FORD FOCUS Hatchback 1998‑2004

I needed economy and air con, that was my criteria which led me to look at the focus diesel.

I bought a Y plate in white with skinny wheels and a radio cassette player which was an ex-lease car. Could it get any more boring!?!

This meant I got a good deal though, so the money saved went on a new set of aftermarket alloys and a recon ford cd head unit.

That was pretty much all I ever spent on the car in 3.5 years!

It simply never went wrong. Performance was reasonable, handling good and I loved the look of it. I used to drive 250 miles each week and I'd get around 50mpg on a mixture of motorway and town.

A couple of years on my wife needed a new car. Remembering how good my little tdi was, we purchased the newer tdci focus c-max. It gave us nothing but trouble. Always something wrong with it. So if you're looking for better reliability, go for the older tdi engine. I would every time.

I sold my focus about three years ago with about 115000 miles on the clock and I still see it scooting about round town. It really was a great car.

I had my focus for only 2 months untill someone crashed into me and wrote it off but in the time i had it i was a good car it was good on petrol and good to drive but it has its down sides like no low down power and the boot lock kept braking but apart from the bad points its a good car

i have owned my st170 for 1 year now and coming with a comprehensive main dealer history and 1 loving previous owner where no expense was spared i could'nt belief the practacality and driveabililty for realitvily cheap money to buy the fuel economy isnt the greatest around town 35+mpg motorway miles the performance and handling more than make up for the minor downsides to this great fun to drive car which looks subtle and still shows up many more modern day cars a great all round car for very little money

The car is a reliable and cheap car to run, will re commend to anyone, petrol consuming is low, Tax is cheap and Insurance group, I use it to to and fro work, wish to sell due to redundancy

I had owened this focus for 4 years, having no kids it was a good car for my daily commute with his 1.8 engine. The interior is high quality built, very nice dashboard and illumination, nice boot space and easily fits 5 people and still runs as if I was on my own.

The cons, beware of the oil sump, its prone to get very rusty after 6 years, it might leak oil and its a £200+ repair, make sure you check this before you buy.

The engine after a few years gets a bit thirsty returning about 27mpg, my biggest repair in 4 years was the oil sump, and then just the usual break pads (once only) tyres (once) service on a ford dealer is reasonable to keep the stamps in the log, and is a good car, I would buy ford always if I can afford to!

A very reliable car, never let me down, always starting at once no matter the weather, very handy heated windscreen just melt the ice and snow in seconds, nice to drive, good quality built, good looking car with its 17" alloys, I was a happy ford owner, replacing now for a smaller engine as I don't communte anymore and I do low miles nowadays, this ford was excelent it served me very well.

I have had my Focus 1600 Ghia 2002 model for nearly 1 year now and in that time it has been totally reliable.

I bought it from a local dealer with full service history and 91000 on the clock.The key to how reliable these things are is to look for good history.Mine had only 2 owners the last one being for 6 years and he had it serviced every year without fail.I know this because I got details from the v5 before I bought and contacted him. He gave me an honest account of the car and that gave me the confidence to buy.

The only money I have spent other than normal running costs are on a new cambelt as it had not been changed from new and those things tend to give up around the mileage that I bought at.

The Ghia spec is good.Always look for the best spec you can afford as it helps with re-sell as well as having some nice extras to enjoy.Mine is not top spec but has velour upholstery,air con, centre armest,wood cappings,body coloured trim,all round electric windows.& electric drivers seat. If you look for top spec you will get leather upholstery with heated seats and on board computer also.

The seating position is so adjustable for height and the steering wheel has full reach/rake which means that anyone can sit comfortably regardless of height/build.In this respect it is the most comfortable car I have ever driven and I have had many over my 30 years of driving.

The only current niggles are that the air con has just packed up( prob simple regas required) and there has been an issue with the speedo reading erractically at the same time that the radio goes loud for a couple of seconds then returns to normal.This only happens momentarilly and only occasionally.To do with a sensor in the gear shift I have been told but it is only a very minor irritation.

The drive is great with the gears very smooth but it can feel the road bumps a little.

Fantastic cabin space front and rear, suitable for most families.

To be honest even if you end up with a duffer of a car ,at least servcing/parts costs are relatively cheap.

2001 1.8 Zetec 3 Door. Our Focus was used as a cheap beat box to get to work. We bought it with 90k 6yrs ago and it proved to be very reliable doing a further 54k. The only things to go were the speed sensor £60 (causing it to cut out) and one wheel bearing. Good tyres made a big difference to the handling. Servicing was cheap as chips. Find one with FSH and keep it up for hassle free motoring. 37mpg. We only sold it because we needed a 5 door.

ok, where do i start...

i initially bought the car as they are very nice looking cars and i had heard these cars were very reliable. i also have a small child child and these cars appear to be spacious, practical and very child friendly. the boot is big enough to fit a pram, etc.

as far a reliabilty goes, the car has always ran fine and has only broke down on me once in 6 years! i have never really experienced any problems with the engine, however, i wish i could say the same about the electrics. the electric window is currently being held up by 2 scratch cards, which cannot be removed, other wise the window will fall down. might i also add that these are 2 winning scratch cards so the window has technically cost me £3 to fix!! D.I.Y genius!

it is rather fuel efficient and i have found the cost of the tax is not too bad either.

hmmm the driving experience is rather like driving a flintstones car. but with mine being an old model, i just hope the driving experience has improved on the newer models.

as far as practicality is concerned, this car scores top marks, however, i was rather dissappointed with everything else.

This is my all time favourite car, I've had all sorts over the years Audi, Astra, Saab.

Car handles great, goes great and is reliable...had it only 4 months though.

The only negatives I would say is the fuel consumption, I get around 20mpg in town and 30 mpg on the motorway which isn't great, and oh yeah the road tax is quite expensive.

But all things considered it is still a recommended car.

Fab little car and a great little runner. I have found it very reliable and drives well in all conditions including snow and ice.