Mk.7/mk.7.5 Reliability And Engine Choices?

[vc-10]

Hi all, my Focus has turned out to be an absolute dog and is going. I've been badly stung by it, and I'm thinking of getting something newer on finance, and spending the money on financing the car rather than repairing it every 2 weeks!

Ideally I'd like an Ecoboost, but they seem to be holding their value quite well and so they're all up around £8/9k for cars that haven't done huge mileages. But, maybe that's worth it as it'll keep being more valuable 3 years down the line? I've not heard anything awful about the 1.0 Ecoboost's reliability, but they're still pretty new engines. I know that they won't get the official figures (or anywhere near them, TBH) but for a petrol car with the performance they have they're very good on fuel, and having stop/start helps in my driving around Manchester.

The on-paper running costs of the 1.6 and 1.5 diesels are quite attractive too. Free road tax, and the 1.5s seem quite commonly available, even if they are quite slow. However, I've had such a bad experience with the Peugeot 1.6 diesel in my Focus, that I'm wary of that engine. I'm presuming that they're the same engine in the Fiesta as in the Focus? Are they improved in the Fiesta from a reliability point of view from my '57 Focus? I'm also not 100% sure that a diesel is the best car for my kind of driving. In terms of time in the car, I spend most of my driving around town, but in terms of miles, it's on the motorway. I'm not sure if that's the best use scenario for a diesel, especially given the fuel economy of things like the Ecoboost? I fairly regularly make the 5 hour journey down south to visit my parents, but my commute is through nasty Mancunian traffic.

So, overall, what is the reliability like on the Fiesta in general, in particular the diesels and the Ecoboost cars? Also, in terms of spec, I believe that bluetooth was an option on the Zetec until relatively recently, but has always been standard on the Titanium? Is that correct? I want bluetooth, and I'd like cruise control, but I'd be happy with the spec of a standard Zetec. Finding a car with bluetooth though may be easier in the Titanium trim!

Thanks everyone in advance!

[Jeff4155]

I have a 2011 MK7 Titanium with the 1.6 litre petrol engine, I couldn't be happier, overall I get 7.4l/100km this is over a year of driving 90% in town and 10% long distance, so far no big problems, only small problem I have had was the rubber seal around the windows tearing and that I think is because it seals too well, so it causes a suction and pulls and compresses the rubber, but nothing that can't be fixed under warranty. The Titanium spec does come with USB and bluetooth

[vc-10]

7.4l/100km comes out at 38 mpg, which really isn't bad at all given that you do a fair bit of city driving. I still think that the Ecoboost would save me fuel, but it's useful to know that the NA engines are still not bad. From my reading, if you want music streaming (which I do) then you need the USB socket, and the more basic bluetooth system with just an aux-in doesn't do streaming.

[dave_k]

The 1.6tdci nowadays is a good economical engine, free road tax and for me at least, bang on 59mpg (on a approx 60/40 mix of town and motorway driving). I work out fuel economy using the two click fill method and the calculator on my phone every couple of months and it has always been in real exact figures anything from 56-62mpg depending on the driving type done of the last amount before calculation. I've had it from about 7 months old for a couple of years or so now.

The trick to avoiding the well documented problems is getting a new or very low mileage (<10,000 miles). and taking excellent care of it from there with plenty of oil and filter changes and a good service schedule. That way you should get very little bother with it. Give it a good long motorway run every couple of weeks maximum to keep on top of the dpf too if you don't do much motorway driving.

Don't follow the manufacturers service intervals or else you're asking for problems.

I personally change the oil (Castrol) and filter and air filter every 5-6000 and carry out a fuel filter change every 10,000. Easy enough to keep on top on and a service kit is always ready for the next time soon after one is completed.

If you buy an older or high mileage example your trusting the service history which is always a risky approach nowadays.

[JSMarsden]

Picked up a 1.0t ecoboost for around 9k (just over) with 6,000 miles on the clock. Getting around 37 mpg in stop/start traffic and 50mpg on my motorway trips (do 500 mile round trip on motorways once a month).

As far as I'm aware the ecoboost engine (been around for 3 years or so?) and hasn't ran into any major faults. As long as you keep it regularly serviced, treat it nicely then not a lot can go wrong. Obviously if you thrash it around, ride the clutch, rev it high and grind the gears without servicing the car/missing services etc then thats another matter!

[vc-10]

Yes- I think the issue I've had with the Focus was due to very poor upkeep by previous owners. A car that's done only a few thousand miles should be much, much, better, which is why I'm contemplating one. I'm generally pretty kind to cars- my previous Polo is on about 155k now that I've passed it onto my brother, and it's still running fine (although it's always burnt oil!). Fixing things before they become major problems makes a big difference.

37mpg around town and 50mpg on the motorway is pretty decent from the Ecoboost. Much better than my old Polo got!

[jace1969]

I have a 2011 MK7 Titanium with the 1.6 litre petrol engine, I couldn't be happier, overall I get 7.4l/100km this is over a year of driving 90% in town and 10% long distance, so far no big problems, only small problem I have had was the rubber seal around the windows tearing and that I think is because it seals too well, so it causes a suction and pulls and compresses the rubber, but nothing that can't be fixed under warranty. The Titanium spec does come with USB and Bluetooth

I also have the 1.6 (non EcoBoost) and is the titanium on a 11 plate,i has a lot more toys on it on top of the

Std titanium.

The engine is a dream and had it 15 months and not a problem at all in any way and very local driving stop

and start and i mean local and still get around 30mpg give or take.

I had a choice of the EcoBoost at the same price i paid but didn't have the toys on it and wanted to know a bit more

into the engine and i knew a lot of history about this car as a regular to the ford garage the

person before who had it from there new and very low miles.

I would 100% go for the EcoBoost next as i know a lot more into them being on here.

[vc-10]

I would 100% go for the EcoBoost next as i know a lot more into them being on here.

That's good to hear! Now just to make the numbers work...

[Jeff4155]

With regards to your question about the bluetooth streaming, I always just use my bluetooth to stream music from my iPhone, I plug my phone in the Usb port with my standard iPhone cable when I need a charge, but it doesn't play music through the Usb port only because you need a special cable that plugs into both the Usb and Aux port at the same time and I haven't purchased one yet, so for me the standard streaming through bluetooth works great and with the new facelift models you should be able to use Apples Carplay if of course you have an iPhone, hope this helps

[jace1969]

That's good to hear! Now just to make the numbers work...

I had a price limit of around 8k and hand in my other car I had but they hold there price good but some good deals

out there on second hand ones at ford if you have a moan at them :) .

I like a mix with toys on it and nippy this is why I went for mine.

You wont go wrong with the EcoBoost as i would have the 1 litre 125 one in titanium but that's my choice with a few added stuff.