So, I previously had a 6 series BMW and a Honda Civic. During Covid, the BMW went in for a service and was severely damaged by BMW (They drove it into a wall) and then the Civic's engine blew up. Both were newish cars and less than 3 years old. I decided I was cursed and made the switch to a new Skoda superb, which both me and wife love. I'm now thinking we need a decent and reliable second car. I'm not a brand snob and value comfort and reliability over status symbols. I've seen a nicely priced 2019 1 litre auto Focus Vignale with 27k on the clock and looks to be in really good condition. It's at a main dealer and generally wanted some advice around things to look for, be aware of ,when I test drive the vehicle this week. Would welcome all feedback and first hand experience. Seems like the Vignale is well stocked from a features and kit perspective,

Vignale looks good on paper...but in reality the wheels are too big and the seats are rock solid.  The 125ps non-MHEV engine is pretty slow in the heavy Mk4 Focus, worse still in the Vignale with extra weight and silly wheels.  The autobox knocks the fuel economy as well, you'll only see around 40mpg from it.

Buying a 2019 model is a bad choice.  High purchase price but out of manufacturers warranty.  With all the toys on the Vignale, there's a lot of expensive stuff to go wrong.  Surprisingly, repair costs aren't much different to the German makes.  Honestly, I'd suggest being more of a brand snob...  

19 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Vignale looks good on paper...but in reality the wheels are too big and the seats are rock solid.  The 125ps non-MHEV engine is pretty slow in the heavy Mk4 Focus, worse still in the Vignale with extra weight and silly wheels.  The autobox knocks the fuel economy as well, you'll only see around 40mpg from it.

Buying a 2019 model is a bad choice.  High purchase price but out of manufacturers warranty.  With all the toys on the Vignale, there's a lot of expensive stuff to go wrong.  Surprisingly, repair costs aren't much different to the German makes.  Honestly, I'd suggest being more of a brand snob...  

Wow - well that's the straight to the point advice I was after - what drew me to the car was the smaller engine, because I've got a 16, soon to be 17, year old and I thought it would be good to get him insured on it in 12 months. One of the big things that attracted me to the car was the fact it was on a really cheap pcp deal but I'll take your advice and keep looking.

 

With the 17 year old in mind, do you really need a Focus size vehicle as a second car? If looking at around 125ps, a Fiesta in, say Titanium spec, might be a better bet.

Or, as you seem happy with the Superb, possibly a Fabia or its siblings the Ibiza, Polo, or A1? All available with DSG if a 2 pedal car is an essential.

 

What he said. A Fiesta in Titanium spec around 2017/8 will cost half what the Vignale Focus does. The 100HP is very cheap to insure. It is well specified, often well optioned cars can be found with better specs than a Vignale, it is well built and it is a joy to drive. I am looking for another after two years of complete satisfaction with mine.

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Vignale looks good on paper...but in reality the wheels are too big and the seats are rock solid.  The 125ps non-MHEV engine is pretty slow in the heavy Mk4 Focus, worse still in the Vignale with extra weight and silly wheels.  The autobox knocks the fuel economy as well, you'll only see around 40mpg from it.

Buying a 2019 model is a bad choice.  High purchase price but out of manufacturers warranty.  With all the toys on the Vignale, there's a lot of expensive stuff to go wrong.  Surprisingly, repair costs aren't much different to the German makes.  Honestly, I'd suggest being more of a brand snob...  

I'll have you know I quite like the rock solid seats in mine...but they are definitely firm 🤣

So here's the thing - the Focus is so cheap, it's literally £10 more expensive than an equivalent Fiesta. Given said young son is already over 6ft, I was thinking that more space and the flexibility of carrying people and tip runs etc... it would be a better bet.

So how hard are these seats????

 

38 minutes ago, FilmGuyUK said:

So here's the thing - the Focus is so cheap, it's literally £10 more expensive than an equivalent Fiesta. Given said young son is already over 6ft, I was thinking that more space and the flexibility of carrying people and tip runs etc... it would be a better bet.

So how hard are these seats????

 

Personally i'd go for the Vignale, I find the seats alright and the partners Fiesta seats way too spongey for my liking. When we drove from Inverness to Sussex over 11 hours this year I found the seats to be fine on the long haul, and if its really an issue if you have a bad back, use the seat heaters.

You might want to check what Insurance group the Focus is in compared to the competition, especially if it is going to be used for someone quite young.

The Focus does have a good amount of Boot space especially compared to the Fiesta although the rear seat base does not fold up, which is a bit annoying. The backs do fold down.

I did look at getting a Fiesta myself but the Boot space was the deciding factor for me, I sometimes have to carry a folded up Wheelchair and it can be done in the Focus with the back seats intact, not in the Fiesta. 

If you do go for a Mk4 Focus, I would recommend the 1.5 engine if you can find one. 

I’ve had 3x Ford Focus 125bhp engines cars and I’ve had zero issues with power.

my first focus 125bph had a recall on the coolant problem, but that was sorted with out issues

I’ve done 80k miles between them all and they have been solid with returning about 43Mpg through the combine year.

I’ve carried 4-5 people, luggage with zero issues. The turbo is decent.

my advise is to ensure it’s serviced in line with Ford recommendations and never skimp on quality oil.  Ford does my servicing as I have a plan and in never had a issue.

the 1.0l 125bhp, better performs than the original 1.6l zetec engine it replaced in the focus. 
I always say, what you want out of a car isn’t the same as other people.  So I would take it for a test drive if you can.

155bhp is also an amazing engine and I’m driving one now. But the 125 is also a good engine as long as they are looked after and well maintained. 
 

my only advice is the old 6 speed auto box. 
there are well known issues with the dual clutch auto box. Ford pulled the box from sale due the issues and stopped selling it completely,

so I would advise check on the auto box in the car and do some homework on internet and YouTube.

 

12 hours ago, Daz-UK said:

I’ve had 3x Ford Focus 125bhp engines cars and I’ve had zero issues with power.

my first focus 125bph had a recall on the coolant problem, but that was sorted with out issues

I’ve done 80k miles between them all and they have been solid with returning about 43Mpg through the combine year.

I’ve carried 4-5 people, luggage with zero issues. The turbo is decent.

my advise is to ensure it’s serviced in line with Ford recommendations and never skimp on quality oil.  Ford does my servicing as I have a plan and in never had a issue.

the 1.0l 125bhp, better performs than the original 1.6l zetec engine it replaced in the focus. 
I always say, what you want out of a car isn’t the same as other people.  So I would take it for a test drive if you can.

155bhp is also an amazing engine and I’m driving one now. But the 125 is also a good engine as long as they are looked after and well maintained. 
 

my only advice is the old 6 speed auto box. 
there are well known issues with the dual clutch auto box. Ford pulled the box from sale due the issues and stopped selling it completely,

so I would advise check on the auto box in the car and do some homework on internet and YouTube.

 

Hi Daz. The auto box fitted is the 8 speed auto, so I'm presuming this is a later model?

5 hours ago, FilmGuyUK said:

Hi Daz. The auto box fitted is the 8 speed auto, so I'm presuming this is a later model?

Yes that’s the other version. don’t know much on 8 speed auto box  

I know the 6 speed auto box are the problems. https://www.eco-torque.co.uk/post/fordpowershift

The 8 speed are fine - they are normal torque converter type transmissions

Hi, regarding insurance for a new driver on the Focus I  am a new driver myself “coming up to my first year in a couple months” and it is around £230 a month for my 2018 Focus Vignale 1 litre Auto, they’re great cars and really inspire confidence on the road, fuel consumption is okay on local journeys I’m getting 28mpg but on a long run it’s usually around 52mpg although I have managed to achieve 61.5mpg in eco mode using adaptive cruise driving back to Yorkshire from Birmingham  so given the right conditions they can be very economical cars. A couple things to look out for from my experience is cracking window switches I had to get my window switch pack replaced at 16000 miles apparently a common issue on some early models and also bonnet cables seem to stretch quite easily too was quoted £140 by my dealer to repair so check the operation of the bonnet release and ensure it opens with 2 pulls of the lever.

One pull. If not, adjust it.

1 hour ago, anon said:

One pull. If not, adjust it.

The Focus Mk4 is designed to only open if you pull it twice.

Thank you for that, another quite unnecessary piece of engineering!