Zetec 1.8 - any good?

[keith_henson]

Right

Missus and I are seriously thinking about upgrading from our 1l polo to a 1.8 zetec, 3dr, 03 plate focus.17k miles full suite of bits and bobs that come with it. 7k the dealer is asking. Will give us 1500 for the polo.

Now i have never owned a ford (neither has anyone in the family).

Are the 1.8`s good? any problems?

Missus is test driving tomorrow - best bit is the insurance is 50 quid cheaper then the polo and a replacement car etc aswell. Cant be bad

keith

[chrisch]

We ran a 1.8 Zetec (escort estate Si) for a while. Apart from the fact that you must service the thing carefully (get the right oil and change the cam belt often...) they are bloody good engines.

As to the rest of Ford cars...... umm.. yeah...

Build quality is shit. They rattle. They are cheap fleet cars.

Score a good long test ride. I have had the focus on rental serval times and no complaint. My mate however recons the seats are hard and uncomfortable. (But he's a VW fan..)

But you ask about the engine. Its a good 'un.

Chris

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by chrisch

As to the rest of Ford cars...... umm.. yeah...

Build quality is shit. They rattle. They are cheap fleet cars.

Keith, go for a test drive and see if you agree with this. It was certainly true in the times of the escort, but not now. The focus and the rest of the current line up are great cars and I don't think you'll be disappointed. The 1.8 is a better engine than the 2.0 IMO. Not quite as much power but it drives much better.

BTW, yes I do have a vested interest. They pay my salary. But please go for the test drive anyway.

[Lou]

The seats are horrid though. They are very hard and uncomfortable. It was one of the factors against the Focus when we were looking a few months ago.

You might find them ok, but a long test drive is recommended - by both of you.

We also got offered a 3 dr and there are no advantages to it - same car as the 5-dr, but bloomin' awkward to get into the back, or to put the seats down to get dive gear in. Nice-ish boot space but not quite long enough for my twinset laid front to back.

We took both twinsets down to all the dealers with us to test the load space The guy at the Toyota garage was desperate to fit them in the back of a Corolla without putting the seats down - bless him.

[calski]

We have the new Focus and we're well chuffed with it - I bought it on the strength of driving the 1.8 Zetec you mention. I had one as a hire car for work and it was great fun to drive. I used to have to go from Wiltshire to Chester and never found the seats too hard - compared to my Celica it was very comfy!!!

The hire car went like the proverbial off a shovel and you could throw it around corners big time... not that I drive recklessly you understand

Build quality on the newer model seems fine (but then it's only a couple of months old)...

Cheers

calski

[chrisch]

Keith, 7 grand is a lot of money (well to me anyway!!) We paid less than that for our 406 diesel estate....

One of the things that puts me off so many cars is the load area. With an estate car the tanks and other heavy kit do not have to be lifted over a "lip" in and out. If you are happy with the Polo 'til now have a look at the Nissan Almera as it has an estate car type loading bay. I have had one on rental a couple of times and it is very fast has excellent brakes and handles very well.

Its a little smaller than the Focus but bigger than the Polo.

I also found it to be very comfortable. (Although I didn't have an issue with the Focus).

The Almera has changed since I drove them - its a new model now. So again take my recommedation with a pinch of the old sodium choride.

Quick Autotrader search finds:

2004 53 Reg NISSAN Almera 1.5 SE
3 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Petrol, 19,929 miles, Grey. ABS, Adjustable seats, Adjustable steering column/wheel, Air conditioning, Central locking, Climate control, Computer, Driver airbag, Electric windows, Head restraints, Folding rear seats, Immobiliser, Park distance control, Passenger airbag, Power assisted steering, Rear armrest, Remote locking, Side airbags, Radio/CD, Rear headrests, central doorlocks with remote control, Alloy wheels, CD. Insurance Group:5, £5,995.

Marshall Car Centre Melton
Tel: 01664 4105950

Price: £5,995

Just a thought. But what do I know? Bloody motorcyclists....

Chris

[calski]

In fairness, the Nissan Almera is a poor relation compared to the Focus Zetec in terms of handling, performance and build quality (surprising I know!). The Model of Focus you are looking at scored highly in many reviews and I believe that model won countless awards during its lifecycle.

You'll also find that the Focus has a larger interior than the Almera and it's not the "universal" interior of so many Japanese cars.

Of the two, the Focus would win hands down in every category except price, but there's the reason for it being slightly more expensive - it's a lot more car for your money!

ATB

calski

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by calski

In fairness, the Nissan Almera is a poor relation compared to the Focus Zetec in terms of handling, performance and build quality (surprising I know!). The Model of Focus you are looking at scored highly in many reviews and I believe that model won countless awards during its lifecycle.

You'll also find that the Focus has a larger interior than the Almera and it's not the "universal" interior of so many Japanese cars.

Of the two, the Focus would win hands down in every category except price, but there's the reason for it being slightly more expensive - it's a lot more car for your money!

ATB

calski

Apart from the fact you could get a second hand Pug 307 SW HDi with loads of boot space, better handling, may not be as quick, but miles more economical (why did Ford use PSA's diesel engine I wonder?), mega comfortable and cost much less in Tax and Insurance for the same price.

For me - performance isn't the key factor any more. If I want performance I'll buy a lotus. Now Petrol's £1 a gallon and insurance is getting astronomical, if you can save a chunk by driving a car that does 60mpg at 80mph on the motorway, has lower tax because it's lower CO2 and very low insurance, I know where my money's going..

(For the record I have a 407SW and 306 Estate - both of which are tops IMHO, both Diesel, and cost me less than £500 a year to insure for both fully comp protected no claims, and £220 a year to tax them both as they're both £110 a year lower rate tax vs the top whack for Petrol cars.)

For the record, I've used loads of hire cars and driven Mondeo's, Focuses etc.
I found the Focus' interior to be, well, basic, rattly and irritating. The stereo was shockingly bad too.
The Mondeo wasn't much better.
The best two I've had as rental cars were a normal 407 HDI Saloon, which was nice (and made me think about the SW for my own car)
A Mazda 6 which was quite possibly the fastest car I've ever driven that was that big - huge saloon car with massive power.
A New Golf GT-TDI which was also a great drive (but too small with dive gear in).

Mark.

[chrisch]

Oh now your playing into my hands aren't you... ?

When we sold the old escort (steering wheel on wrong side otherwise OK) I looked for a good diesel engine (like Keith, buy the engine not the car).

I shopped around for a VAG 1.9 ideally in the Skoda as its cheap and really a VW Bora. However we couldn't find one worth buying so we bought the 406 HDi 2.0 Its a very low emissions engine.

All I can say is we have done 110,000Km in the last two years without any incedent. The car now has 170,000Km on the clock and runs the same as the day we bought it.

It stinks from wet dive kit.... and its covered in grease from the mountainbikes. But hey, its a car who cares...

I drive like a twat and get 40mpg except when towing the boat or the trailer. It tows two ton no bother. We have had two sets of kit two twin tens two single 12s and two 5L stages in it and its OK if you keep the weight forward, but its not like say a Citroen with active sus.

If you hump dive kit around a lot its the beast to have. And we paid more or less than Keith's 7 grand for it (€10,800).

The aircon's mega, the CD brill. Build quality far better than the Ford IMHO. Seats comfy. I have done Milan to London in a day and its a "pleasure" in as much as such a journey can be.

Buy one.

Chris

PS Mother in law has Mondeo - I agree with Bantam... rubbish.

[warmwaterdiver]

2004 FOCUS 1.8 ZETEC £6999
Hatchback in Silver. 3 DOOR A/C A/W15 ABS R/CD C/L E/W PAS 17135 miles.

found this on a car supermaket site, any good?

2004 ASTRA 1.7 CLUB CDTI 16V Diesel £6999
Estate in Silver. 5 DOOR A/C A/W15 ABS R/C C/L E/W PAS 16776 miles.

or this

2005 ALMERA 1.8 S £6999
Hatchback in Blue. 5 DOOR A/C ABS R/CD C/L E/W PAS 4873 miles.

admit this does sound more of a bargain though

2005 45 1.8 CLUB SE £5999
Saloon in Met Red. 4 DOOR CLIMATE CONT ECON A/W ABS CD C/L E/W PAS 8217 miles.

or this is even cheaper, but then again