Hi,

I am about to complete purchase for Ford Focus 2014 MK3  1.0 SCTi EcoBoost Zetec 5dr with 49k miles for around 5000 pounds. I already gave deposit, but then I read all about the degas hose problem and the rust on the turbo. I also found FordEcoboostNightmare on facebook which gave me nightmares. I have a small baby and I am really worried about the reliability now. Can you please recommend if I should try and change my deposit for another car or just go with this one?

Nah you'll be good with the ecoboost. Look hard enough into any car you go to buy and you'll find horror stories about them.

The degas hose would've probably failed by now if it wasn't fixed under the recall. It's 6 years old so the reliability has kind of been proven.

The rust on the turbo will probably only be surface rust (if any) and can be quickly touched up with some high temp paint to prevent it rusting. If you do inspect it and it looks particularly rusty, then maybe consider moving your deposit.

Like with any car, a good inspection and look into the history is paramount. The hose replacement should be logged, and the turbo rust takes seconds to pop the bonnet and stick your head down.

Thank you @Luke4efc 

Unfortunately they didn't have any history of the car, but it was only one owner. I hope it is genuine. I will be buying with credit card for piece of mind and I will do a full inspection either at a ford dealer or local garage. Is the price good?

 

Even a Ford dealer might not inspect some important stuff like turbo rust. You need to do it yourself.

A car with no history? I'd be walking away but that's up to you. If it was an old banger then it's fair enough, but a 6 year old car should have a fsh. Have you checked the MOT history?

£5000 seems cheap though, I'd expect more like 6k.

There's a million Focuses out there.  Buy one with history.

The MOT is clear of any problems or advisories. All the checks were for the hpi. I will ask again for some history of the car, but maybe that's why it is cheaper.

11 hours ago, Luke4efc said:

The degas hose would've probably failed by now if it wasn't fixed under the recall. It's 6 years old so the reliability has kind of been proven.

The new 'recall' hose will eventually fail as well!  Personally, I wouldn't buy a pre-facelift 1.0 unless you're planning to fit the facelift hoses to it.  The PFL hoses are just too unreliable and there's too much damage done if/when they do fail.  Yes, all cars have faults, but in the end I chose the risk of a blocked DPF and limp mode in a diesel over being stranded with a cooked EcoBoost engine.

For reference, I did buy one 2 years ago, high spec Titanium 125ps with a few options (keyless entry, privacy glass etc) with 50k miles for £4,500...  I don't see £5k as being too much for a Zetec now.  I would suggest it's probably also only a 99ps model as well?

I got paranoid there was a bit of coolant on the coolant reservoir. There was zero service history and it looked like the old hose. In the end I had to buy a Hyundai instead as I already had given 500 deposit. Thank you for your help.

Sounds like you had a lucky escape.