The Dreaded Mot

[artscot79]

well the focus went in for the dreaded mot today i hate mot times but after waiting and wondering what will they find they finished pass not a single advisory and the mot inspector said he was well impressed with it and how well it had been looked after and the rust treatment that had been done wish i could say the same for the renault that went in too a 53 plate and it had 2 pages of fails and half a page of advisories of what the guy told me the renault failed on front brakes rear brakes brake pipes front and rear steering rack leaking cv joint excessively worn lower ball joint excessively worn driver headlight beam ineffective thats just a few says summat about those crappy french motors i think anyway im a happy chappy so come on leds arrive so i can get these footwell lights done

[cressws1]

Yep same here mate. 1999 Focus passed MOT last year no advisories. Great car.

[ford focus edge]

2004 and failed due to blue sidelight bulbs last year haha was gutted!

Mike

[stef123]

my focus has passed its mots first time everytime so far. the mot i had done in march had a couple of advisories but the 3 before that had none at all.

O/S track rod end, O/S rear seatbelt starting to fluff at the edges and rear brake efficency just met requirements.

got the track rod ends already £24, just need a nice day to do them. the guy who mot'd the car for me said the back brakes are good but just need a little clean up to bring them up a bit and i can get a second hand seatbelt for about £25 so im not really bothered.

[artscot79]

my focus has passed its mots first time everytime so far. the mot i had done in march had a couple of advisories but the 3 before that had none at all.

O/S track rod end, O/S rear seatbelt starting to fluff at the edges and rear brake efficency just met requirements.

got the track rod ends already £24, just need a nice day to do them. the guy who mot'd the car for me said the back brakes are good but just need a little clean up to bring them up a bit and i can get a second hand seatbelt for about £25 so im not really bothered.

it was just the face of the other guy when i was handed the clean mot and he was staring at 3 pages of fails and advisories on his 53 plate car with 5k more on miles than my focus it was difficult not to be really smug as he was acting like an !Removed! anyway he was so smug that his would pass and saying fords were crap that the renault were great cars even though i said to him that it was a proven fact that all the french makes are the worst for failing mots and to top it off the 1998 fiesta that went in looked like a pile with rust everywhere passed too with only 1 advisory on the rear tyre almost below the limits

[stef123]

it was just the face of the other guy when i was handed the clean mot and he was staring at 3 pages of fails and advisories on his 53 plate car with 5k more on miles than my focus it was difficult not to be really smug as he was acting like an !Removed! anyway he was so smug that his would pass and saying fords were crap that the renault were great cars even though i said to him that it was a proven fact that all the french makes are the worst for failing mots and to top it off the 1998 fiesta that went in looked like a pile with rust everywhere passed too with only 1 advisory on the rear tyre almost below the limits

yeah, always get one ay? ahwell, thats it for another year though

look after the car through the year and it will look after you come mot time is how i go.

[artscot79]

yeah, always get one ay? ahwell, thats it for another year though

look after the car through the year and it will look after you come mot time is how i go.

i agree check youre other post in maintenence ive supplied the info you needed when summats wrong get it fixed even small silly leaks can become summat more if you dont get it done asap

[ford focus edge]

it was just the face of the other guy when i was handed the clean mot and he was staring at 3 pages of fails and advisories on his 53 plate car with 5k more on miles than my focus it was difficult not to be really smug as he was acting like an !Removed! anyway he was so smug that his would pass and saying fords were crap that the renault were great cars even though i said to him that it was a proven fact that all the french makes are the worst for failing mots and to top it off the 1998 fiesta that went in looked like a pile with rust everywhere passed too with only 1 advisory on the rear tyre almost below the limits

Mines due in i think in may sometime i know its due a service in may so might try kill 2 birds with one stone, It will fail on brakes me thinkies its got a bit of brake judder through the wheel so was going to wack on a set of performance discs and pads when i get some money saved (set of mintex drill grooved and vented discs and pads on e-bay for 60 quid). Other than than he'll sail though no bother im hoping.

French cars are sacks of crap anyway 3 of my mates have clio's 1 "upgraded" to a corsa and the other 2 got smashed up because they understeered of the road, how i dont know because my focus went round the same corner's at similar speeds no bother . My cus had a 106 gti it was absoutly stunning outside and inside, went like absolute stink but one day when we were at oulton park the engine mount snaped and the engine fell clean out of the car which was a bit of a shock.

Mike

[hillmangimp]

Mines due in i think in may sometime i know its due a service in may so might try kill 2 birds with one stone, It will fail on brakes me thinkies its got a bit of brake judder through the wheel so was going to wack on a set of performance discs and pads when i get some money saved (set of mintex drill grooved and vented discs and pads on e-bay for 60 quid). Other than than he'll sail though no bother im hoping.

French cars are sacks of crap anyway 3 of my mates have clio's 1 "upgraded" to a corsa and the other 2 got smashed up because they understeered of the road, how i dont know because my focus went round the same corner's at similar speeds no bother . My cus had a 106 gti it was absoutly stunning outside and inside, went like absolute stink but one day when we were at oulton park the engine mount snaped and the engine fell clean out of the car which was a bit of a shock.

Mike

Trying to be a bit neutral about this, in my opinion Ford's are average when it comes to build quality, mot's etc. Granted they are slightly better than French cars in that regard but I would not describe them as way ahead. Look around on other forum's and you'll see some right shocking stories concerning Fords (as well as other makes). The acid test is would I reccomend a friend or family member to buy a clio (which I also own) and the answer is no. Would I reccomend a friend to buy a Focus.....i'm not sure! Like I say thats just my opinion which is based on my time owning a Ford.

[artscot79]

Trying to be a bit neutral about this, in my opinion Ford's are average when it comes to build quality, mot's etc. Granted they are slightly better than French cars in that regard but I would not describe them as way ahead. Look around on other forum's and you'll see some right shocking stories concerning Fords (as well as other makes). The acid test is would I reccomend a friend or family member to buy a clio (which I also own) and the answer is no. Would I reccomend a friend to buy a Focus.....i'm not sure! Like I say thats just my opinion which is based on my time owning a Ford.

the mk2 focus is poorer quality than the mk1 a step backwards for ford so i wouldnt recommend the mk2 i would recommend the mk1

reliability index of a focus 5 years old thats done 50k will have spent 2 days off the road with electrical gremlins the biggest complaint at 32% the mk2 however based on a 3year old car with 30k has spent more days off the road is more expensive to repair and still has big problems with engine electrical and cooling system.

the ten worst cars in the reliability index are bearing in mind what we said about build quality

jeep-porsche-landrover-alfa-chrysler-jaguar-audi-mg-mercedes-saab in that order

the top ten are suzuki-honda-mazda-toyota-skoda-smart-citroen-hyundai-nissan-ford

the mk1 focus has a reliability index of 53.75 the lower the score the better the mk2 is 62.13 the 200-2003 mondeo is more reliable than the 2003- the same with the fiesta the older 1996-2002 models are more reliable than the 2002-2008 models by a lot the better quality better built passat 98-05 is no better than the mk2 focus the 05 on is worse than them all with an index of 98.58 a 3 series bmw is just slightly better than a mk1 focus but with higher costs to repair mercedes s class is 307.82 one of the least reliable cars out there the volvo xc70 is bad as well at 115.21 so build qulaity shows here the fancier the car the better the build quality is meant toi be the least reliable it is these are taken from mot failures and what failed breakdowns etc etc etc the renault clio isnt that bad with 35 nor is the newer citroen c5

these are all stats and to most of us we dont really cars but as stef said its all down to the car you get good ones you get bad ones what ford have in there favour is the sheer number on the road the stats for the mk1 may not seem that great but it was the best selling car for years so there are millions of themn out there i think manufacturers since 2003 have focused on cutting costs and throwing cars out as fast as they can rather than focusing on reliability and what made the first cars good the mk2 focus is an example it lost its looks its cutting edge dsign build quality suffered and the newer engines just werent as good or reliable as they were supposed to be the vw was the same the 98 passat wasnt great but vw didnt concentrate on fixing flaws they just copied it flaws and all into a new car thet had even more flaws the passat trumped the focus on comfort with a great suspension until you hit a bend then it suffered interior plastics were better far more gadgets and toys and it was looked at as being a better car but it wasnt some of the best and most reliable cars ive ghad have been basic

the old hyundai awful interior crapo seats no elec windows and ugly looks but it went on and on and on through mot after mot a 1995 budget motor that has only just been scrapped by the guy i sold it to with now 167k on the clock from a 1.3 engine it failed its last mot on brake pipes and lambda sensor and he got the last of the scrappage allowance and traded it in after it was motd and fixed

im not blowing fords trumpet !Removed! from it like steff said if things are fixed and you look after the car it looks after you unfortunately many drive from one mot to the other without soi much as looking at it and they suffer.

you get good ones and bad ones the best example is me and my mate owned fiat puntos the mk1 mine was a 98 his was a 99 with mine on 55k his on 58k over 2 years i spent cash on tyres and Wiper Blades and a timing belt replacement other than that it sailed through mots and never broke down his went through 2 head gaskets a water pump a thermostat 2 front struts including springs cv joint track rod ends a battery various electrical gremlins a heater matrix a clutch rear springs rear bushes both had full service histories its the same with any car you could buy you and the mrs the same cars at ahe same times one runs no bother the others never out the garage just the way it is the focus will fail on summat unforseen a lambda sensor a cat etc but easy and cheap to fix most of the guys fails on the renault were neglect he could hear the clunk from the ball joint but never had it checked the best and cheapest car on sale today is ..........the toyota aygo 88 quid to service and look underneath as basic as it gets simple design same inside ide recommend first a hyundai then a nisan just not the primera if chain driven then a kia ceed as good as the focus and 7year warranty unlimited warranty at that but i cant afford to buy any of these so for now the focus im very happy with its been reliable hasnt emptied my pockets and still brings a smile to my face and isnt that what its all about that smile you get?>