@@PB-zf3qc Yes, sadly the rust is just killing them all off now, the bodywork does not seem too bad for corrosion but as you say if you look underneath a MK1 now at the subframes and suspension it's like looking at a brown coral reef. I suppose in fairness the youngest examples are now 17 years old.
+anonym0336 In standard form, yes. Much more reliable in my personal experience and although I like the MK5 GTI... as a standard car the Focus is a better drive.
I have to confess that I have driven both of them and I prefer the mileage display layout on the MK I as opposed to the MK II. They are both great cars and though my 2008 zetec 1.6 hasn't the acceleration of my MKI it has good stability and traction to it. If I were to rate the MK I to the MK II, ooh...I'd have to say the MK I because of it's handling, acceleration and durability. I was told there isn't much difference between the 1.6 & 1.8 though to me there is in acceleration.
I hear the 1.8tdci is ok for reliability, the same engine is in the Transit Connect I think. The 1.6tdci is a peugeot one. Trying to decide between a MK1 1.6 Petrol and a MK2 1.8tdci. I have a Honda at the moment as although it never goes wrong it isn't that much fun.
had my sea grey 2007 1.8tdci focus zetec climate sportpack from new and still do, first 5 yrs (2007-2012) i taught ppl how to drive in it!!!, before its still my daily you have to ask yourself why??? still imaculate still walks every MOT and never given even the slightest problem, i think thats all the endorcement you need unlike the flimsy nailed together MK1 i had from only 2004-2007 before it :) and newflash EVERY focus regardless of engine has a duel mass flywheel, only changed mine recently (clutch was needing done anyway as id taught ppl how to drive in it 1st 5 yrs of its life) and the parts to change it to a solid flywheel along with a new clutch came to £148, problem with reviewers is they mostly just read crap and repeat crap :)
I can't agree with you. I think the Mk2 pre face-lift is a more handsome car. MK1 was a game changer though. First mk1 I drove was around the TT course on the Isle of Man. Handler of note!
Just out of interest have you driven either a 1.8 or 2.0? I guess it's all based on context, to me the 1.6 in the MK2 felt like it struggled more than the 1.6 in the MK1.
@@CarambleTV No, I haven't. My dad had an petrol MK1 years back and when I asked him if there is any difference he can't really notice it. I have driven the Diesel MK2 (1.6). Good video still, professional review :)
@@Wolly9102 Ah do you have a diesel MK2? That's fine power wise with the turbo it's the petrol MK2 1.6 that I think could do with a bit more. It's still decent though.
@@CarambleTV No I own the petrol 1.6. I drove the diesel variant a couple of times but it was not mine. After watching your video I think I can agree with your statement. I started paying more attention on how the car accelerates and it's a little on the slow side around 50/60 kph but around 80 it seems to use all of it's torque and i can feel the car pull much harder. So your video got me thinking :). Normally you don't pay attention to the "bad" things. Also I 100% agree with these cars being popular. When an ad for one of these cars goes up, the car gets bought not long after, even in 2020. Got mine in March and I got quite lucky it was still there. The ad was up for 5 hours and it already had 400 views.
I own a focus, and definitely the windshield defrosting is awesome. Great car overall, still economically with the 2.0 petrol. Too bad the interior lacks storage, and the armrest storage is very limited. Also the standard model could have had a bit more options such as comfort opening of the windows with the keyfob.
my mum owns one of the rivals for the mk2 focus, a mk5 golf and for us its been an absolute tank even though its the troublesome 1.6 BLF petrol motor its served us well for five years bring on the next five years
I owned a 3 year old (at the time) 2009 Mk 2 and had it for 5 years. Great car and a little more grown up than the Mk 1. Cheap to buy and run, insurance doesn't break the bank and lovely to drive. My only gripe is the depreciation; its horrific.
I'm a Kraut and I would never buy a VW (again), I bought the Ford Focus MK1 (as station wagon - of course) and now I switched to the MK2 2.0 Titanium - also the estate version. A Focus is meant to be an estate car.
mate you remind me of j. clarkson back in the day! pretty nice revew. We also got some mk2s here in the PH and im doin a lil bit of research on em. planning on getting one once the quarantine gets lifted. keep safe and cheers!
Nonsense about the diesels though. My 1.6 tdci has been faultless over the past 5 years and 60k miles. Got a few vans at work with the same engine and they’ve been faultless too. The 55MPG & £30 road tax & 109hp I’d had it’s definitely a better bet than the equivalent petrol.
i own a ff2 diesel, 1.6, 2005 and i just love it. i dont know why you hate it so much but for me its awsome. since i bought it in the first 2 months i had a lil bit of an issue with the particle filter, but i sent it to clean up and now the car its like brand new :)
+scafaru cosmin I don't hate diesels too much, when they work they're great but as you've already found out compared to petrols modern diesels can have some nasty gremlins injectors/turbos/dpf failing etc. I just had too many bad experiences with them.
Bought myself a 2.0 litre petrol focus titanium six years ago. Bloody brilliant car, so brilliant I've not bothered to get another car. It's got 110000 on the clock, and I reckon I'll put another 15k on it before I even consider moving it on.
My dad has a 1,6 100hp focus mk1 estate, ive got a 1,8tdci mk2 estate. Mk2 is stiffer and more stable, even tho i have a heavier engine, thus mk2 has worse weight distribution(mk1 has 50l lpg tank in the boot). Older one is more like a kids toy, its ridiculously plastic. mk2 is just better.
+2dogslide I don't find the MK2 better at all, it's defo a more 'mature' car perhaps but the MK1 has aged incredibly well for a car released in 1998. For me I prefer the MK1, it's more fun (in normal non RS/ST spec) but depends on your priorities. Neither is a duff choice.
I dislike the video,because of the affirmation of the ti-vct "it looks far too complicated' and "it brakes" he said,after a "search on Google".You should research further and deeper,mr. reviewer.It's more economic and sporty then the 101 engine.Both petrol engines are reliable,altough I must agree with him on the diesel engines on focus mk2.They sucks.And my affirmation doesn't come from "a quick search on Google".In my family,they are two mk2,one diesel,the other one petrol(you guessed-ti-vct :) ).
I shall research further and deeper than Google as advised. I'm putting on my best warm hat and I'm going to pretend to go Christmas carol singing but mid-song at people's doorsteps into the '12 days of Christmas' I'll ask them if they have owned of have experience working on the Ford Duratec petrol with Ti-VCT fitted because I've heard of cases of the failure of the unit. Video to follow with my findings.
@@lukes8719 me neither!It's been only three months though...but it drives well and runs great.It pulls smoothly!Good quality for the money it costs I say.And the maintenance is relatively cheap.
You must be a chill driver. :) Slap the 80hp 1.4 petrol in the 1300kg wagon and you've got yourself one of the most underpowered "modern" cars i know. Only a competent driver can safely overtake with that on a highway. The 1.4 accelerates 0-100 in 14.4s and 80-120 in 12s IF the car is empty, shifts are good and the engine is screamed in the top RPM range of 4500-6500 where all the power is in these naturally aspirated engines. Goodbye savings of 0,1l/100km of fuel vs the 1.6 model when you have to scream the engine even in everyday driving. :) My 115hp 1.6 Ti-VCT wagon isn't fast either, but with correct driving techniques and knowing the correct gear, it can just be snappy enough. Oh, and when the system works correctly, it should be more economic than the 1.4.
Hey man, stumbled upon your focus videos while researching mk1 focus so I checked your channel out. Great work! I don't know if you're doing these reviews just for fun and are you reviewing only the cars you/your-mates own but you're actually pretty good at it. Certainly improved over time. Anyway, I subscribed and hope to see more of you soon. I like listening to someone who likes driving but isn't testing a Lambo but I car I might actually get.
Thanks, I've noticed there's not many decent, honest reviews of affordable 2nd hand cars around so figured I'd do some. Will carry on when I get the time!
CarambleTV Thanks man :) I'm just googling, people say 1.25 Fiesta is awesome but the mpg isn't much better then 1.6 Focus so I'd probably get the mk1 Focus, if nothing else for the design alone. Ah, the joys of daydreaming combined with google!
Ah, 1.25 is pretty slow if you're looking at latest gen. That engine was fine in the old Fez but the latest Fez is practically the size of a mk1 Focus!
i have 1.6 tdci c max and i bought it new in 2005. i have to say 1.6 tdci is good engine as long as you take care of it. But in this class of cars people usually dont take good care of them so i dont recommend them at all. they are not end of the world tho. Dont listen people who bought it cheap and expected NA Petrol engine durability from it. they are complicated engines you gotta do maintenance right with these engines.
all rust in a really odd place at the lower part of the rear 1/4, which to me looks like it's caused by water/road grit going into this section at speed and getting 'sucked' into the rear wheel arch, basically sanding it down. When I got a 2010 MK2.5 it had a small bit of factory fit plastic film so assume they knew it was an issue.
I paid £490 for a Mk2 1.8TDCi estate 2 years ago and think it's great. It's a 07 reg, just under 174k when bought now at 206k. I think the 1.8TDCi is probably the best of the range being an update of the older 1.8TD. No DPF on mine and its one of the last with a lower timing chain.
I own a 2006 1.8 Ghia petrol and I have had it 4 years the car has done nearly 140000 and it’s still plodding along no serious rust just a couple of stone chips the only work apart from serving I’ve had to do was clutch wishbones battery EGR valve throttle body and a o2 sensor and that’s spread of the 4 years. He only thing that’s been a pain has been the factory navigation system when I first drove it in the rain I found that the radio aerial was leaking the previous owner had tried to fix it with bathroom sealant and ford don’t use the part anymore so it had to be adapted at my local Ford dealer with a kit cost about £250. Also the previous owner never took he car back for warranty or recall work so some of that had to be done at no cost luckily. On a holiday full boot and half a back seat of luggage 3 adults and a dog and I was getting 40.4 mpg best car I’ve ever owned
I agree with the part about the used diesels. Almost a year ago I bought a Focus mk2 1.4 80hp LPG. Don't even thought about buying a used 10+ years old diesel car. The 80hp feels a bit under powered, but for cruising it is okay. 10-11 litres of LPG per 100km in city driving, and 7-8 litres of LPG per 100km on motorways (80-100 km/h). The Focus is a spacious car. Althought, it feels really cheap built compared to my dad's Golf Variant 2008. But, it is nice for driving and it's grown on me. Only thing I would like to change is it being 2007, with the white speedometer and being 1.6 100hp. Nice review!
Weirdly PSA used to make some of the best TD engines. The old 1.9 TDI and 2.0 HDi were cracking. Then when they worked together with Ford in a joint venture they churned out some right crap. Something clearly went wrong there. Cost cutting?
They were garbage cars really. They rarely went beyond 125,000 miles in the USA. Their still around but as many sold...they are going to ba all gone in less than ten years. The MK 1 is all but gone here..
I don't think the MK2 Focus in the the USA was the same as the European model. The platform Europe got was the updated C1 Platform while the US models carried on with the old one.
@@CarambleTV I haven't had need to tbh. Regular oil change every year and it's tuned too. Seems like a solid engine imho. You can remove the actuators and clean them out. There's a mesh filter in them. I might do mine at some point.
I don’t really agree with what’s he’s saying about the 1.6 tdci my mother has owned one for 10 years bought it with low mileage it now has 245000 miles and it’s still on its original injectors and turbos if there well serviced they go forever
I don't doubt VVT is a good thing (my Clio 182 has it) but the system on the early MK2 was reported to have issues. Later versions and that fitted to the MK3 seem to have been sorted.
Based purely on one mate that has owned one and the number still knocking about I'm not sure that the MK3 Mondeo is as well built as the MK2 Focus. But they both drive and handle very well.
@@CarambleTV thank you for the answer. It is really a tough choice. Here in my country a 2005 1.8 mondeo with 120.000km costs 3000 euros and a 2005 1.6 2005 ti the same money
@@toure7 Sorry getting my generations mixed up - the MK3 Mondeo is also great (it's the MK4 I think may have had more issues) had a MK3 the review is also on this channel. I would base the decision on space really, the Mondeo is considerably bigger but drives just as well.
CarambleTV Well your face needs to be pushed against the drivers window before you push wide, if that means it's nose heavy then it's nose heavy. Do you know anything about the suspension setup? you didn't touch on it once. Jeremy Clarkson has a review on the mk2 ST aswell as the RS. I suggest you go have a look. Did you drive the vehicles on a racetrack? you can't test a performance car on public roads. If it's just basic physics then every front engine car is nose heavy, no?
+Angelo Citton indeed. I'm not inclined to take anything Jeremy Clarkson says as gospel, great entertainer but take what he says with a pinch of sensationalist salt. I mean it's nose heavy compared to contemporaries, a big 5cyl engine in the front will do that. I still like it, it's a great car. As for performance cars not being reviewed 'on track' err...
I think a lot of it comes down to weight and packaging. The mk1 is just a little tidier and a bit lighter. And as you said, feels a little more special all the way down the model line. When will you be doing more reviews? Honestly, you are right up there with the big channels on YT in terms of quality of content
Cheers Charles - The day job gets in the way but I will try my best to get another out this year. Have recently bought a MK3.5 Focus so will aim to do something with that...
@@CarambleTV I will never get rid of my mk1's. They are still amazing to drive and sip gas (until I lean on em and then not anymore 😁 because they are boosted)
I'd like to know what you think of the Mark III. Is it a used buy yet? It's a shame the Focus isn't that popular in North America. I love mine, except for the (when it's absolutely not working right) PowerSh** dry dual-clutch automatic. Now that it is working right, it's a great car to drive. Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic are the top cars here in North America in the small family car market, whereas the Toyota Auris and Civic aren't even near the top in the UK.
+runforit420 MK3 is good yeah, steering not quite as sharp but otherwise sound. Only thing to be wary of is in my experience the quoted MPG and real world MPG on the ecoboost engines seem quite far apart!
+CarambleTV The only EcoBoost we have (aside from the ST) is the 1.0L EcoBoost at 125 PS. We have a naturally aspirated direct injected 2.0L 4 with the dry dual-clutch automated manual. I think it's been replaced in every market except North America.
You don't mention the 1.8 diesel. Its the same one used in the transit connect, and it's meant to be reliable. I think it really depends on milage. I have just worked out that I have spent about an extra £3000 in the last 3 years on fuel and tax having a petrol car. Also how come you went for a Mk2 as in the end of the review you say the Mk1 is better? Is it just getting too old now to run the Mk1s?
+Duncan Haskell the old Lynx 1.8 are ok but the ones in the Focus MK2 still have DPF/injector issues. MK1 yes unfortunately just a bit old now (11) so hard to find a good one now.
NONE of the 1.8 tdci's have a DPF, I was about to buy a Mk2.5 focus with this engine for that very reason, but after taking a test drive I didn't like the power delivery at all compared to the Mk1.5 1.8 tdci I currently own, I imagine they bolted on even more electrical 'bits' to an already ancient engine and ruined the drivability. Any fuel savings I made were wiped out by the flywheel and turbo failures, so I'm looking at 1.8 or 2.0 petrol as the tax and insurance is the same for either, and interestingly the insurance on the 2.0 petrol is £50 less than the tdci, which balances our the road tax cost. 1.8 tdci after 2007 is a wet belt timing belt (not a chain), so you have to replace both belts at a cost of £450ish, the petrols are chain driven. Hope that helps the original poster :)
Golf's stopped being reliable after the MK2. The Focus of this generation I believe to be more reliable. Though I would not say no to a MK5 GTI, even if the front wings and tailgate do rust through and the TSI intake manifold shits itself.
Didn't they also carry over the 1.4 petrol for a stint at the beginning? I had a mk1 with it and although it was so slow overall, it was fairly nippy around town, although it suffered so badly with the rust problem I had to get rid of it and get a newish fiesta.
Well 4 man and a lot of luggage on german highway is more than enough for us, undertaking without lowing shifts, these extra 15 HP appear exactly when you undertake at 3-4k rpm. 120 is super ride, 140km/h it gets a bit noisy, 180 km/h is when the car gets unstable, but that's quite normal for 10 years old combi model. Can't complain luck of power at all, but yeh guess it depends on the personal style of driving.
I've always LOVED FOCUSES since they came out but I paticarlarly loved the mk2 however I've heard they are not as reliable or as well screwed together and everyone I know whos had a mk2 has had some sort of issues with it or they crashed it
+Robertas Narbuntas I also have a 3.0 v6 diesel ( W209Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 CDI) I don't totally hate diesel just in my experience the reliability issues with the modern units. Just had an £800 bill for swirl flaps and a glow plug relay. And a used to have a Mk1 Fabia vRS that was an utter bastard.
I completely agree with you, I had a 2010 1.6 TDCI just for the reasons you mentioned, it was a 3 year lease so I didn't run into any problems but was well aware at the time that turbos, injectors and DPF were failing at shocking mileages. Very solid and comfortable car though but I always found the tyre roar disappointing especially at high speed on the motorway. Great video, hope you will be adding more.
Shit review. I had a 1.8 tdci ghia 06 plate for three years. Economical, great torque in lower gears, and reliable. Only issues were alternator failure which was replaced under warranty, and a split turbo hose.
You have me slightly worried about buying a diesel version of this car now! I own the 1.6 tdci and it had been fine so far (8 months) but with limited service history and around 90k miles on the clock.
Might be fine if a lot of the bits have already been replaced. If you have a scout around online it'll give you an idea of 1.6tdci issues and service history should let you know if it's been sorted.
dont be because unlike caramble tv ive had a mk2 1.8tdci from new and still have it for one simple reason, its brilliant!!!! thank you and good night lol never ask a reviewer about cars longterm life, ask a longterm owner, way!!! more sensible :)
I should really! Will get round to it at some point - as I don't like diesels, the early versions of ecoboost are terrible and I think the 1.6 is a bit slow I actually recommend the Mazda 3 2.0 3rd Gen. Decent NA petrol engine and in the UK £30 VED.
I've recently bought a Mk3.5 1.5tdci to replace my trusty old Mk2 which was sadly wearing out. I agree the newer car to me isn't quite as sharp to drive as the Mk2, that said it still handles well and is a lot more refined than the older car
I would say so only a little under powered when fully loaded when I say loaded 4 fully grow adults full boot and roof box but still goes just fine mines done 123197 no big problems I would pay for a wax oil or do it yourself as its a ford
@@justaskingstoke6139 so would recommend a 1.8? I currently have a mk5 1.25 fiesta. Therefore not sure what the difference would be for performance and economy
It was purely ironic, as I have a '07 pre-facelift mark 2 Focus, managed to get my hands on a pristine example in "Deep Navy Blue" colour. Got it modded with tinted windows, model lettering deletion, accessory rear bumper lip, blacked-out Depo headlights, Sparco lowering springs, beefier alloys and a bunch of other stuff. The deep blue colour despite being one of the basic ones is in my opinion brilliant, sort of a chameleon black - extreme dark blue shade (everyone says it is black).
golfs are a lot more reliable than the focus you bought probably a car whit 200 thousand miles on the clock that's havoc and you get lot more quality the the focus
the mk1 had an awful slahy trying too hard to be edgy but ultimately instantly dated them (same designer as the first KA unsurprisingly, yet he says mk2 feel more mass produced and hard??? mk2 has foam dash, give it a proper press on the top!!! lmao, all your credability gone in the first 30 secs :)
