Ford Focus, parts and reliability?

[giddyup]

Need a second car for the missus to learn to drive in, and I see a few Ford Focus' for sale at reasonable prices, less than 200K, but wonder how available spares would be and how reliable they are. I know early models had auto gearbox problems, but I imagine a 10 year old Focus would have had that fixed by now.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

Need a second car for the missus to learn to drive in, and I see a few Ford Focus' for sale at reasonable prices, less than 200K, but wonder how available spares would be and how reliable they are. I know early models had auto gearbox problems, but I imagine a 10 year old Focus would have had that fixed by now.

Ford Focus is basically a Mazda, so IF buying, just get the Mazda.   Saying that, our daughter just got rid of her Mazda (POS), having less than 200k kms on it, and was happy to get 70k baht for it.

 

 

Why not buy something you won't have to worry about her being stranded with.  What are you driving now ?  Can she not learn on that ?

 

Not a Suzuki fan, but there Ciaz is <400k baht.  Personally I'd go with BEV / Neta V, for a wee bit more.

 

If trying to keep the budget down, till she learns and gets done putting a few dings on the car, then just get the cheapest thing available that has <100k kms  on the clock.

 

Quick peek on FB Marketplace, locally, and here's a nice small car to learn on.  110k kms and for pocket change.  Something like that would be a good choice to ding up a bit the first year learning.

 

 

The daughter's Mazda was ours first, gave to her, and first year I think she put a ding on all 4 corners 

 

Now experienced, she picked up a Atto 3 👍

Edited Saturday at 04:45 AM by KhunLA

[giddyup]

17 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Ford Focus is basically a Mazda, so IF buying, just get the Mazda.   Saying that, our daughter just got rid of her Mazda (POS), having less than 200k kms on it, and was happy to get 70k baht for it.

 

 

Why not buy something you won't have to worry about her being stranded with.  What are you driving now ?  Can she not learn on that ?

 

Not a Suzuki fan, but there Ciaz is <400k baht.  Personally I'd go with BEV / Neta V, for a wee bit more.

 

If trying to keep the budget down, till she learns and gets done putting a few dings on the car, then just get the cheapest thing available that has <100k kms  on the clock.

 

Quick peek on FB Marketplace, locally, and here's a nice small car to learn on.  110k kms and for pocket change.  Something like that would be a good choice to ding up a bit the first year learning.

 

 

The daughter's Mazda was ours first, gave to her, and first year I think she put a ding on all 4 corners 

 

Now experienced, she picked up a Atto 3 👍

We have a 2016 Mitsu Triton that is just too big for her, and it's also immaculate with only 20,000 klms, so prefer to find her something that a few dings won't matter.

[Celsius]

Wife changes a lot of small cars because she drives a lot due to nature of her work. She had Ford focus and liked the handling a lot. She would often tell be how much she felt safer driving it than Yaris and Jazz (she bought 3 new cars in last 7 years). 

 

Unfortunately all the bad rap Ford gets is true. Issues with electronics and the engine. Her father owned Ranger and they would not even honor the warranty. 

 

 

[giddyup]

5 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Wife changes a lot of small cars because she drives a lot due to nature of her work. She had Ford focus and liked the handling a lot. She would often tell be how much she felt safer driving it than Yaris and Jazz (she bought 3 new cars in last 7 years). 

 

Unfortunately all the bad rap Ford gets is true. Issues with electronics and the engine. Her father owned Ranger and they would not even honor the warranty. 

 

 

Thanks, she might be better sticking to one of the popular brands like a Yaris or Suzuki Swift, plus parts are readily available.

Edited Saturday at 05:07 AM by giddyup

[fredwiggy]

Forget the Focus or Fiesta. I had a 2013 Fiesta and the engine caught fire a few months back, and I'm still trying to get Ford to payoff the balance, which isn't much. They tried to give me a break on repairs but it was Ford's responsibility to install a coolant sensor to monitor coolant levels, and this is what happened. The other problem was a TCM transmission module that was faulty in many, including mine. In the shop many times before they finally installed a replacement, which wasn't a problem solver because it still had trouble. .............https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2017/04/04/ford-owners-demand-24m-baht-compensation-faulty-cars/..

Edited Saturday at 05:12 AM by fredwiggy

[giddyup]

23 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Forget the Focus or Fiesta. I had a 2013 Fiesta and the engine caught fire a few months back, and I'm still trying to get Ford to payoff the balance, which isn't much. They tried to give me a break on repairs but it was Ford's responsibility to install a coolant sensor to monitor coolant levels, and this is what happened. The other problem was a TCM transmission module that was faulty in many, including mine. In the shop many times before they finally installed a replacement, which wasn't a problem solver because it still had trouble. .............https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2017/04/04/ford-owners-demand-24m-baht-compensation-faulty-cars/..

Why would Ford be responsible for a 2013 model car? But thanks for the response, I guess I'll stay clear of a Ford, even a MG3 might be an option, haven't heard of them giving any problems.

[fredwiggy]

10 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Why would Ford be responsible for a 2013 model car? But thanks for the response, I guess I'll stay clear of a Ford, even a MG3 might be an option, haven't heard of them giving any problems.

It's something they were supposed to keep tabs on, installing the sensors, especially after you went to their service center for any work done.

[Jerzy Swirski]

I have owned two Ford Focus in Thailand.

Both were very good cars and just as reliable as all the Toyota I have owned.

However you must be careful which model you buy.

 

Forget the 1.5 turbo Ecosport because the engine has a bad design.

It is called the Ecoboom by traders for a reason.

 

The earlier models have the SportShift gearbox

There are two types of SportShift gearboxes, the DCT250 and the DCT450.

The DCT250 has a dry clutch and is plagued with problems.

The DCT450 has a wet clutch and is reliable but don't miss a gearbox oil change.

 

There was a small batch of Mk1 Focus TDCi  imported around 2008 with manual transmission.

If I could find a good low mileage example at a sensible price I would buy it.

 

Many parts are available online.

I also order parts from MIck's garage in Ireland.

Good service and prices.

I avoid the main Ford Stealership because of their high prices and long delivery times.

 

Edited Saturday at 06:23 AM by Jerzy Swirski