MK4 Ford Focus advice needed

[BlancoIMBA]

Hello everyone,

I've been driving my mk2 Focus for 5 years now and I plan on upgrading to a MK4 soon.
I'm currently deciding between the 1.5 EcoBlue and 1.0 Ecoboost engines, both automatic transmission and nicely equipped (bigger satnav, automatic climate control, parking sensors and camera etc).

I would like to hear from people who already own Focuses with one of these engines? Are there any faults with the car I need to take into consideration? I know its a relatively new car but I was wondering are there any recalls or bugs with these cars/engines in general.
Also is this 8 speed automatic any good, I've read horror stories about the powershift automatic and I've been told by the dealer that this is a new transmission and that it does not have the problems that the powershift had.
I do maybe 15.000 KM per year and I'm leaning towards the 1.0 ecoboost, the price difference is very small between these two engines (pre built car, both identically equipped, except the engine) but I'm considering diesel since I already drive a diesel and because of the fuel economy.

Any advice and experiences with the car would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot, and sorry if I made a mistake in the post, this is my second time posting here.

[Alex.S]

I have an 8 speed automatic mk4 8000miles , I really like it. Got the biggest petrol engine outside of the ST . 1.5L 182 STlineX. Great engine but for fuel economy it’s not for you...31.5 mpg just now. Ford have discontinued that 1.5 engine and replaced it with a 1L mild hybrid 155ps . Yeah I’d highly recommend the auto box tho it’s not available in the new hybrids I don’t think. For economy it’s got to be a diesel . Though I’ve never driven one . 

[BlancoIMBA]

1 minute ago, Alex.S said:

I have an 8 speed automatic mk4 8000miles , I really like it. Got the biggest petrol engine outside of the ST . 1.5L 182 STlineX. Great engine but for fuel economy it’s not for you...31.5 mpg just now. Ford have discontinued that 1.5 engine and replaced it with a 1L mild hybrid 155ps . Yeah I’d highly recommend the auto box tho it’s not available in the new hybrids I don’t think. For economy it’s got to be a diesel . Though I’ve never driven one . 

Thanks for the reply!

I'm glad to hear that you are satisfied with the automatic transmission. I'm not really considering the 1.5 since the fuel economy is important for me, but I don't think that I drive enough to justify a diesel, main reason I consider the diesel option is that the difference in price is very small between the 1.5 diesel and 1.0 petrol.
Did you have any problems with the car so far?

[Alex.S]

Had the car since October 2019.  Getting the FordPass app up and running was the only ‘issue’ , it was nothing really . If you get an automatic the app is great for remote engine start in the winter. I saw a review of the 1L petrol 125 Auto and a review of the same but manual, the automatic got a good review the manual not so good.
 

[DaveT70]

If fuel economy is an issue I would recommend perhaps going for the 2.0 Diesel auto.

I have heard that the 1.0 auto struggles to do early 40's MPG (manuals only get mid 40's at a push)

1.5 Diesel auto only manages late 40's MPG but a 2.0 diesel auto will do mid 50's all day long.

I have a 1.5 Diesel manual and the car is good, no major issues apart from software updates.

The 8 speed auto box is very good and has no relation to powershift (though the powershift diesels were OK)

[F0CUE]

2 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

If fuel economy is an issue I would recommend perhaps going for the 2.0 Diesel auto.

I have heard that the 1.0 auto struggles to do early 40's MPG (manuals only get mid 40's at a push)

1.5 Diesel auto only manages late 40's MPG but a 2.0 diesel auto will do mid 50's all day long.

I have a 1.5 Diesel manual and the car is good, no major issues apart from software updates.

The 8 speed auto box is very good and has no relation to powershift (though the powershift diesels were OK)

My 2.0 diesel although its a mk3 manual the MPG is spot on. 

[BlancoIMBA]

2 hours ago, DaveT70 said:

If fuel economy is an issue I would recommend perhaps going for the 2.0 Diesel auto.

I have heard that the 1.0 auto struggles to do early 40's MPG (manuals only get mid 40's at a push)

1.5 Diesel auto only manages late 40's MPG but a 2.0 diesel auto will do mid 50's all day long.

I have a 1.5 Diesel manual and the car is good, no major issues apart from software updates.

The 8 speed auto box is very good and has no relation to powershift (though the powershift diesels were OK)

Hello, thanks for your reply

2.0 diesel is not really an option since cars with engines I've asked about are the only two pre built cars and i could get a great deal on them, if I wanted a 2.0 diesel I would have to order one and it would be considerably more expensive but its good to know if one with the 2.0 engine pops up somewhere.

Are you talking about combined mpg or extra urban mpg? If its combined, 1.0 with early 40's is not so bad as my current Focus does around 30-33 combined.
Only issue I'm having is that I don't do enough kilometres to justify the diesel taking into consideration the price difference in maintenance after the warranty ends (i plan to keep this car for a long time, thats why I'm buying new).

What's with the software updates, I've read somewhere that it has issues with the electronics and thad ford is pushing out updates do fix those issues, are they managing to do it?

[Guy Heaton]

For 1.5 auto mpg it does depend very much on the type of driving.  Round town and acceleration it's not great, but cruising at speed it's pretty good.

[Alex.S]

The manual gearbox in the 1L 125 is different from the 1.5L petrol. I don’t know which one is in the diesels. It’d be auto for me all the way. 

[DaveT70]

58 minutes ago, BlancoIMBA said:

Are you talking about combined mpg or extra urban mpg?

Constant average, combined

[Wino]

1.5 diesel ST line x manual though not auto. Not as ecomical as the mk3 by a long way. We manily drive around town with a small amount of motorway included currently averaging 56mpg.

[south_bound]

I'm getting my Mk4 2ltr diesel tomorrow so will post my mpg from that for comparison as I have a looooong drive to do to get it home.

[Criot]

I've got a 1.0 petrol manual, good engine and relatively good MPG considering, you'll easily get 40+mpg combined and the petrol will suit you much better if you're doing mostly town driving, but its still a very good option for mixed driving too. Diesels are much more suited to longer distance driving.

[Freeze]

The A8 gearbox has been giving some mild issues to users in Finland, seems it can be sorted with software updates. Also, the BCM seems to loose track of how much charge there is in the battery, mostly it causes problems with S/S that stops working due to low voltage. Also it can cause problems to other electric devices deemed "non-essential" by the ECU. According to folks there is a BCM replacement campaign running, so watch out for that too. Also, both sides of my fully adaptive DRL's control boxes have been replaced under warranty, since they started flickering.

-- 40 tkm with 1,5 TDCi Ecoblue.

[south_bound]

On 7/10/2020 at 5:33 PM, south_bound said:

I'm getting my Mk4 2ltr diesel tomorrow so will post my mpg from that for comparison as I have a looooong drive to do to get it home.

So got the car and drove it home, very smooth and happy sitting at 2000 rpm in 6th at 80 mph.  I reset the trip computer at the start and after 2 tank fulls it reads 63 mpg which I am pleasantly surprised at given that included a little bit of "fun" on the Autobahn.  Not as good as I get from my old 1.6 diesel Mk 2 but a much nicer drive.

[Murat123]

1.0 Titanium Ecoboost manual (68 REG)

Many many issues.

Worst one so far is the transmission. I was having problems with it earlier this year where it wouldn't go into gear etc but it was intermittent. Dealer would just blame me saying its got to do with my driving although I only go to work and shopping just normal city driving.

2 weeks ago, it completely broke down and whatever I tried it wouldn't go into gear. Ford told me they couldn't get it into the workshop till the 22nd. I contacted the customer relations and several emails were sent. I got them to finally accept the car.

They diagnosed the car last week friday and it turned out to be the slave cylinder gone. Waiting on the new part which is going to come 1 month later. Absolute joke. No courtesy car was given until yesterday. It has been a complete nightmare with them.

I had several electrical issues and the door control module had gone. I was to be blamed for this again but managed to get everything sorted out under warranty.