2001 Ford Focus Reviews from UK and Ireland - Page 4 of 11

The car has started to rust in three places, the most serious being on the boot lid, where it is bubbling around the trim. The other two patches of rust are behind the door mirrors. I have approached my usual dealer about this, they referred the claim to Ford UK, who told me the car was to old for them to consider repairing. Beware of the anti-perforation warranty, this does not mean an anti-rust/corrosion cover. I have had several communications with Ford customer services, non have resulted in a satisfactory outcome.

Comfortable, reliable and economical car with fine handling that can upset much more prestige manufacturers cars. Shame it cannot match the finish, not hard for todays technologies.

Not really any major problems with it yet, apart from it sounds like the front offside bearing is going and may need replacing soon. Apart from that, you cannot knock it one bit.

I think this car is just stunning. I have the 3 door version, in radiant red. It has got Lexus smoked rear lights and still got the standard 16" wheels. Its definitely a head turner.

The car is seriously quick upto around 90 - 95 and then slows down quite rapidly, but will easily cruise at 110 all day. Managed to get 122 out of it, when quoted 125 in book.

The best gear is 3rd in the car, its pull really well in it. Does around 65 in 2nd which is quite good I reckon. However, it has problem keeping up with rivals as 130 just is not enough.

People may say the 2.0 Focus is a hot hatch... but its not, but yet not far from one.

You can drive 400 miles and still feel like you have drove to the shops. The seats are comfortable, the pedals are layed out well and the driving position is spot on.

The traction control system is great aswell, especially when thrashing it on a country road. It will handle like its on rails. The car has never let me down either, starts first time every time.

The tyres are needing replacing within the next 1000 miles. Checking from previous invoices, the tyres are lasting between 12k - 15k. Suppose it does eat them.

The fuel ecomony isn't brilliant around town, you are looking at 200 miles around town, but when going on a long run it surprises you with 350ish to one tank. Obviously the harder you push it, the worse it is. From a full tank and hard driving all the time around town, I managed 148 on one tank.

Rear seat back catch is temperamental.

Deformed rear tyres causing a droning sound. Went away when replaced, but how did they get like that?

Excellent value for money. £5k for a cutting edge family hatch which, if you believe the reviews, still has no peers when it comes to driver satisfaction. I don't know about that, but it does have a pleasingly "sharp" feel with a great ride, lovely weighty steering and powerful brakes.

The budget wouldn't stretch to one of the excellent TDCi engines, so I had to make do with the old Endura DI unit which has to be the car's biggest weakness. To be fair, the engine actually performs quite well and has a nice, easy going nature to its power delivery. Unfortunately, it's gruff, rumbly and smokes like an old boiler when you accelerate hard.

Economy so far has varied quite drastically. We've seen everything from a very impressive 54 mpg, to a petrol rivalling 36 mpg. Average is around 46 mpg which is a good 10mpg more than you'd ever get from the 1600 petrol version. Running costs generally are low too with original Ford parts prices costing less than my previous Nissan's pattern parts.

Reliability is good so far. The seat catch needs a bit of fiddling to get it to latch after the seats have been folded, and something odd happened to the rear tyres which became "stepped" on their inner edges with a good 4mm of wear left on the remainder. I'm told this is not uncommon on the Focus, and yes the car was HPI'd before I bought it.

I know from friends that Ford dealers are useless, so I do basic servicing myself, and have any additional work carried out by an independent who has been known to our family for years. He does a good job and charges a fair price.

Overall I would say a 4yr old Focus is probably the best age/value/ability combination available in family motoring today. If it continues as it has started, I will be overjoyed.