As per the title.

My father is finally gonna retire his elderly Jaguar X Type V6. It's a great car, and a trusted servant for nearly 8 years. 200 horsepower and permanent AWD, throwing that thing about in the snow was awesome.

However, Dad's now 70 and would like a newer car, and one that's a bit smaller. In order to prevent him from buying a Poxhall Disastra, I'd really appreciate the advice of the collective.

Dad likes my Focus. It's a mark 2.5, with the 1.8 Duratec HE. However, he wants a newer car, maybe two years old, and not diesel.

My question is this: which petrol models, if any, are to be avoided? Should he maybe go for a slightly older car with the 1.6 TI-VCT?

To be honest, I'm a bit bewildered myself! To me, a three-cylinder engine is just wrong. OK for a Daihatsu Charade, but maybe I'm just being an old *****.

Accordingly, the collective wisdom would be much appreciated.

Thank You.

• Love my Ecoboost 3 cylinder engine 

You ARE being old.....I thought the same until I tried, then ultimately bought one...take your dad to your local car supermarket and find a 124bhp (the 99bhp one is under-powered) one and take it for a spin...it's no Jag by any means but by the sound of it, he wants something a bit more sedate these days ??

I've had my '63 plate 1.0 Ecoboost for just over a year and it was initially just a stop-gap set of wheels until I retire in the New Year, but I am now looking at getting a newer 1.0 Ecoboost ST-Line...you will not be disappointed !!

Cheers, Tony. In everyday use, what's it like off-boost? Does it drive OK, or is it one of those cars that's nothing-nothing-BANG-runs out of puff?

I guess my main concern is reliability, though. Have Ford fixed it? If I'm honest I've read so much (probably too much!) that my head is spinning!

I used to be an Austin-Rover mechanic, cut my teeth on the A+, O, M, T and K Series. These new engines scare the hell out of me!

Thanks again.

5 minutes ago, Phil 3747 said:

You ARE being old.....I thought the same until I tried, then ultimately bought one...take your dad to your local car supermarket and find a 124bhp (the 99bhp one is under-powered) one and take it for a spin...it's no Jag by any means but by the sound of it, he wants something a bit more sedate these days ??

I've had my '63 plate 1.0 Ecoboost for just over a year and it was initially just a stop-gap set of wheels until I retire in the New Year, but I am now looking at getting a newer 1.0 Ecoboost ST-Line...you will not be disappointed !!

Thank you, Phil. Much appreciated.

The best tip is to fit the MK3.5 (face lift) cooling kit, the details included part numbers are somewhere in the Focus forum.  It's not a big job but gets you uprated hoses and a stronger plastic "t-piece".

 

I drove a number of MK3.5 1.0 EBs as hire cars are I really enjoyed driving them, having the turbo means that they don't feel anything like the weedy old school naturally aspirated 1 litre engines of yesterday.  On a long run I found I could get very good fuel economy for a petrol.

18 minutes ago, 1979Damian said:

The best tip is to fit the MK3.5 (face lift) cooling kit, the details included part numbers are somewhere in the Focus forum.  It's not a big job but gets you uprated hoses and a stronger plastic "t-piece".

 

I drove a number of MK3.5 1.0 EBs as hire cars are I really enjoyed driving them, having the turbo means that they don't feel anything like the weedy old school naturally aspirated 1 litre engines of yesterday.  On a long run I found I could get very good fuel economy for a petrol.

Most informative, thank you. I'm pretty confident with cooling systems, having owned 10 Rover K Series cars over 14 years 😄 reckon I could do the required spannering.

I'm not "afraid" as such of turbocharging: did plenty of stuff on MG Metros, Maestros, Montegos and those frankly stupid-fast T16 Turbo engine Rovers. As I said in my original post, maybe I'm just being an old fuddy-duddy and need to embrace the future.

Thank you everyone for your contributions so far.

Have had a 3.5 1.0 ecoboost for 3 years now. Bought at 1 year old and it runs great. A few mimor niggles but none with the engine.

I don't thrash it but it purs along on the motorway or in town.

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Cheers, TitXlover, appreciate your input. I'm actually feeling a bit more reassured: I'm ex-motor trade, albeit some time ago, and have just been talking to a mate. "Ford EcoBoost? Good wee engines, keep looking after oil changes and you're golden. I know you, you'll be looking under the bonnet every few days anyway. Keep an eye on the coolant, Rover-style"

Thanks everyone!

Another vote to the 1.0 Ecoboost.
Get the higher powered version and you won’t need anything else. Consumption is decent until you ask for the unlimited power it has. It then starts to eat like a bigger engine.


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1 hour ago, ashmicro said:

Cheers, TitXlover, appreciate your input. I'm actually feeling a bit more reassured: I'm ex-motor trade, albeit some time ago, and have just been talking to a mate. "Ford EcoBoost? Good wee engines, keep looking after oil changes and you're golden. I know you, you'll be looking under the bonnet every few days anyway. Keep an eye on the coolant, Rover-style"

Thanks everyone!

The thread I was thinking of earlier is here, thanks to @JW1982 there are even diagrams/images to make it extra clear what's involved.

 

 

Cheers for that, I'll have a good read at it this evening when I get home. Most informative.

Get a Titanium x or at least at Titanium model. The other mk3.5 trim levels will be a bit poorly specced out for someone who currently drives a Jaguar (even though it still won't compare) I vote for the 1 l ecoboost with 125 bhp also.  

What do people think of the 1.0l ecoboost clutch? I find it incredibly light and high. It's particularly hard to pull away smoothly unless I slip the clutch for a couple of seconds. Once I'm going in 2nd/3rd it seems fine. I read a review once that stated exactly the same issue with smoothness, but maybe it's not the same on every model

Hi everyone. Once, once again, I really appreciate all the advice.

My old man can't make up his foxing mind, so I just went out and bought him a car this evening, as a stopgap. It's an 07 Focus 2 door. 1.8 Zetec Climate in  kind of candy-apple red. 77k miles and seems to have been looked after. NI MoT until next December. Just paid the guy cash, £1600. Not bad.

I'll revisit this thread in about 100 years when my Dad makes up his mind!

Thank you all for your help.

bearing in mind his current car is heavily based on a Mondeo - I'd keep it

the focus drives great but I thought any with the word - eco boost - it a liability where they just go bang, 3 cyl cracks cyl head and the 1.6 sets fire to itself with overheating

and if he's normal he'll want an auto and then these weren't sorted till june 2016, with 2011 to 2014 needing a new gearbox, a new clutch and new software, from 2014 to 2016 just the clutch and the software

 

from 70 years on, lots of go shouldn't be allowed and he'll be using the bumpers to navigate so why upset himself trashing a new one?

Agree'd with Botus, should keep the Jag tbh…  It's impossible to kill those 2.5 V6 engines.  My Dad has had 2 now, spends most of the time in town traffic or idling in carparks, runs on the red light permanatly putting in £5 of cheap petrol every other day, never does any sort of servicing at all, not even an oil change in 4+ years and they just never break!!  I dread to think how my diesels or an EcoBoost would end up given that sort of treatment...