2001 Ford Focus Ghia review from UK and Ireland

Was running a high temperature (just below red) for a few days because the cooling fan fuse had blown. This was difficult to replace, as this fuse isn't a standard size and was awkward to find.

Stopped running due to a broken camshaft, which meant a new head needed to be fitted. This cost £1160 inc. parts and labour.

The cigarette lighter doesn't work.

I bought this as a "learner-friendly" car as my wife is learning to drive - the Volvo was a bit too big and too gutsy, so I bought a Focus instead.

Everyone seems to think the Focus is a great car. I'd say it's not bad - it handles OK, but it's a lot slower than I would have expected from a 1.8 in a smallish car. Whilst it's easy to drive, I find the gear change a bit stiff and it has irritating "features", like turning the air conditioning on when you de-mist the window. You can't open the boot without a key either.

It's also a lot thirstier than I bargained for. It's supposed to get around 38mpg, but I struggle for 28mpg and haven't been driving it that hard - not hard enough to break a camshaft anyway. Apparently that snapped because the head wasn't running true. My mechanic suggested the head had been off before (presumably for a head gasket) and wasn't re-skimmed.

So it's only OK. It's not the driver's car I thought it would be, neither has it been reliable. It isn't as practical as it should be (double buggy won't go in the boot) and it has its fair share of annoyances.

That'll teach me for trying to be the perfect customer in eBay and not properly testing the thing first.