I have been quoted £540 to pass the MOT. I'm willing to pay that to keep me on the road for another year and save up to get a replacement car should it fail next year. I love my focus though, 1.8 zetec in burgandy red and I absolutely adore it. Does anyone know roughly how much those advisories would be and whether repairing those at a later point would be worth it if I want to hang onto the car longer? Edit: I have no knowledge on cars and do not want to do any DIY.

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

• Nearside Rear Tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (5.2.3 (e))

Repair immediately (major defects):

• Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii))
• Offside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))
• Offside Rear Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Nearside Front Tyre has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (5.2.3 (d) (i))
• Offside Rear Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened (5.3.1 (b) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

• Suspension arm corroded but not seriously weakened both front (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Front Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Rear Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Offside Front wing corroded
• Fuel Pipe/s corroded
• Coolant leak
• Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))
• Brake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other material front to rears (1.1.11 (c))

14 minutes ago, KimFocus said:

I have been quoted £540 to pass the MOT.

If that is including the cost of two new tyres then that's not bad.

Regarding the advisories. They are exactly that, just someone's opinion on the day about what they think about your car. If you took your car to a different garage tomorrow and had it tested again, I can almost guarantee that you would get a different list of advisories. Remember the car is now 20 years old, most of those points mentioned are 'corroded' and to be honest after 20 years on British roads I'm not surprised. Personally if your not intending to do any repairs your self then I'd just leave them be. You will would be better saving the money to put towards getting a newer car next year.

15 minutes ago, unofix said:

If that is including the cost of two new tyres then that's not bad.

Regarding the advisories. They are exactly that, just someone's opinion on the day about what they think about your car. If you took your car to a different garage tomorrow and had it tested again, I can almost guarantee that you would get a different list of advisories. Remember the car is now 20 years old, most of those points mentioned are 'corroded' and to be honest after 20 years on British roads I'm not surprised. Personally if your not intending to do any repairs your self then I'd just leave them be. You will would be better saving the money to put towards getting a newer car next year.

Thank you. My main concern is the coolant as it does run out quite quickly and on one ocassion, the car overheated and had to pull up and let the car cooldown. I had to put water in as a last emergancy resort to get me to a place that sold coolant. It hasn't happened since but I topped up the coolant last night, it was almost gone.

2x tyres should only be around £50 each for Mk1 size.  That makes 2x springs, a bulb and a lower arm seem quite expensive to me, especially when the spring and lower arm are on the same corner.  Still cheaper than changing car, of course.

Regarding the coolant leak, you would have to give us some idea of which part is leaking to determine the fix.  It could be a £10 job, or it could be a £500 job.

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

2x tyres should only be around £50 each for Mk1 size.  That makes 2x springs, a bulb and a lower arm seem quite expensive to me, especially when the spring and lower arm are on the same corner.  Still cheaper than changing car, of course.

Regarding the coolant leak, you would have to give us some idea of which part is leaking to determine the fix.  It could be a £10 job, or it could be a £500 job.

I've literally just had a phone call regarding the leak, she mentioned a new flange at £160. I've left it for now, I'll just have to make sure it's periodiically topped up. Is there any type of coolant that you'd recommend for this 2005 mk1?

2 minutes ago, KimFocus said:

I've literally just had a phone call regarding the leak, she mentioned a new flange at £160. I've left it for now, I'll just have to make sure it's periodiically topped up. Is there any type of coolant that you'd recommend for this 2005 mk1?

Ok, that's probably what we'd refer to as the thermostat housing.

You can just keep topping it up but that's not a great idea long term.  The cooling system needs to be pressurised to work properly, which can't happen in this case.  There may also be air bubbles getting trapped in the system when the level drops.  Those air bubbles cause hotspots which can go on to cause major engine damage such as headgasket failure.  If you intend to keep the car, I would recommend fixing the leak.

I wouldn't waste money putting coolant in at the moment if it's just going to leak out again.  Plain water will be fine during the summer months.  Just make sure it's got coolant in before the temp drops to the point where it could freeze.  Normal pink coolant from Halfords or similar will be fine.  Otherwise supermarkets often do Prestone coolant which they claim can be mixed with any other type of coolant.

1 hour ago, KimFocus said:

I have been quoted £540 to pass the MOT. I'm willing to pay that to keep me on the road for another year and save up to get a replacement car should it fail next year. I love my focus though, 1.8 zetec in burgandy red and I absolutely adore it. Does anyone know roughly how much those advisories would be and whether repairing those at a later point would be worth it if I want to hang onto the car longer? Edit: I have no knowledge on cars and do not want to do any DIY.

Do not drive until repaired (dangerous defects):

• Nearside Rear Tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (5.2.3 (e))

Repair immediately (major defects):

• Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam (4.1.1 (a) (ii))
• Offside Front Coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i))
• Offside Rear Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Nearside Front Tyre has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (5.2.3 (d) (i))
• Offside Rear Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened (5.3.1 (b) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

• Suspension arm corroded but not seriously weakened both front (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Front Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Rear Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
• Offside Front wing corroded
• Fuel Pipe/s corroded
• Coolant leak
• Oil leak, but not excessive (8.4.1 (a) (i))
• Brake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other material front to rears (1.1.11 (c))

Your quote to pass MOT sounds reasonable to me. I paid around £450 for my MK2 to have all 4 coil springs changed and only one suspension arm changed. So if your quote includes all of the major defects then I'd say you've got a decent deal. 

I reckon if you get the repairs done you're good for another few years. 

MK1 is a classic car by many standards and personally I think it's worth keeping. Up to you on pricing though.

14 minutes ago, Eli_P said:

Your quote to pass MOT sounds reasonable to me. I paid around £450 for my MK2 to have all 4 coil springs changed and only one suspension arm changed. So if your quote includes all of the major defects then I'd say you've got a decent deal. 

I reckon if you get the repairs done you're good for another few years. 

MK1 is a classic car by many standards and personally I think it's worth keeping. Up to you on pricing though.

Thank you, I'm hoping those advisories aren't too expensive. There isn't that many zetecs in burgandy red around, particularly a 1.8

5 minutes ago, KimFocus said:

Thank you, I'm hoping those advisories aren't too expensive. There isn't that many zetecs in burgandy red around, particularly a 1.8

I think it comes down to how much you love the car. I'm not really a DIY person with the car either. I love my car and I've fixed a few things on my own but the real mechanical stuff I leave to the garages. 

8 hours ago, KimFocus said:

Thank you. My main concern is the coolant as it does run out quite quickly and on one ocassion, the car overheated and had to pull up and let the car cooldown. I had to put water in as a last emergancy resort to get me to a place that sold coolant. It hasn't happened since but I topped up the coolant last night, it was almost gone.

Your main concerns to worry about seems to be coil springs and suspension arms. For a recent discussion on that subject see 

 

UPDATE:

So my car passed the mot on the 24th march. I paid the extra money to get the coolant leak addressed (£160). The whole MOT was £700.

I've not even had the car back a full week and the car just overheated, temperature gauge in the red, smoke coming out of the bonnet, sizzling sound that did not sound healthy, empty coolant. They fitted a new flange apparently. Mot history still says cooling leak on the advisory but assured me they did it and that they didn't have time to update it. 

There are two of these flanges.  One on the right hand side of the engine, between engine & battery.  And the other at the front left, under the alternator.  You should be able to see if things have been worked on in either of those areas.

Best advice I can offer now is to fill it right up, run with the cap off to purge any air, and then check to see if there are any more leaks underneath after that.

I had to fill it up with water to get me home, there was a leak on the floor while parked up doing that. I'll have a look under the bonnet later but I'm clueless on stuff like this. I'll be ringing the garage first thing on monday morning, my concern is if there are going to charge me further.

33 minutes ago, KimFocus said:

I had to fill it up with water to get me home, there was a leak on the floor while parked up doing that. I'll have a look under the bonnet later but I'm clueless on stuff like this. I'll be ringing the garage first thing on monday morning, my concern is if there are going to charge me further.

In fairness, it might be a different fault, that only happened once the system got pressurised again.  If you can find the leak and post a picture, hopefully one of us can confirm.

17 hours ago, KimFocus said:

I had to fill it up with water to get me home, there was a leak on the floor while parked up doing that. I'll have a look under the bonnet later but I'm clueless on stuff like this. I'll be ringing the garage first thing on monday morning, my concern is if there are going to charge me further.

I'd get it checked by the garage, and if it's related to the work they did when repairing it (I.e. knocked something out of place or didn't install the part properly) you're entitled to the work to repair it being done for free. Obviously they won't be likely to admit it's something they caused in the first place. 

Car overheated AGAIN. Liquid (assuming coolant) busting out of the pipe, sizzling, smoking. I'm fed up of this car now. I paid all that money and it still isn't fixed. Humongous puddle of orange god knows on the floor underneath. I have lost all faith in that garage with those incompetent, rip off merchants. He had no sympathy to being stranded with the car being dangerous to drive. Then just said bring it on monday for a quote. ***** off. I'm so angry it's unreal. I'm gonna just going to cut my losses and write it off, get another car. Just not viable anymore. What a waste of £700. Absolutely fuming. I can't upload the video so here is a link showing the pipe link

https://streamable.com/tpen14

Is it the smaller hose at the top which is leaking (possibly rubbed through on the clip on the hose beneath)?

If so, that should be easy to repair by cutting the hose & fitting a piece of copper pipe inside, with a couple of jubilee clips. And, move the clip on the lower hose round so that it doesn't rub on the upper hose (use pliers to squeeze the lugs together)!

Sadly, when you have a car of this age, you have to learn to do as many repairs as you can yourself!

I think so yeah. Is it definitely coolant? I just don't want to keep paying money to repair the same thing that I already paid the garage to fix

2 hours ago, KimFocus said:

I think so yeah. Is it definitely coolant? I just don't want to keep paying money to repair the same thing that I already paid the garage to fix

Hard to tell without inspection. Technically a red leak could be transmission fluid, which is probably more complicated. Your pic look redish to me. I'm not a mechanic so it's all a guess

Or if it's definitely orange, that could indicate rust in the system. Rust kills engines, pipes' the lot. Without a qualified person looking at it I'd agree with you with a cut the losses and run to a new car. Looking at a new car for my mother in law after gearbox gone

That's definitely coolant.

That hard plastic pipe at the front is probably cracked.  It's part of the heater hose system.  Very cheap to buy new on ebay and something you could replace yourself.

Cooling Pipe Water Hose For Ford Focus MK1 Transit Tourneo Connect 2002-2013 | eBay

Or genuine Ford:

Genuine Ford Focus Mk1 Connect 2.0 Zetec EFi Engine Heater Hose Less RS 1108264 | eBay

 

If it is the rubber pipe that's damaged then that's not too expensive either.  I believe it's this one but would want to see a picture of the one on your car to compare before committing to that.

Genuine Ford Radiator Hose 1134563 | eBay

Thanks for the replies. Headgasket is blown so it's getting scrapped. Gutted.