After having a Peugeot for almost a year, I'm coming back to ford (Peugeot suspension life sucks, but I digress) what MK4 should I be going for, I need to get an auto as my gf can only drive autos, I don't mind diesels though I know any that have the 2.0 /2.2 have wetbelt issues.

Many thanks anyone who responds.

I have a 2019 Focus 2.0 EcoBlue Estate. It's an Auto with the 8 speed box and rotary dial for the selector. I've owned it from it being only a few months old (Ex Arnold Clark demo).

It currently has about 34.000 miles on it and other than a new battery and the brake discs/pads nothing other than services has been needed. Overall I'm very pleased with how it handles (the estate gets better suspension). The engine is very quick to respond and it gets about 46mpg just mainly doing trips of 10 to 12 miles at a time. If the exact same car was still available to be bought new then I'd probably buy the same again. As it is, I'll probably end up keeping it forever.

7 minutes ago, unofix said:

I have a 2019 Focus 2.0 EcoBlue Estate. It's an Auto with the 8 speed box and rotary dial for the selector. I've owned it from it being only a few months old (Ex Arnold Clark demo).

It currently has about 34.000 miles on it and other than a new battery and the brake discs/pads nothing other than services has been needed. Overall I'm very pleased with how it handles (the estate gets better suspension). The engine is very quick to respond and it gets about 46mpg just mainly doing trips of 10 to 12 miles at a time. If the exact same car was still available to be bought new then I'd probably buy the same again. As it is, I'll probably end up keeping it forever.

Ah thats interesting as I thought they had the same reliability issues as the MK3 1.0 ecobooms in terms of the wet belt

8 minutes ago, Neb_engineer said:

I thought they had the same reliability issues as the MK3 1.0 ecobooms in terms of the wet belt

Perhaps they do 🙁

On the whole I've not seen anyone with the Focus 2.0 EcoBlue report a belt failure, although the Transit with the same engine seems to suffer quite badly. Ford reduced the belt replacement down to 6 years for the Transit but left it at 10 years for the Focus.

I also have recently bought a 2022 Ford Ranger 2.0 EcoBlue, so I really do hope that by servicing and oil/filter changes both cars will live a long life.

2 minutes ago, unofix said:

Perhaps they do 🙁

On the whole I've not seen anyone with the Focus 2.0 EcoBlue report a belt failure, although the Transit with the same engine seems to suffer quite badly. Ford reduced the belt replacement down to 6 years for the Transit but left it at 10 years for the Focus.

I also have recently bought a 2022 Ford Ranger 2.0 EcoBlue, so I really do hope that by servicing and oil/filter changes both cars will live a long life.

Yeah I was going of the horror stories from the transit owners, my current pug has the 1.5 (same engine as in the focuses) was looking at those mostly due not wanting a wetbelt but wanted opinions. As I say my current pug has managed to kill two sets of front suspension in under a year so jumping ship back to ford.

I have a 1.5 Petrol 5 door Manual and I think it is an excellent Engine, it's the new 3 Cylinder Dragon Engine with almost small Diesel Engine Torque but much faster.

My overall Fuel Consumption is in the low 40's 50 on a long run but the Book Figures for the Auto versions are worse than the Manual versions, unless you do a small mileage you would be better off with a Diesel.

40 minutes ago, Neb_engineer said:

Ah thats interesting as I thought they had the same reliability issues as the MK3 1.0 ecobooms in terms of the wet belt

The Mk 4 in 1.0 and 1.5 3 cylinder petrol form have timing chains not cambelts. They do however still have a wet belt to drive the oil pump, but it's still a bit early to comment fully on reliability.

What we do know is the timing chain has to be removed to access the oil pump belt which requires changing at 150k or 10 years whichever first. Probably prudent to renew the chain at that point, so virtually as big and expensive a job as on the earlier engines.

43 minutes ago, Tizer said:

I have a 1.5 Petrol 5 door Manual and I think it is an excellent Engine, it's the new 3 Cylinder Dragon Engine with almost small Diesel Engine Torque but much faster.

My overall Fuel Consumption is in the low 40's 50 on a long run but the Book Figures for the Auto versions are worse than the Manual versions, unless you do a small mileage you would be better off with a Diesel.

I should probably specify my current pug is a diesel 1.5

11 hours ago, Neb_engineer said:

I should probably specify my current pug is a diesel 1.5

The one that snaps camchains?

29 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The one that snaps camchains?

I so far haven't had issues with that, and from what I have seen it's predominantly those engines paired to a manual that snap the chains, maybe more shock going through the engine?

It seems like basically all modern engines have an Achilles heel of some type.

20 minutes ago, Neb_engineer said:

I so far haven't had issues with that, and from what I have seen it's predominantly those engines paired to a manual that snap the chains, maybe more shock going through the engine?

It seems like basically all modern engines have an Achilles heel of some type.

I have seen it on a few automatic Fords.  We seem to average one or two a month on here, both manual and auto.

The Peugeots might use a different autobox, my Peugeot days are long gone unfortunately so I just don't know.

Completely agree that every engine seems to have a weak point nowadays though.

22 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I have seen it on a few automatic Fords.  We seem to average one or two a month on here, both manual and auto.

The Peugeots might use a different autobox, my Peugeot days are long gone unfortunately so I just don't know.

Completely agree that every engine seems to have a weak point nowadays though.

Ah interesting, I wonder if on the pugs the really rubbish 6 speed auto (it's good but rubbish on economy because it is far closer to a old auto box Vs a modern one) might actually be saving the engines.

But yeah it comes back to the predicament of which engine should I be looking for (diesel bias)

Well, there are only 2 diesels available if you're set on a Mk4.

The 1.5 EcoBlue with a potentially dodgy camchain.  Or the 2.0 EcoBlue with a potentially dodgy wetbelt.

Early 1.5 EcoBlue's don't have Adblue, which you may or may not consider an advantage.  They need more frequent oil changes, but obviously no Adblue components to go wrong.

And as Unofix says, the 2.0 EcoBlue seems to be reliable in the Focus, despite appearing to be identical to the one in the vans and trucks which have proven not to be reliable.

I can't remember whether both engines use the same autobox or not.  @DaveT70 will know.

12 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I can't remember whether both engines use the same autobox or not.  @DaveT70 will know.

Yes, 8F40 I believe

If I managed to find a 1.5 with the 8mm chain already changed (because the original 7mm snapped) would that be a good buy or would it snap again?

48 minutes ago, Neb_engineer said:

If I managed to find a 1.5 with the 8mm chain already changed (because the original 7mm snapped) would that be a good buy or would it snap again?

I haven't seen any 8mm chains snap yet.

They were fitted as standard from around 2022.

If the chain has snapped previously is there any risk buying that car? One on the shortlist I'm looking at is in this situation.

4 minutes ago, Neb_engineer said:

If the chain has snapped previously is there any risk buying that car? One on the shortlist I'm looking at is in this situation.

Oh, I see what you mean.

If it was repaired by Ford they usually end up fitting a full new engine, so no risk.

If it's been repaired by a DIY'er then we would need to know exactly how much was replaced and personally I'd want to see a compression test from after the repair.  

In theory there shouldn't be any extra risk if it was repaired properly.

Just now, TomsFocus said:

Oh, I see what you mean.

If it was repaired by Ford they usually end up fitting a full new engine, so no risk.

If it's been repaired by a DIY'er then we would need to know exactly how much was replaced and personally I'd want to see a compression test from after the repair.  

In theory there shouldn't be any extra risk if it was repaired properly.

It was repaired by the dealership advertising it, but id assume if it's had the 8mm chain put on it, it would have to had to have the full 8mm kit fitted?

2 minutes ago, Neb_engineer said:

It was repaired by the dealership advertising it, but id assume if it's had the 8mm chain put on it, it would have to had to have the full 8mm kit fitted?

Hmm, if it's a Ford (or Peugeot) dealership, they should know what they're doing. 

Could you ask to see the repair invoice to prove exactly what was changed?

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Hmm, if it's a Ford (or Peugeot) dealership, they should know what they're doing. 

Could you ask to see the repair invoice to prove exactly what was changed?

Will do when I go see it on Saturday 

On 5/12/2025 at 8:06 PM, TomsFocus said:

Hmm, if it's a Ford (or Peugeot) dealership, they should know what they're doing. 

Could you ask to see the repair invoice to prove exactly what was changed?

I bought the car, it turns out the chain hadn't snapped, but they replaced it preemptively with the 8mm