Ford Focus

By Lesley Harris

March 2006

• Latest deal price: from £11,559 to £20,146

They say time flies when you're having fun. And we're finding it hard to believe 14 months have passed since our Focus 1.6 TDCi Zetec arrived. After nearly 20,000 miles of motoring, it's returning to Ford - so what conclusions have we come to?

Well, it's certainly stood up well to the stresses of life on our fleet. It still feels fresh to drive, and none of the interior fixtures shows any sign of coming loose, wearing out or rattling.

That's not to say the Focus has been totally reliable, though. At just over 10,500 miles, things turned sour when a fault developed. The fuel gauge was telling porkies, reading a quarter tank when actually the car was on fumes. After we were left stranded a few times and had to summon the RAC, which was equally mystified, E054 OVG went back to Ford HQ and the gauge was re-calibrated.

A few weeks later, the problem returned. By then, the 12,000-mile service was due, so we took the motor to Dagenham Motors in Byfleet, Surrey. The visit cost us £175, but at least staff correctly diagnosed a dodgy fuel tank sender unit.

Since then, the Focus has run faultlessly. Having now covered 19,659 miles, it's guzzled 1,885 litres of diesel at £1,743,91. That may sound a lot, but it works out at 43.7mpg - a fine result. Yet having shed more than £6,000 in value, it's not all good news - although someone else will soon be making a bargain second-hand purchase.

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