Ford Focus reviews

Not too big not too small for growling family - now teenagers. Good sized boot - fits bikes with rear seats down; easy to park in most sized spaces; despite being old still looks relatively new and sporty.

It does the job. Not recommended for petrol heads, particularly being an automatic, but for normal stop start in town traffic its great. Low initial purchase (keep your capital), but not the most economic on fuel. Pros and cons but on the whole a good fit for most.

Our first Ford for 40 years and we are very pleasantly surprised at how good it is. It is comfortable, quiet, manouverable and nippy. It has been reliable for six years, it has average service and parts costs. One criticism would be that it could deliver a better mpg.

I've really enjoyed owning and driving my Focus. Ford have come a long way and the quality of the build, the performance, comfort, specification and reliability are excellent. The car is comfortable, easy to handle, good looking with reasonable running costs. I would not hesitate to buy a Focus next time round

AS GOOD AS A 2000 CC,IT HAS A DIFFERENT ENGINE

Even though I can alter the driving mode of this vehicle from the sports mode I find it a little of a hard drive otherwise an excellent vehicle in all ways.

th car has been a good buy but is not economical anymore cars have got so much better

This the 3rd 1.6 Mk1 Focus I have owned, and I have to say they are just great cars even in 2013. The handling and ride is excellent, and they are just a great drive. The performance is just what I need in a car of this size. It looks good and the interior is a comfortable and pleasant place to be. I would think Ford had a hard time following it up with the Mk2, and I would say the it lost a little in its styling. To sum up, the Mk1 is an excellent all rounder in this sector and has stood up to the test of time very well indeed.

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.

Bought as a cheap and practical run around, but never let me down and do not miss the "mod cons" that you get in new cars! With a little TLC can be confident that it will out live cars half its age and cost considerably less to keep, maintain and run.

Owned for 14 years, low annual mileage due to using other vehicles. Twice had gear selector issues but reliable aside from this. Cheap to run for a 2 litre car as use cruise control regularly for longer distance running. Size perfect for 1 or 2 people with large luggage such as bicycles inside car. Suspension design aids comfort level for size of car

Due to the amount time I spend in the car to do my job, this 02 Focus TDCI Saloon has been my 2nd home, sometime office, occasional light removal vehicle, chill out zone and a means of getting to the shops for over 8 years. I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying its been an incredibly reliable car, easy to drive, reasonably economical to run both fuel and maintenance wise and very comfy. I would happily get another one.....if Ford could promise it would be as easy to live in, comfy and reliable as this one...and it would be handy if it also came with a cleaner! Wonderful car, love it to bits...but it has so many little difficult to get at places its hard to keep it clean inside.

A convertible with a hard top roof which folds down. The best of both worlds with all the reliability and benefits of a Ford Focus. Shame they have stopped making this model.

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.

Excelant car for our needs, powerful enough on motorways

I've run my Focus estate for the past four years now, and found despite the relatively small engine size, the performance is very lively; I only need more care when carrying more than one passenger (this is when two litres and up is handy). I don't know the running costs in miles per; it's got an engine and you have to fuel it, so pick your car and pay accordingly. I'm happy enough with its mpg. The car's comfort levels and load capacity are adequate, and it's never let me down. Could be I'll buy another Focus.

A good car, but does not quite meet the mpg specified when I bought it. Also, the control panel is somewhat over-fussy, with too many buttons and gadgets, most of which I have never used. Oh, for the simplicity of a few years ago!

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.

The Ford Focus is reliable , cheap to maintain and easy to drive. Can't go wrong really.

Very poor performance for a little 1600 car, can be outpaced by most vans & trucks, but very practical, vast amount of space. Not up to Ford's usual standard.