I'm looking at buying a used focus, I've seen a couple that I'd like but both have outstanding recalls - 

17S09 - 1.6L GTDI COOLING SYSTEM

18S07 - CLUTCH SLIP DETECTION SOFTWARE

I'm guessing not a major problem as they've been going along presumably fine for the past 9 years. Should I be bothered? Will a Ford dealership still check the issue and clear the warning free of charge?

I'm surprised you've found more than one that missed those recalls so easily, thought almost all of them had been done now.

The cooling one is to add a low-coolant sensor to the reservoir and a software update to give a dash warning if the coolant drops.  A few of these caught fire due to low coolant cracking the head and dropping oil onto the hot exhaust.  

The clutch one is a software update to reduce engine torque and give a dash warning if the clutch starts slipping.  Again, another fire risk as people were driving with slipping clutches which could overheat the friction material and catch fire.  They will also manually test the clutch for slipping and if already slipping, will replace it free of charge under the recall - you may be charged for additional work done at the same time though.

Any Ford dealer should still apply these recalls free of charge.  It'll take a couple of hours so need to be booked in, not a quick 5 minute job.

 

Thanks TomsFocus for the reply. Although I've just caught sight of the MK3 boot leak thread pinned to this forum, and the reason I was looking at getting a newer model was because I have a similar boot leak in my MK2, which has now put me off a Focus entirely.