Thing to Look for and Barter against

[BeerBelly]

After a focus estate, not sure on 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 Zetec, but quite like the style on the Zetec and the drive of the 2.0 Zetec was nice.

After around a 2002-2005 second hand.

When viewing these, what should I look for and what can I barter against - rubbish when get to putting an offer in!

Any help would be much appreciated (again!).

Belly

[Matt_focus_zetec]

Right if i was to do my used car guide you would be here till next week reading it so i bullet some points for u and goto a used car expert site that gives u a rough idea

hers my bad points and stuff thats gone wrong on me so far (Had car since april 2008)

Coil pack £60 engine wont start and will misfire if it does how to tell take a plug lead off car and check for signs of burnt and also ask when last service was done if the coil pack is on its way out when removing the lead which is what i did will mess up the pack

Idle air control valve £42.50 to me retail £60 -- makes engine stall slighlty when pressing brake depressing clutch and slowing down (take on a 5 mile drive and wait for engine to get warm to notice this wont notice when cold)

Squeeks ------ loads of things Best one is alternator belt tensioner , aftermarket stereo , suspension drop arms , exhaust mounts absoultly endless when i find mine you will all find out

Sqeeeeling brakes when cold or wet (Cheap pads and discs fitted to car)

Servicing (very very very important one)

oil look like honey not black tyres

smell the oil does it smell nice nope its rubbish get it changed

air filter without removing couldnt tell easisest way check for leaves in engine bay people like to park under trees

spark plugs put ur ear to engine and over each cylinder very hard but do able check to see if you can hear a spark

oil filter again cant tell ask when last serviced and was genuiune ford parts used usually motor craft

oil ask what oil is in it should be 5-30w 10-40 is acceptable but u will notice longer cranking periods in cold weather

heater resistor works on fan speed 4 but no others (resistor gone £10 from ford retail)

check underneath dash passenger side as water enters here its like foam stuff that should be there as it stope water getting in

wipers and washers check to see if they all work

lights check to see if all lights work (TAKE A FRIEND WITH YOU)

battery (USED CAR SALES HAVE VERY VERY BAD REP FOR DOING THIS ) Wrong battery could also lead to stalling like mine i changed my IAC (Idlea air control valve) and i still get stalling but i think its because i have a fiesta battery in my car instead of a focus battery

590 a u should have 40 ah i think dont quote me on it silver calcium be even better dont last much longer but bonus if it has

Battery cover (USED CAR SALES AGAIN) If it hasnt got one ask why mine didnt come with one bt i getting a nice ford one done off eBay (£10 scrap yard)(£40 from ford)

tyres chepo tyre makes (MARAGONI,FEDERAL,KLEBERS,HANKOOKS --RUMOUR HAS IT MICHELLIN MAKE THESE,CORSA 60)

rubbish and cheap tyres and if the tyres arnt the same ask why sizes are usually 195/60/r15 82 h or 91v i think i have 2 klebers on the back of mine and two corsa 60 on font but they both have wicked tread on so i not moaning

BCD (BULGES , CUTS AND DEFECTS ) CHECK THE TYRES FOR THIS AND UNEVEN WEAR

tracking wheels costs money

check speedo works and all dials to do this read my pinned topic in maintence about how to test the dashboard and it will tell u if there are any dtc codes ask why if there are

there is loads more i could cover but the used car expert website http://www.usedcarexpert.co.uk/ will do this for you

any of the above walk away and go and look at anthor focus cos this ones nakerd

Hope this helps sorry its a long one will do a used guide soon guys and girls

Matt

[BeerBelly]

Thanks a lot for you're help - very much appreciated!

Its had 4 new tyres the one i test drove, but I thought it was pulling a little - maybe they didn't do the tracking on it afterwards!

[BeerBelly]

Its strange, registered at usedcarexpert and said there was no matches for a report on Ford Focus :)

[Rikos]

Great write up matt.

Hankooks arent a bad tyre though, they are one of the largest manufacturers in the world.

[Matt_focus_zetec]

I know i not disregarding hankook's thats why i i said i think they have something to do with michellin

[Chris494rep]

"spark plugs put ur ear to engine and over each cylinder very hard but do able check to see if you can hear a spark"

Get your ear pressed firmly against the plug lead while someone turns it over. (No dont, i was joking, you will get a nasty shock!!!!!) My dad did this to me with my old xr75, hold the plug lead and kick it over. Once tried, you'll never do it again!.

Seriously though, check the oil for milky deposits/ mayonaise/ black not too bad just not kept up to scratch. Check the header tank for oil deposits or extreme bubbles in the coolant, a small hose returning coolant to the tank is normal.

[vinnyvangough]

"spark plugs put ur ear to engine and over each cylinder very hard but do able check to see if you can hear a spark"

Get your ear pressed firmly against the plug lead while someone turns it over. (No dont, i was joking, you will get a nasty shock!!!!!) My dad did this to me with my old xr75, hold the plug lead and kick it over. Once tried, you'll never do it again!.

Seriously though, check the oil for milky deposits/ mayonaise/ black not too bad just not kept up to scratch. Check the header tank for oil deposits or extreme bubbles in the coolant, a small hose returning coolant to the tank is normal.

FPMSL

[BeerBelly]

Thanks for your help.

used usedcarexpert as well - check everything, couldn't find a single fault.

Bought the car for £3800 in the end - he wouldn't budge!

[drewtiss]

"spark plugs put ur ear to engine and over each cylinder very hard but do able check to see if you can hear a spark"

Get your ear pressed firmly against the plug lead while someone turns it over. (No dont, i was joking, you will get a nasty acura shock absorber!!!!!) My dad did this to me with my old xr75, hold the plug lead and kick it over. Once tried, you'll never do it again!.

Seriously though, check the oil for milky deposits/ mayonaise/ black not too bad just not kept up to scratch. Check the header tank for oil deposits or extreme bubbles in the coolant, a small hose returning coolant to the tank is normal.

Thanks for the tip. It helped me somehow than doing the advice of our sloppy mechanic here. I'll try to see what I can find out in my header tank.