1998 Ford Focus Zetec review from UK and Ireland

First of all, the boot hinge was very rattly on picking the car up. Then the heater made a clicking noise a week later. After that the rear seat back vibrated. Fixed it myself with a large block of Blu-Tack in the seat back clip.

Shortly afterwards the alternator began screeching! Would you believe it? Took 10 days to fix! Tried replacing the belt, spraying WD40 on it but to no avail. Eventually the (useless) dealers traced it to a duff idler sprocket.

The gearbox feels like a bag of bolts when changing gear! It is so clunky you can hear the gears bashing when changing gear!

Now there are clunky noises in the suspension and steering. The car is out of warranty now! They charge £69.00 per hour plus VAT just to examine it! Then it's the additional cost of parts and labour! Ford charges are totally scandalous! And the dealers don't give a monkeys when it comes to customer care.

The latest defects? The exhaust is now vibrating, the aircon is now smelly and the dashboard vibrates.

I HATE Fords. I just bought a Toyota Celica which I'm picking up on Saturday.

Best of luck to the bloke who is buying this heap once I pick my Celica up!