Focus estate vs. Mondeo saloon

Going to be a second car for me, already have a giant people carrier that the wife drives

Mostly going to be used for commute (not long, 20 mile round trip).

Needs to be biggish, so can be fall back car when the MPV is being serviced etc.

Not going terribly high powered, as insurance is through the roof since wide destroyed my CRV and the Civic she ploughed into.

I’m 6 1 so need OK leg room, anything else to consider?

Thoughts?

Alex

I have the focus esate (2012)

The answer you’re looking for is the mondeo

(Not sarcastic) I can’t wait to drive a big barge

Mondeo.

Focus is great (Mrs gd has a hatch and we’ve also had as rentals) but if you are 6’1 in the front it’s going to be cramped for whoever is in the back.

I went from a focus estate, to a mondeo hatchback.  Assume you mean hatch opposed to saloon.

Suffice to to say I won’t be going back to the focus.  90k, in 5 years in the mondeo so far.  I picked it up at a car supermarket and interestingly, the mondeo were actually cheaper than the equivalent mileage/age focus. I suspect it’s due to the large number of ex fleet mondeo which get sold after 6-12 months.

But great cars, for me they are a much better bet than a focus estate, others may disagree!

Put 60k on a 2012 focus estate, comfy and at 6’2 was fine for me and would be fine for kids in the back. Even adults would be ok.

Mondeo would be bigger obviously, personally I’d take the focus estate for the boot. Mondeo of the same age won’t be facelifted either.

I’m 6’1.5″ and find the Focus cabin cramped and the seats uncomfortable and zero room for an adult behind me if I’m driving.<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”> I changed cars 3 years ago I looked at lots of both and the Mondeo is a much, much nicer place to spend time. They cost about the same too.</span>

I’ve got a 10 plate Mondeo and they did a mild facelift from 61 plate onwards adding LEDs, parking sensors etc. The new model Mondeo that came out a couple of years ago doesn’t drive as well as it’s a more gentle driving experience and unless it’s got 19″ alloys it looks weird. Nice car to be in though

Why not a Mondeo estate?

Interesting to see the reviews.

Yep I mean Hatchback Mondeo. It looks a bit saloon like, but aware it technically is a hatch.

Mondeo estate, bit pricier, also will cost more to run. We’ve got a big Mazda (Which I loathe!) which has a nearly 700 litre boot (with seats up) so will use that for trips to Wales etc.

Suspect I just need to sit in one of each. I like Honda, but had a sit in a new Civic R type for a laugh a few weeks ago, could barely get inside. Like a fighter jet cockpit.

Any feedback on engines? Mondeo 1.6 ecoboost looks good.

Cheers Alex

Basically it’s this

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201805226769260?advertising-location=at_cars&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&annual-tax-cars=TO_185&price-to=8000&postcode=rh12ee&body-type=Estate&sort=mileage&transmission=Manual&model=FOCUS&page=1&radius=40&make=FORD&insuranceGroup=20U&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New

Vs

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201806067233771?advertising-location=at_cars&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&annual-tax-cars=TO_185&price-to=8000&postcode=rh12ee&sort=mileage&transmission=Manual&model=MONDEO&page=1&radius=40&make=FORD&insuranceGroup=20U&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New

Mondeo for me, Clive.

I’ve been in the same boat for the last week and very tempted by the Focus as a second car ,again the wife has a cmax and it’s great,the 2.0 tdci auto and the Focus looked a good call coming from a Civic ..but I have to say after sitting in a zetec and titanium estate yesterday I have to say I’m disappointed. The zetec had these strange things in the rear door cards that turned round and made the glass go up and down .how retro!  The rear leg room is something my kids would struggle with as I’m 6.2.  Long and short the plastics were cheap looking and only a bit better on the Titanium. My money is now waiting out for the Civic tourer in my price range a much better car on the inside and to be fair probably better all round

Civic tourer is a beaut, but quite hard to come by and hard to get for under 10th grand.

Expect probably because good. Honda engines are excellent. Particularly the 1.6 and 2.2 diesels…

Japanese more expensive on servicing and parts mind.

Quandary.

I will say on the focus/mondeo don’t go for the 1.6 tdci, it’s eco on paper but like all these small blown eco engines if you work it fuel economy dives. It’s plenty nippy unloaded but you load it up with kit and bikes and use your right foot the 2.0 would be a better bet. I’d have another focus or the newer mondeo but only with the 2.0 after having the 1.6.

Titanium X is the spec to have… mine was an every box ticked job as it was a company cheque paying for it…

That focus estate on autotrader is highly overpriced

I got mine from a private dealer for £7200 talked down to £7000 39k miles titanium spec

Ztec is poverty spec, stay well well clear

Hatchback Mondeo. It looks a bit saloon like, but aware it technically is a hatch.

Make sure because you can get a saloon Mondeo, a friend of mine has got one and it’s a bit daft really. It’s absolutely massive but the boot entrance was too narrow to easily get his road bikes handlebars through it. Had to put the bike in through the rear door rather than the boot!

Yes, I’ll knock them down a bit

How much do you think a year’s warranty and fresh MOT should be factored in?

As a heads up…

We were looking at Mondeo estate, transpires if you are careful with engine version, a V70 is cheaper…

Just bought a 63 reg V70 D3 (5cyl/136bhp) with 60k FVSH and £30 tax….soooo comfy and being SE with winter pack and upgraded audio, so well equipped.

(Volvo lovers go full D5 / 225bhp, SE Lux or bust, preferably in XC 4wd, so £360+ tax)

We’ve got an ‘08 plate Focus Style (base model below Zetec) with the 1.6 tdci.

Got it at 2 years old with 25k on clock & it’s now on 130k. Original clutch, had a new back box last year.

Returns high 40’s to low 50’s mpg wise.

It is a bit basic but it does have electric front windows & air con. Not much else to go wrong though.

Seats can be a bit uncomfortable on longer drives.

At 6’2” I wouldn’t want to try & get an adult behind me.

We’ll be keeping it until it dies. We actually use our local main dealer for servicing etc as they are pretty competitive price wise & they will still pick it up & drop it off.

I am really no expert in this, but *apparently* – *according to the majority of people on this forum* – the warranties aren’t worth the paper they are written on. People will hopefully weigh in.

Pay for part of the car on a credit card. Even just a few hundred quid

You’d think a ‘fresh MOT’ is down right expected. Don’t let them hang that over you as a bonus. Car salespeople are utter snakes, remember. And they’re very adept at hiding it. Besides, the MOT was done by the garage next door who their friend owns, it’s not hard to get things passed that shouldn’t be if your mate accidentally presses the wrong button. Don’t take a fresh MOT as the car is completely problem free. Spend time checking every single button, knob, feature. Start the car from cold and listen for any out of the ordinary sounds. Get on the floor with a torch and look underneath the car and look for anything that gives you a bad gut feeling (you don’t need any engineering knowledge)

You can get a 3rd party centre arm wrest and screw it in DIY if you feel you want one – there are plenty on amazon etc!

Edit: sorry also I should say, I just realised how morbid this sounds. It has done 30k miles. It’ll be fine! Haha. Just do common sense checks but it will completely be fine for another 70,000+ miles as long as you get it serviced often. Hah. Enjoy 🙂