model as a courtesy car ?
In my experience it's likely to be a 1 litre Ka….well that's the standard I've been offered!?

It could be an ex-demo (discounted by the manufacturer) that they then kept for a courtesy car.

I'd be amazed if a Sales Mgr has a dedicated car as his own. the Dealer Principle yes but a sales manager in a mass market retailer? Dont they tend to drive whatever is available?

Agree with Hora….

and technically that counts as a rental car and so the classic statemnet still applies:

'there ain't no car faster than a rental car!'

That said Honest John (useful website if you haven't hit on it yet) used to recomend buying rental/courtesy cars as they were nicely loosened up but always serviced on time.

My experience says the newer the better. There's always little changes being made.

Agree with Hora….

and technically that counts as a rental car and so the classic statemnet still applies:

'there ain't no car faster than a rental car!'

That said Honest John (useful website if you haven't hit on it yet) used to recomend buying rental/courtesy cars as they were nicely loosened up but always serviced on time.

My experience says the newer the better. There's always little changes being made.

I just love debates about mpg, it's why I get up in the morning 8)

I wouldn't worry about buying a demo/rental/dealer car, but I would worry about ending up with one of my ex-company cars…

Worse one went for scrap after 4 years and 160k, the rest were little better – and 'cos I've always had fully-expensed cars, they were thrashed on every journey.

Technically I could say I learnt to left footbrake and handbrake turn in hire/courtesy cars (technically as I still cant handbrake turn properly and left alot of rubber in our old works carpark)…

and I never slowed down for bumpy/rooted old cobbled roads….theres one dropping into Stalybridge that I took at a fair old speed in a new shape Merc A class….the engine light came on 😯

(There are more)

I've grown up now (before anyone rips into me) 🙄

OK so maybe an ex-dealer car of some sort is a problem, maybe not. I'll get a better idea tomorrow. I have quite a list of questions now – thanks all.

Hora, thanks for your comments, useful insights but there's not thousands to go at. 1.6's & 1.8's maybe, but not 2.0 tdci's. Have a look on Autotrader. Restrict the search to 60 miles, 40k mileage, £9k, diesel 5 years & 2.0 litre. I doubt you'll find a dozen, half of which will have 30k plus miles. Other search engines return similar or worse results. As for colour, options one & two are both dark blue. Boring. I quite like the (colorado) red colour though colour is neither here nor there. I just want the best for my dosh.

Actually option 2 might even be best. 07 plate, reasonable mileage.
Now do I want the firmer suspension & seats of the Zetec or the softer suspension of the ghia …

Understand where you are coming from- are you rechecking daily? March is along time to wait since Christmas 😆

I'd go back to option 1 and say you've been offered option 3 for little more money but newer and from Ford etc.

Offer him £7,500 to do the deal to day as you have an appointment at 4.30 to fill out the forms at Ford.

Serious- these sort only appreciate point-blank-style of negotiation. He can only say no and you wont have mortally offended his honour. Leave your number again, hang up and leave it.