Ford Focus reviews

I bought the Focus as a commuting car to keep costs down after my annual mileage increased from 5,000 to 40,000 miles and after experiencing the fun of my fiancé's Mk.1 1.8 TDCi. The car has been immensely impressive - my primary concern was the running cost and with £30/year vehicle tax, 55+mpg around town, 65mpg regular average and 72mpg+ on a motorway run, I haven't been disappointed. Very well screwed together; and in Titanium trim with the X pack it has nearly as many features as my Range Rover! The stereo is superb and the touchscreen sat-nav is clear and easy to use (shame the mapping DVDs cost so much to update - I can't justify £100 (nearly £200 from Ford!) on new mapping when an AA road map costs £1.99...). Voice control actually works and the Bluetooth hands-free phone integration is reliable and clear. Electric leather heated seats and cruise control make every journey a pleasure - even 300+ mile journeys are no problem. The engine lacks torque at low revs (<1800rpm), but pulls well in the higher range (brisk overtaking means stirring the gears a bit) and it's happy to cruise quietly at all legal speeds. 55-60mph in 5th returns best mpg. All Mk.2 DPF equipped Focii have a fuel additive tank that should be checked and topped up every 37,500 miles, which is a pain of a job, but the filter will clog very quickly if the additive runs out. The Infinium F7995 cerium additive isn't cheap (about £25-£30/litre), but the tank is only 1.5 litres and should last for over 70,000 miles (typically the car will use about 750ml between top ups, but the actual amount depends on your fuel consumption). Make sure the ECU counter is reset each time, which can be done by a sequence of ignition on/off and fuel flap opening/closing; by the dealer; or by using an ELM327 interface with Forscan software (www.forscan.org). The DPF itself will eventually need replacing as it cannot be cleaned. Typically this will be at between 60k-80k miles, depending on how the car has been driven and used. The Ford service schedule recommends replacement every 75k miles. Lots of short, cold, stop-start runs will clog the filter quickly; lots of long, steady, warm runs will mean the filter could last 100k+ miles (don't listen to those who say you should cane it up the motorway to regenerate the DPF, by the way - a 10-15 minute steady run at 50+mph in 4th, or 65+mph in 5th will be far more effective). Filters can be bought for around £350, but fitting is quite in involved job. Dealers will charge well over £1,000 all-in, independents should be around half that. Again, make sure the ECU is reset after being fitted as it tracks when the filter needs replacing. A clogged filter is often the cause of poor fuel consumption as the ECU constantly tries to regenerate it as it adds extra diesel to the combustion cycle to raise the exhaust temperature. Lots of horror stories on the internet about this engine, but the majority of problems seem to be caused by lots of short runs, heavy-footed driving, poor or no servicing (critical to stick to 12,500 mile service interval and use quality, low SAPs oil - frequently garages won't), or ignoring the regenerate warning light (if fitted) until too late. Turbo problems can be caused by carbon build up in the engine - there's not much oil in the sump (about 4 litres) to absorb all the soot between services, so it's important that it is drained and changed regularly at or within the specified interval. The correct procedure specifies the car must be level when it is drained and the filter should always be changed, too (which is also a fiddle to get at as it involves removing the air filter box, so can be overlooked or "forgotten" by garages on the clock). Use a good quality, low SAPS oil and you shouldn't have any problems. My car has done 110,000 miles (60,000 of those with me over the last 18 months) and has never missed a beat, save for regular servicing and a failed alternator regulator. Would I buy another? For the same requirements, absolutely, but I'm so pleased with this one that I plan to keep it until it falls apart. Would I recommend others to buy one? Well, it depends on your needs. Any DPF equipped diesel car, including the newer ones, needs regular decent runs to keep the filter healthy, so if you're looking for a town runabout that's never going to do more than 10 mile trips, then you'll probably want a petrol; electric; or petrol-hybrid car. If you do a regular bit of fast A road or motorway driving, then you won't go far wrong with one of these, especially in the higher specs.

I have now driven a Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec Climate for seven and a half years. It replaced a well-loved six year-old Rover 25, when I decided I needed a slightly larger car and following the sad demise of the MG Rover Group. It was a well-chosen replacement. It is used to maximum capacity when four people are going on holiday for a week, with all required luggage and sometimes a wheeled walker. It can get up hill and down dale in some of the steeper parts of North Yorkshire, for example, though I would steer clear of the steepest, narrowest and most twisted roads. That may feflect my own lack of experience and confidence on those roads rather than the car's abilities. The second (and current) Focus I bought at the end of June 2010. One of the last of the Mk 2s, it is a rare colour for that model - ink, a colour newly launched when I bought it so I couldn't see one on the road! Good choice though. In my first year of ownership of the first Focus, bought April 2006, I travelled 14000 miles, and was doing 12 - 13000 therafter until about two years ago. There was one mechanical failure of the first car, outside of the guarantee period (can't remember the details now) which was fixed at the expense either of FoMoCo or my own (very good) local Ford dealer. So - no criticisms on the reliability front. Rover cars - Metros (Austin and Rover) and the last model 200 and then a 25 - gave me excellent service over more than twenty years. They were the right car for me and my circumstances at the time I owned them. I can say the same of the Fords. Should I be in a position to replace this vehicle at some stage in the future, Ford have certainly earned the right for the relevant model in their range (probably a Focus) to be test driven. From a "Corporate Social Responsibility" point of view, I would have preferred it if Ford built cars in Britain, given their market leadership here (and the recent closure of the Transit plant in Southampton leaves a nasty taste in the mouth). There is no guarantee I will continue to drive Fords in the future but - politics aside - I have no complaint and much praise for my previous model 1.6 Zetec Focus.

Having had several petrol Mondeos in the past, we were finding it increasingly difficult to buy anything but diesel models, which we did not want for both low mileage and environmental reasons. As we were not regularly carrying family in our car we decided to downsize and as fans of Ford, the Focus was the natural choice. The ecoboost engine was a calculated gamble but was a brilliant decision. Moving from a 2 litre Mondeo to this engine was totally painless and once I was used to the very different gear box and the extremely wide range of 2nd gear, I love the drive. Very responsive and with all the power of a much larger engine, combined with good road holding. Plenty of room inside the cabin although I was disappointed with the fact that although I had supposedly moved up a model spec from the Mondeo, everything was of a lower spec in fact.(Ford's usual trick every time we change cars after 3 years!). Seats nowhere near as comfortable and seat belts far too high at my shoulder as an average sized woman,settling at throttling level across my neck. Have suspicions that I could be badly injured by them in an accident ......not a problem in our old massive Mondeo, which was brilliantly adapted for even a small woman to drive. BUT, why won't we buy another Focus? Boot capacity is shockingly small for a car of this size. We looked at other similar sized cars before our purchase and suspected it might be a problem, but didn't realise how bad. 2 weeks holiday in UK in a rented house taking bedding and towels as well as luggage and we had to fill the back seat as well as the boot. We've not had to do this for over 30 years,even when we had a Fiesta. Husband has a 2012 Fiesta and we can get more luggage in its boot, although the car itself is much smaller. This one, very important, issue would prevent us buying another Focus and we are quite stumped as to what car to buy next. Suspect we will have to scour the country to try to find a petrol engines Mondeo if such a thing still exists. Bet your act together, Ford, of you will loseaFord customers of 35 years!

I have owned my focus pretty much since new, its a top spec model with most upgrades i could get at the time. It see's alot of use and abuse and gets used as a general workhorse, that being said so far it have been a great car and pretty much does everything i ask of it. Performance wise it is a little lacking, the 1.8 TDCI engine is not the quickest and occasionally leaves me wanting for a bit more go. Also the 5 speed gearbox is not as nice as fords 6 speed box as found on the 2.0L variant. (i would suggest the 2.0L over the 1.8) handling is great, no faults there. Running costs generally are good, i do alot of motorway miles but also cover significant town driving. On a combined run i will see as low as 44MPG but more recently i have been seeing closer to 58MPG average over each tank. (that is somewhere between 550 and 650 miles per tank with that costing arround £66 at current fuel prices (£1.40L) Overall the car has been great so far, and i plan on keeping it untill it dies. I would recomend one. Comfort wise i have no issues, ride is subtle enough to be comfortable yet firm enough to inspire confidence when putting the boot down. (sports spring option fitted) So far i have only really had one thing go wrong with the car over the normal wear and tear that 85,000 miles gives you, that is an alternator failure, (£200 fort he part and £200 to fit) As for space and practicality i find this car great, I bought this car as I thought an estate would best suit my needs, i do alot of mountain biking, camping and competitions with RC cars all of which require a decent ammount of space. I can get 3 full large downhill mountain bikes and 3 people with a days kit each in. I have also loaded the car up with a roof box and had 3 people with 18, 10th scale RC cars and camping kit for a weekend away. I have also spend a night or two sleeping in the car as an alternative to normal camping when needs be (5foot 9inches, you have to lie diagonally to fit when streched out) load bay is approx 5ft 6inches long)

Poor visibility to offside when at an junction when merging into another road. Engine compartment cramped. Time & radio display insufficiently lit. Windscreen set too far forward - cannot reach to clear whilst driving. Headlight dipping mechanism wrongly set-up - clumsey m& slow method of dipping & selecting main bean; shoulr revert to switch on floor operated by left foot! No spotlights. Needs such - plus dipping mechanism. Guzzles petrol. Spare wheel is rubbish. Supplied car jack is useless! Needs built-in semi-automatic jacks at each wheel. Changing a headlamp bulb is ridiculously laborious. Replacement windscreen wipers are ridiculously expensive! Indicator lamps work loose. Car bumpers inadequately built. Wheel trim centres fall off. No lock on glove box. Car locking system too involved. Ridiculous prices charged for spare keys. Exorbitant prices charged for so-called servicing. Heated windscreens have failing elements. GPS should be built-in as standard. Top part of dashboard should be made as a tray to retain small items - with non-slip surface. Wheel lock arrangements are rubbish. ABS braking system could be much better. Window operating switches are poorly placed - I keep operating the rear windows instead of the from. Insufficient leg room at rear. Needs tinted glass all round as standard. Otherwise handles quite well.

Having owned this car for approaching three years it has been one of the best cars I've owned. Performance is better than average, as you'd expect from a 2.5L turbo power plant, but the car is a joy to drive gently as well as briskly. Fuel economy isn't class leading and I average mid thirties (MPG) on town and country roads and low to mid forties (MPG) on the motorway. With the exception of fuel, running costs have been low with the car requiring little attention apart from routine servicing. I use an independent Ford specialist who offer better prices and service than the main dealer. The car is a joy to drive and the front seats are very comfy, the suspension is firm but not rock hard and the ride is more what you'd expect from a GT car rather than an all out hot hatch. It works equally well for long journeys as for a quick B-road blast but if all out handling is what you're looking for you should consider the RS version over the ST. Build quality is good, I've had a few squeaks and rattles but nothing that hasn't been easy to resolve. Any minor issues have been easy and quick to sort myself and there are some fantastic online resources if you're looking to take the car to the next level or just do some mechanics yourself. Would I buy again? Yes, without a doubt

I owned a Focus back in 2000. It was OK. Styling was a bit so so and it felt a bit compact internally. Bought a brand new Focus Titanium is August this year. A significant improvement. Externally it looks great (especially from the front), much sleeker look and the front grill adds a nice touch. Roomy to, for a small family car feels very spacious and with a decent size of boot as well. My Titanium came very well equipped; parking assist, auto stop / start, emergency stop, reactive headlights, SYNC 2, cruise control, limiters, trip computer. Holds the road well, though I do get wheel spin when pulling away on greasy road surfaces. Fairly economical, I get over 50mpg without really trying. Seats a bit uncomfortable though. However all these fantastic points become a bit superficial when the quality control and build is so poor. At only three months old my Focus is already plagued with faults and defects. Ford would seem to have overstretched themselves with the technology, it works up to a point, but durability is certainly not amongst the performance criteria. Gear stick cover keeps popping out loose, SYNC fails constantly needing a reboot and a recent failure on headlamps was down right dangerous, certainly a health and safety issue

Whilst I have a love of Ford's, especially the Focus ( I have had two), I keep being mistreated by them. This Focus was bought 3 year ago, just after it's first MOT. It ran brilliantly for a couple of months before I had a turbo fault, after which the car smoked whenever I had to heavily accelerate (something any diesel car owner will tell you is a necessity.) It turns out that this was in part due to a hose which needed replacing, but it opened my eyes to just how expensive repairs on a diesel are. I would say that anyone wanting a diesel should do so under caution, and only if they do the motorway miles. Whilst I average 50 mpg doing around 15 miles each way too and from work, I can get a much higher MPG on the motorway, with less smoke! Negative aside I still love the smooth ride, the style of the car and the way that it drives overall. I love the spacious boot (especially with a 3 month old baby) and the fact that I managed to fit an entire bed in the car with some maneuvering the other day! Be aware though that if you DO have babies you may end up having to buy a base for their car seat as the Focus has incredibly short seatbelt length, meaning you can't just belt in most model car seats.

I am extremely satisfied with this car. However,I am absolutely disgusted with Ford because of their misleading information in marketing literature and website. When purchasing my Focus 1.0 125PS Ecoboost I was greatly influenced in making this purchase by the quoted mpg average figure of 56.5 and 67.3 for driving at 75mph. I am an average motorist with 47 years driving experience and I find these figures impossible to achieve. I get 38mpg on average and 43mpg when making a long journey. I have been in correspondence with Ford on at least three occasions but they fail to see the point I am making. I have also complained through the Citizens Advice Bureau. Here are two quotes from Ford :- "They are only intended as a comparison between makes and models of vehicles. They are not intended to represent the real world fuel consumption you may get from your vehicle." "a driver will almost never replicate these figures, in any make of vehicle, unless he has access to a laboratory rolling road". I didn't buy my car to use in a laboratory but I want to drive it in the real world.

Purchased this car when it was 7 months old and it has been an extremely reliable vehicle. However, just before its 3 year warranty was due to expire it developed a problem with the gears sticking in and out of gear. At first this was very intermittent but coming up to five years after it became necessary to have the clutch replaced. Other than this one problem I have been extremely happy with the Ford Focus 1.6 until 8/9 years old when local driving is using far more fuel than it used to. On a long run it is fine. I would have purchased another Ford Focus but do not like the Mark 2 model and the Mark 3 is too long for parking behind my cottage. All in all though the size of vehicle and engine; all round comfort have all been very satisfactory and overheads have not been extortionate (car tax was originally £125 but increased to £175). Bodywork is still in excellent condition as well as the interior). Wishing to change my car in a few years, I have no idea what to consider purchasing which will be as good as this vehicle has been.

I bought this ST3 last December and also had a number of expensive options fitted one of which was a SONY DAB radio/CDNavigation system.There has been a lot of problems since I bought it and still all not sorted out.Ford have been of little help and now say it is within design spec.and wipe their hands of the ongoing problems. I found out the only part of the system Sony make is the switchboard and it was a Sony I was sold and bought because it was a Sony system.I have recently found out that the rest is made by Bosch and had I known this I would not have spent a lot of money on it.The management at Ford Customer Relations Centre do not impress and are now just using their weight to get me off their back.It is a sad day when one spends over £28000 and get treated like this.I have had Fords most of my working life with virtually no trouble and driven well over a million miles and now on my third Ford since I retired but now feel this one is the last. It is about time motoring organisations supported owners against the manufacturers.

My car is a good old workhorse-does what I need it to do, loads of room done nearly 80k, not too many fancy bells and whistles which is why I don't look forward to having to buy a newer model . This spring I had to have a new instrument control panel -the whole works to control the ECU etc. Something I had assumed would last the lifetime of the car. Apparently on the just a few months older previous model there had been a recall and a replacement at around £100 but nothing doing on mine, I had to fork out £500 ( got just a year guarantee) . This is the only thing to go wrong since I have had the car but I have lost count of how many mates have had major electronic control failures recently in all sorts of makes of car-two, owners of a Skoda and a Citroen despaired of their dealers inability to resolve the problem and cut their losses and sold them. Manufacturers are making cars for the fleet market and the used car buyer is picking up the problems arising from cars being too complicated and too hard for the average mechanic to fix.

We've only had the car since June but it is excellent. It is nearly the top of the market model so is bursting with technology. It is very quiet and has overcome my idea that diesel engines run like tractors. It is very economical to run and a tank of fuel seems to last for ages. The air conditioning is very effective and doesn't appear to run away with the fuel. It has plenty of power for us, in fact, you have to rein it in to avoid breaking the speed limit. After doing around 4,000 miles, we have no complaints. Our only problem has been to find a 7mm hex key to convert the head lamps for continental driving. No set includes one. The one big improvement might be to provide a cd with the instruction manual. Some of that is overcomplicated and difficult to understand. There is a plethora of buttons in the cockpit and a demonstration as to what they do and a better explanation of the way to access menus would not come amiss. I'm sure that we haven't made full use of all technology yet. I would thoroughly recommend this car.

I've had this Focus Zetec for 7 years, in which I've done 68000 miles, which is a longer time and higher mileage than any previous car, reflecting the fact that it suits my needs well. It has a comfortable front seat and driving position, but the ride is on the firm side and the car is noisy at higher speeds, partly due to the low gearing of the top(5th) gear. So, it's crying out for a 6th gear, as fitted to the new Focus. Also, there's no rest for the left foot and wider shoes can get trapped under the clutch pedal. Again, remedied in the new version. The boot is a decent size, bigger than in the new Focus & the Golf. As I'm over 6 ft tall, there's not a lot of legroom behind me for a rear passenger, but that tends to go with the size of car. The car is fairly easy to park, although the rear view is not good, but no worse than average for the type of car. Steering is very responsive and handling is very good. All in all, a practical, economical vehicle but not well suited as a motorway mile-eater.

Whilst a reasonable family car with excellent fuel efficiency and low running costs, this car is not without problems. Bodywork:- Interestingly, even from new, plastic body panels on the car are a noticably different shade than metal panels. A thing that Japanese vehicle manufacturers struggled with in the 1970's but, it seems, Ford have yet to master. It also seems that Ford 'save paint' by not fully painting the under edges of panels such as doors Engine:- The turbo lag and following power surge on this diesel engine can be very pronounced, and at times downright dangerous, especially in busy traffic, entering junctions, roundabouts etc. An internet search will show that my experience mirrors that of several other owners Whilst sales staff might tell you that this is a feature of 'newness' in the engine; time has proven that this is an inherent fault. Overall:- I have owned this car from new, and despite its faults this has proved to be a very reliable and economical car.

This is probably the second most comfortable car we have owned, with good seat and steering wheel adjustment. The drive is very quiet and smooth and the automatic gearbox doesn't have a great affect on fuel consumption. There is ample room for 4 adults and their luggage, which is easily accessible. My only real complaint is the dashboard and number of buttons. For the radio/communications part there are some 48 buttons/switches so finding what you want is not easy on the move. The heater is very effective, but again not particularly easy to set. The biggest problem I have with the dashboard, however, is how intrusive it is into front passenger space in particular. To get decent knee room the seat has to be set too far back, which obviously is to the detriment of rear seat passengers. I really don't like this aspect and hope it can be amended for any future update. Overall, would I buy another Focus? Probably yes as long as I wasn't carrying adult rear seat passengers too often.

I drive the one litre turbo Focus Titanium, on both local journeys and distance utilising motorways and A and B roads. Driving locally fuel consumption just under 40mpg whilst m/way doing constant 70mph approaches 50mpg. I think the most economical is 60mph which you need to stick to on A9 in Scotland. (the joy of cruise control). Power : there is a slight lack of power on acceleration, especially on hills but once over 3000rpm this picks up ok, no problems maintaining 70mph with cruise control on(power in reserve in case of emergency). Comfort : the seats are comfortable for long journeys and the sound system and other attributes of the titanium make a journey enjoyable. Overall this model is a comfortable car with economical fuel useage for local journeys and for the occasional longer outing, the driving experience is adequate, steering/suspension ok, but we do experience tyre noise on some m/way surfaces which is probably down to the larger tyre size (215 55 16).

Unimpressed with a Ford car having an unreliable Peugeot engine. When looking for a replacement turbo I had many companies saying they would not stock for that engine as it was known to be unreliable. However it did drive down to the Spanish Pyrenees and back with a non-working turbo which had gone less than a year from the previous replacement. I have been advised to get rid of the car before it goes again. Unimpressed by the front lock on the bonnet which does not work and has had to be removed. The mechanic told me he has had to do this a number of times to these cars, the lock collects dust and dirt so that the key cannot turn it. Otherwise it is the size, shape and performance that I want. It has sufficient space for my camping gear and for me to sleep in the car when needed. Or it can take a friend and a couple of large dogs. Or I can sling a couple of bicycles in the back. The back seats are just about always down to provide this space.

The car whilst generally reliable has been a bit of a let down with the poor small boot space and cramped rear legroom. I am a small person and therefore have my seat fairly forward when I drive but still people behind me have limited leg room. Fuel consumption is below average and nothing like the manufacturers recorded figures even though I drive with one eye on economy - so for me the deisel option that I choose for good running costs has not materialised. Servicing - always through a manufacturers dealership - has also been more than I had expected and there is always the need to double check the works done as I have found in the past items charged for that have not actually been carried out. The car however has never refused to start first time or let me down whilst out on the road so reliability is good in that respect. Would I buy another - well only if the new Escort has improved on the items mebtioned ie interior space and boot size.

In 40 years of driving this is the best car I've ever owned. The performance is great, holds the road as though it's on rails and the acceleration is wonderful - I can't bear a car that's slow pulling away and this certainly isn't. The running costs are low, mileage is very good, better on motorway driving than around town obviously, but on a full tank of diesel and driving on motorways I can get over 700 miles to a tank. Even when it's needed work doing because it's such a popular model the parts and labour are very cheap. It's very comfortable, can happily drive for 8 hours a day without feeling tired or uncomfortable. The car was 6 years old when I had it and I've had it for 6 years and it's never let me down: starts first time. It's spacious enough for 5 people inside and the boot's very spacious - holds 4 suitcases easily. I intend to keep it as long as I possibly can but when I do have to replace it it'll be with another Focus.