Hi fellas,

 

I haven't been on the forum in a few years but, those of you who remember chatting to me about my 2009 mk2.5 1.6 zetec focus/mods I hope your still around. So a quick recap, in 2013 I bought a 2009 focus 1.6 zetec with 55000 on the clock and absolutely loved the car. The car has been serviced by myself every year and has got anything it ever could need. Its been very reliable and a pleasure to own for myself and the family as our daily driver. 

Now 12 years later and just over the 200,000 mark on the clock we have decided to upgrade and once again staying with the focus. so long story short we have been looking at a mk3.5 2016 model in the titanium spec.

Now I did want to stay with petrol but due to the wet belt situations with the eco-boast which I know there are various opinions on I am leaning towards a diesel. I want to keep things economical as possible for various reasons but am leaning towards the mid range 1.5tdci 120 engine. This will be my first ever diesel car and I will be sad to switch from petrol as i have owned a petrol ford for the past 20 years of driving (escort, fiesta, focus) but needs must and it should make a great family daily driver for many more years.

 

I just wanted to get some thoughts of the car from anyone who owns one and uses a a daily drive.

 

thanks in advance.

Welcome back. It's only the 1.0 eco boost that is a wet belt the 1.6 is dry. I can't say much for the 1.5 TDCI as never tried one but I have the 2.0 TDCI and it's reliable and great on fuel you just have to get used to a different driving style but I love mines but due to ulez mines is out in that case so considering hybrid or Just petrol next. Any diesel after 2016 should be fine though.

I had a 2016 Focus Titanium 1.5 TDCi from new in 2016/17/18.

It was a fantastic car, one of the best I've had.

The MK4 1.5 Ecoblue Titanium 2019 that replaced it was a big disappointment comparted to the MK3.5 and put me off ever having a Ford again, I'm in BMWs now

I had no issues whatsoever, but I'm not really sure what issues people are having now they are getting older.

My recommendation would be to find one that has Sync3, but still in the £0 tax range so that's post December 2016 but before April 1st 2017 as the spec on Sync3 cars is also a bit better.

 

£0 tax band has been effectively removed now.  Minimum VED payment is £20 a year.

Still much cheaper than post April 2017 though, which is £195 a year now!

I'm a big fan of diesels.  Bought my first 2001 model in 2011 to save on fuel & tax, and genuinely couldn't understand why anyone still bought non-turbo petrols for daily driving!  Diesel is much easier to drive as well as being much cheaper to fuel and tax.  Petrol is best left to performance cars IMO.

I had 2 1.6 TDCI's but never had a 1.5 TDCI, although they are just a slightly tweaked version of the 8v 1.6 used in Mk3 Focus's.  We don't see many issues with the 1.5's on here.  Just occasional diesel leaks from the fuel filter or a small round part in the fuel line.  The odd tank fuel pump failure.  And some of the DPF's are starting to fail now.  Cambelt is also recommended every 10 years so that's likely to be due on a 2016 model, unless it's done high mileage and already had a belt done.

The 120PS 1.5 was miles better than any of the 1.6s

I had Fiesta 08 1.6 90

Focus 11 (MK2.5) 1.6 115

Focus 12 1.6 115 (rejected, wouldn't go over 65MPH)

Fiesta 13 1.6 95 Econetic

Then the Focus 16 1.5 120

Then a Focus 19 1.5 which was blooming awful and falling to bits after 18 months and only averaged about 52 MPG

The MK3.5 1.5 was more responsive, more torquey, much quieter and used to average 59 MPG

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah this one falls into the £20 a year tax under the new tax bands for 2025 so that's a plus 

I'm going to see it this evening and take it for a drive and give it a good once over.  

 

Is there anything particularly that I would need to look for in the MK3.5 bar the usual stuff ?

 

 

1 hour ago, DaveT70 said:

The 120PS 1.5 was miles better than any of the 1.6s

 

Focus 12 1.6 115 (rejected, wouldn't go over 65MPH)

You can't count a broken one.  

You're welcome to your opinion of course, but personally I found the 8v 115ps to be very good.  So good in fact that I didn't feel the need to remap it, after coming from a mapped 16v Mk2.  VNT turbo tech had moved on by then.  Your 95ps Fiesta would still have been wastegate so a different drive altogether. 

8 minutes ago, sonic113 said:

Is there anything particularly that I would need to look for in the MK3.5 bar the usual stuff ?

Water leaks!  Check boot & spare wheel well, and footwells.  Door seals usually fall off and people don't bother to refit them properly.  Also check AC works and is ice cold.  And check the clutch & gearbox carefully.

For my money, I would go for a 1.6 diesel over the 1.5. The 1.5 is a twin camshaft, with a chain drive between the camshafts, which is a common fail point (look on Peugeot/Citroen forums and you will see).

I've got a 2015, 65 plate 1.6 C Max (overgrown Focus), so it is Euro 6 (can go into LEZ's free), single camshaft, no AdBlue, and is still only £35 to tax.

As said previously, anything first registered after March 2017 is higher tax bracket now.

2 minutes ago, Alan G H said:

For my money, I would go for a 1.6 diesel over the 1.5. The 1.5 is a twin camshaft, with a chain drive between the camshafts, which is a common fail point (look on Peugeot/Citroen forums and you will see).

That's only for the 1.5 EcoBlue in the Mk4 Focus (2018 onwards).

1.5 TDCI in Mk3.5 Focus is still single cam 8 valve.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Water leaks!  Check boot & spare wheel well, and footwells.  Door seals usually fall off and people don't bother to refit them properly.  Also check AC works and is ice cold.  And check the clutch & gearbox carefully.

Thanks Tom, 

 

Will have a look at these when I see it later this evening. 

Appreciate the help 👍

 

so went this evening and had a look. overall pretty impressed.

Took it for a test drive and car drives perfectly, clutch gearbox handling all happy with.

 

only two things that are eating me a little.

1) its got sync2 instead of sync3

2) its titanium spec but I thought the Titanium came with a reverse camera as standard. would one be hard to retrofit?

Not really major things I know but would be good to know if I could retrofit these later down the line as everything else I'm happy with and Locally or within my area I haven't saw a better deal for my budget so just am thinking about saying yes to this one.

Just downloaded the ford brochure for this model and it has details of all trims and what comes as standard. 

Picking car up this week and will do little bits over the next few weeks to it.

Will be adding a reverse camera if possible and or sync 3 or looking at the possible of a android head unit kit or something of the sorts.

 

Will have a browse on here and see what others little mods ect are available.

 

4 hours ago, sonic113 said:

Will have a browse on here and see what others little mods

If you want to tell me the VIN, I'll get the Ford build sheet for you.

4 hours ago, unofix said:

If you want to tell me the VIN, I'll get the Ford build sheet for you.

Appreciate that but I don't got the vin at the moment to hand. I'm happy enough using the brochure as a quick ref guide to what the Titanium offers has standard.

Thanks again

On 4/11/2025 at 12:51 PM, TomsFocus said:

but personally I found the 8v 115ps to be very good

Yes, I should've said.

The Mk2.5 1.6 115 was a really lovely car and the salesman had to fight it off me, giving me a really good deal to change at 12 months into the MK3 2012 115 which eventually had to be rejected due to running issues. I really regret not standing my ground and keeping the Mk2.5

But the torque curve in the MK3.5 120PS was way better and the fuel economy, but, maybe, that was due to the gearbox

The Fiesta 2013 Titanium Econetic was a damn good car too

On 4/12/2025 at 1:06 AM, sonic113 said:

1) its got sync2 instead of sync3

Normal rule of thumb is, if it's got LED DRLs it's got Sync3

 

On 4/12/2025 at 1:06 AM, sonic113 said:

2) its titanium spec but I thought the Titanium came with a reverse camera as standard. would one be hard to retrofit?

Camera option, anything is possible but you may not have the wiring.

You can also be put in touch with someone on here who can convert your Sync2 into Sync3 if it's the right car

33 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

Normal rule of thumb is, if it's got LED DRLs it's got Sync3

 

Camera option, anything is possible but you may not have the wiring.

You can also be put in touch with someone on here who can convert your Sync2 into Sync3 if it's the right car

Thanks Dave, Will be picking car up mid week so will have a better idea of what wiring ect is there.

 

Appreciate the input.

Thanks

congrats on the new car @sonic113 I'm sure you're gonna love it even more when its sat on your driveway.

After a very harrowing car buying experience (I've written about on another post), yesterday, I put a deposit down on a beautiful 1 owner from new, full Ford service history, mk3 2013 Focus 1.6T Zetec S. Its being prepped at the moment so hopefully I should have it delivered by the end of the week. So Im in the same boat as you. I went for the 1.6 ecoboost petrol as it has a drybelt.

On 4/11/2025 at 12:54 PM, TomsFocus said:

Water leaks!  Check boot & spare wheel well, and footwells.  Door seals usually fall off and people don't bother to refit them properly.  Also check AC works and is ice cold.  And check the clutch & gearbox carefully.

i meant to mention that on inspection the ac was not working. Just blowing hot air so I said I wanted it fixed before a final sale and that it probably just needed a regas. He booked it in this morning and the guys said that after a regas it still wasn't working so they think its needs a new condenser which  they are replacing with a new one. Fingers crossed that resolves it.

4 hours ago, Pburgess2208 said:

congrats on the new car @sonic113 I'm sure you're gonna love it even more when its sat on your driveway.

After a very harrowing car buying experience (I've written about on another post), yesterday, I put a deposit down on a beautiful 1 owner from new, full Ford service history, mk3 2013 Focus 1.6T Zetec S. Its being prepped at the moment so hopefully I should have it delivered by the end of the week. So Im in the same boat as you. I went for the 1.6 ecoboost petrol as it has a drybelt.

congrats. I would of loved to have gone petrol again but went diesel. Should do our family well as our daily driver but cant fault our old mk2.5 1.6 zetec giving our just over 200,000 hassle free miles all being just the usual wear and tear bits over the years. Was an absolute pleasure to own.

3 hours ago, sonic113 said:

i meant to mention that on inspection the ac was not working. Just blowing hot air so I said I wanted it fixed before a final sale and that it probably just needed a regas. He booked it in this morning and the guys said that after a regas it still wasn't working so they think its needs a new condenser which  they are replacing with a new one. Fingers crossed that resolves it.

Hmm, that sounds odd.  If the condenser was leaking it wouldn't have held vacuum and would have been illegal for them to regas it.

My Mk3 AC was broken at 6 years old.  Even after a new condenser and two new pipes it still wouldn't hold gas for more than 2 weeks.  That was a pre-facelift though, they were notorious for impossible leaks (probably behind the dash).  I don't know whether any improvements were made to the facelift system.

If it does get fixed, make sure you check it at least once a week over the next few months to make sure it is completely fixed.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Hmm, that sounds odd.  If the condenser was leaking it wouldn't have held vacuum and would have been illegal for them to regas it.

My Mk3 AC was broken at 6 years old.  Even after a new condenser and two new pipes it still wouldn't hold gas for more than 2 weeks.  That was a pre-facelift though, they were notorious for impossible leaks (probably behind the dash).  I don't know whether any improvements were made to the facelift system.

If it does get fixed, make sure you check it at least once a week over the next few months to make sure it is completely fixed.

Will do, I will know more mid week. Will update then. 👍

So little update AC now working. Picking it up tonight so pretty exited to drive home later😁

On 4/11/2025 at 12:51 PM, TomsFocus said:

You can't count a broken one.  

You're welcome to your opinion of course, but personally I found the 8v 115ps to be very good.  So good in fact that I didn't feel the need to remap it, after coming from a mapped 16v Mk2.  VNT turbo tech had moved on by then.  Your 95ps Fiesta would still have been wastegate so a different drive altogether. 

Got a quick question- ended up cleaning the egr in my car as well as a new clutch kit/ timing belt kit in my 1.5 tdci. I was looking at potentially getting it remapped- is it worth it? I have read the box can only take a certain amount of torque right?