As some of you will remember, I arranged to test-drive a second-hand Focus 2.0 Ghia 5-door 2005 (55 reg), 33,000 miles. This is my first serious attempt to find a replacement for my 306 HDi.
Let's leave out the comments about the styling of the Mk 2 Focus. (Okay, if you press me, I'd say it was boring, but it is in black, which suits it.) I'm more concerned about the way it drives and the price asked.
So I turn up with Parker's prominently displayed in my hand and ask to drive it.
Briefly - all seems good mechanically, though I miss the poke of the diesel in higher gears; I hoped a 2-litre petrol would kind of get there, but it needs a gear-change and revs to do the quick motorway overtake. The handling I thought nice - firm and totally lacking in vagueness. The luggage space is disappointing, both in terms of its capacity or volume and the narrowness of the boot opening. I could get used to the car, though. It was nice to drive, overall. Good condition cosmetically inside and out.
Seems to have had two previous owners - someone has got rid of it at around 10,000 miles. Odd?
Priced initially at £6,895, then reduced to £6,495. No tax. I said I didn't want to pay that for it and suggested £6,000. They offered to meet me halfway. All very civilised.
We exchanged thanks and I walked. I might get back to them, offer £6,200 and ask them to tax it for 12 months. Or maybe not.
Last edited by: ChrisPeugeot on Wed 4 May 11 at 16:54
|
|
it does seem a lot of money for a 6yr old car. maybe i'm i'm of touch
|
Just over £4000 trade in so £6495 is alot of profit.
|
First owner parted company at 10K then its quite likely that it was a hire car. I notice the cars I get now from europcar have stickers on the dash stating that they must be returned by 10K - just before the first service I guess.
Ask to see the V5 and see who the previous owner was - other tell tale signs are that it has been through a car supermarket such as motorpoint.
Not a bad thing, but might make you think about paying top whack.
2.0's I would say are possibly the least desirable give the price of fuel so I would value carefully
|
>> 2.0's I would say are possibly the least desirable give the price of fuel so
>> I would value carefully
>>
There's more to owning a car than worrying about the price of fuel!
|
This is the engine i'd choose if buying a Focus. I can see the merit of going for a lower mileage older model but to beat the masses and really get ahead i think i'd go for a newer leggy version, provided it has FSH.
I'd try to bring the price down to £6k on the fact it's a 2.0 petrol so it's less desirable (economy, resale), and also the fact it's a bit leggy for a newish car.
All going on the contrary-to-popular-belief that age kills fully serviced cars before mileage.
Last edited by: Skoda on Wed 4 May 11 at 19:29
|
I don't like the Focus - no particular reason, never driven one, just don't like it - but it's said to be a good driver's car.
I wouldn't consider getting anything but the 2 litre or the hotshoe version. My nephew in NZ had an ex-lease or ex-hire one, nice deadpan capable thing he said.
|
I'm another in favour of buying younger but perhaps higher mileage cars provided they have a good verifiable service history although this one does sound nice. I think I'd be wary of paying quite that much for a car which will still depreciate fairly rapidly. It could easily lose at least half its current value or more in the next three years. It will be 9 years old then won't it?.
I'd be looking for a three year old with 50-60k miles and a well kept service book.
However, it all depends on what you want it to do. If you don't care about the depreciation because you plan to put a lot of miles on it and keep it until it dies, it might make some sense to go for a slightly expensive low mileage example to lengthen your odds a bit. Conversely, if you won't use it much in mileage terms a high miler will begin to become an average miler in time.
|
Just for the sake of it I went on Autotrader just now and for what it's worth there are 117 up to three years old Foci on there for £6000 or less. The one which caught my eye was a 1.8 zetec 08 plate with 20k miles for £4.5K
I'll ...um...butt out now....
Happy hunting !
:-)
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Wed 4 May 11 at 20:03
|
>> The one which caught my eye was a 1.8 zetec 08 plate with
>> 20k miles for £4.5K
Be careful of the seats on Zetecs though. A lot of people find them uncomfortable. Ghia's are better.
|
|
We looked at an (admittedly leggy) 06 Focus LX for £3895 at a dealer - and that was overpriced. £6495 sounds like it's paying for a Caribbean holiday for the salesman and his family this year.
|
>> Be careful of the seats on Zetecs though. A lot of people find them uncomfortable.
>> Ghia's are better.
>>
That's one reason I chose a Ghia.
|
>> So I turn up with Parker's prominently displayed in my hand and ask to drive
>> it.
Alas that was a very bad move
Copy of Parkers = Gullible punter to a car dealer. Parkers is not where you get your pricing from.
|
"Copy of Parkers = Gullible punter"
I stand corrected. Abject apologies. So what should I have displayed in my hand?
|
...So what should I have displayed in my hand?...
A Fistful of Dollars.
Actually, the info in Parkers is very similar to that in Glass's, which itself is not quite the trade bible it once was.
|
Well, metaphorically I did have a fistful of dollars. I require no finance, nor part-exchange. The money is available now.
That in itself might be a problem - cuts down the room for financial manouvring.
|
Chris,
As others have said, this Focus does seem all its money.
You could probably track down a cheaper one with similar spec.
Depends how much legwork you want to put in.
You'll get no criticism from me if you say you are happy with the car you've driven and buy it.
Chasing after secondhand cars is only a means to an end, and your time might well be better spent doing something else.
|
Autotrader search for 2.0 petrol Foci <40k miles <£6k <5 yrs old - 7 cars found nationally (that's not my postcode BTW):
tinyurl.com/4xxux7h
Note that some (including the cheapest) are only 3 doors or private sales. And of course there might not be any near you.
|
Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread.
I have decided to abandon the car I test-drove. It is indeed over-priced, I reckon, to the tune of several hundred quid. I'm now pursuing a few leads elsewhere, probably involving dealers further from home. I'm in no hurry.
|
|
If you're in no hurry, try a few different cars to compare with the Focus. Something might surprise you. It didn't sound like you were besotted with it anyway :)
|
|
Fair enough Chris, so c'mon then, give us the brief again. Budget, usage, number of seats, preferences for engine type/size etc. You know we like a challenge and the opportunity to interfere and pontificate!
|
>> I stand corrected. Abject apologies. So what should I have displayed in my hand?
Exactly, you don't display your hand. You wouldn't in poker, yet you know the value of the pot.
|
The good thing about something like a Focus is that you have thousands to choose from. It's a buyers market with these cars.
They always say a good deal is when both sides walk away happy. If the price niggled at you, it wasn't a good deal.
|
>> The good thing about something like a Focus is that you have thousands to choose
>> from. It's a buyers market with these cars.
There aren't thousands of 2 litre Ghias, which is what the OP fancies.
|
|
There are 60 on autotrader for him to choose from, if he wants a 2 litre focus there are 318.
|
"...you don't display your hand. You wouldn't in poker..."
Perhaps naively, I thought that having a copy of Parker's would at least show I had done some homework.
|
>> having a copy of Parker's would at least show I had done some homework
I reckon it would show a dealer that you hadn't done *enough* homework, and needed to bring your notes along to crib from.
|
|
If you're going to take anything, take a copy of Autotrader with comparable (and ideally cheaper) cars marked out. It's a very potent negotiating tool to stuff a similar age, mileage and spec car for less money under their nose, and say you're off to look at that one and you'll be in touch if you're still interested. We got a further £400 off the "best price" that our Ford franchised dealer could offer on an ex demo Fiesta Zetec-S by doing that.
|
Well, well. The dealer has just phoned "to get my thoughts on the car" and I have told him that I'm interested in a similar car advertised in South London (Kent, actually) for just under £6,000. I added that I would expect to pay less than that, so, unless the guy I was speaking to is prepared to drop the price quite a bit, I'm not interested.
I thought that would shut him up, but he said he would get back to me. (Which means, take advice from his boss - the salesman is only 19, bless his little cotton socks.) I wonder how desperate they are?
The car in Kent is a Titanium, with blue half-leather seats. I reckon I could get used to that. I'll go down and have a look, methinks.
|
...The car in Kent is a Titanium...
Nice spec, a bit more modern than a Ghia - they still do Titaniums.
Unwittingly, you are now playing a good game with the other dealer.
"I like your car, I will buy a car, but I'm not desperate to buy and I will not buy yours at that price" is a firm, but fair negotiating stance.
Let them make the running.
They must know that if their car is cheap enough, you will buy it.
|
>> Seems to have had two previous owners - someone has got rid of it at
>> around 10,000 miles. Odd?
Not necessarily odd. Mine was one owner, 16 months old when I bought it, and had only done 4000 miles. The reason was that it had been owned by Ford Motor Company and run by a Ford Motor Company employee as a company perk and he was due to get a new one. Cars from this source are good value and any Ford dealer will look for one for you. Mine was £1000 under book price for a sample of that age. As someone else said, try to find out who the previous owners/keepers were.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 6 May 11 at 14:07
|
I'm not sure they keep them that long now though; my brother works for Ford - his car is changed every 3,000 miles and between 3 and 6 months depending on the model. Broadly speaking the longer the model has been on sale the shorter period of time they keep them.
I used to work for BMW and our cars were changed every 8,000 miles or 9 months. Definitely a good second hand buy though; the models/specifiction/colours were all carefully managed to ensure the best residual value, and all cars were refurbed at the import centre at Thorne before being sold as Approved Used Cars (look out for Yx11xxx registrations)
There were also penalties for excessive damage - with standards very high; IIRC 3 curbed wheels was enought to tip you into penalty charge territory (which given the fleet teams preference for M Sport spec cars with 18/19" wheels was a bit of a pain!)
Peter
|
>> I'm not sure they keep them that long now though;
You could be right. Judging by the rusty condition of the brake discs it hadn't been driven for ages so in the meantime it could have been anywhere. But it was still a one owner car.
|
To close this: today I went to the second dealer mentioned above (Nr Dartford). 05 reg Focus 2.0 petrol Titanium with half-leather seats, 36,000, immaculate - really nice. Engine seemed much more willing than the first I saw - no idea why. Asking price: £5,990. Got the dealer to pay for 12 months' tax (=£190). Bought it. Happy.
You can comment if you wish. Given the relative rarity of the 2.0 petrol, I thought the deal I got was OK.
|
|
If you are happy with the car and deal, its worth it to you what you paid.
|
I tend to try for a 15% discount in the hope of getting around 10%, but as you say, it's a rare model and you're happy with the outcome.
Sounds like a nice car.
|
Seems I did something right, then.
I should thank all those who contributed to this thread and the other; despite the usual drift I was given some useful ideas to chew over.
|
Congratulations on your purchase, CP!
I hope that it is very reliable and that you enjoy it very much.
Would you be willing to give us a review, after you have driven it enough to get to know it better?
|
|
You can't get much more sensible than a well-maintained Ford of mainstream configuration. A 2 litre Focus will be more or less invisible and have a pretty good turn of speed without being unduly thirsty or pernickety. Those virtues and the Focus reputation for enjoyable, safe handling sound very like a recipe for happy, non-manic motoring. You've done pretty well by the look of it CP.
|
I wanted something reliable and that was good to drive. Now that my personal circumstances have changed (don't ask) I anticipate my annual mileage will be much lower, so the fuel consumption shouldn't be a big issue.
Even though the dealer's prep had been pretty thorough, the condition inside and out looked genuinely really good. Previous lady owner.
And I found the blue half-leather seats hard to resist! :-)
I will willingly review it if there is sufficient interest, but I don't want to bore you all, nor turn the site into my "personal twitter site".
;-)
P.S. I feel a change of identity looming.
|
|
Provided that the seats are comfortable on long journeys then you've made a good decision.
|
It's chain cam as well unlike the diesels.
|
|
Well said, O Cheesy One. I was bearing this in mind when choosing, though I gather chains that drive camshafts are not completely problem-free and don't last for ever. Still, I imagine their service life is pretty long.
Last edited by: ChrisPeugeot on Mon 9 May 11 at 19:10
|
|
my merc 190e is on 175k and 20yrs and the chains are in excellent nick and still silent so the idea of chains seems a little more reliable
|
|
I believe it's the tensioners that may be the issue rather than the chain itself.
|
|
We have a 2007 Focus 1.6 Ti-VCT as a runabout car. It's on 33000 miles and has been totally fault-free in its three years with us.
|
Hmmm name change eh ? How about "Epiphany" ?
:-)
Good car. Hope you enjoy it.
|
'How about "Epiphany"?'
I take an epiphany to be a revelatory event, with biblical overtones.
I gather you approve my choice.
|
|
ive driven a focus ghia with the 2.0lt petrol auto and was impressed with refinement and noise levels
|
Petrol Focuses I've driven have felt noticeably lighter at the front than diesels, making them feel much better balanced.
The ride will be firmer than a Peugeot, but the OP's driven a couple of Focuses now so that shouldn't come as too much of a shock.
Titanium spec does have the most comfy ride in the Focus range.
There's every reason to think it will be reliable, and there's fun to be had from that engine and chassis.
|
>> And I found the blue half-leather seats hard to resist! :-)
Yes, they go very well with the light interior. Very smart indeed.
(I saw the pics on AT)
|
Ford Focus II - Focus 2 litre test drive - nyx2k
