Hi,

I have been on here before and am trying to help my son decide on his next purchase. I wish both I and he knew before we purchased the Focus about the wet belt systems. I helped him make the purchase ( Focus St Line Auto on a 71 plate). He does far more mileage than myself and the mileage is now 30,000. I've ensured that we both have the oil and filter changed every year and serviced when required. Now I don't profess to know much. I've advised him to consider purchasing a Toyota CHR Hybrid Auto , BMW 116i auto, Polo auto or Golf auto . I'm sure he would like a Focus ( not electric) but the wet belt problem would still persist?

I'm hoping that the models mentioned are not wet belts. He will test drive them all and decide his next purchase. I'm hoping that the cars mentioned aren't expensive to maintain and insure. On his behalf, may I please have guidance, help and advice on all the models? 

Thanks in advance.

29 minutes ago, fiesta boy said:

I wish both I and he knew before we purchased the Focus about the wet belt systems. I helped him make the purchase ( Focus St Line Auto on a 71 plate).

The Mk4 and Mk4.5 Focus does not use a wet timing belt, the exception being the 2.0 EcoBlue. They do still have a wet oil pump belt.

Good luck trying to find a new petrol model that does not have any wet belt, even VW use them in some models 😉

You could try a BMW I don't think they have a wet belt, I know they don't have indicators 🤣

Afaik the CHR, BMW and the Golf/Polo (petrol) do not have wet belts. Same applies to sister VW Group models ie Audi A3/A1, SEAT Leon/Ibiza, Skoda Octavia/Fabia.

Some VW Group diesels do, as mentioned, main other user of wet belts is Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall) in their Puretech engined models (though very recent ones have gone chain). Honda Civic (previous generation) had one in the 1.0 petrols.

BMW definitely do not have wet belts in either diesel or petrol versions.

As regards servicing they are normally conditioned based ie around 16k or 2 years, though most people will do an interim oil and filter service.

For more advice try the following forum:  BMW Forums : BimmerForums

 

 

Thank you Eric Bloodaxe, unofix for replying and giving me your views , on my son's behalf. Thank you (boristhebold)) for advising me to try the 

 BMW Forums : BimmerForums.

I would be happy and pleased for further views from anyone.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, fiesta boy said:

Thank you Eric Bloodaxe, 

You're welcome, Martin.

Perhaps you could clarify whether you are looking at new or nearly new/used as many ICE models have been discontinued of late.

The BMW 1 series for example now starts with the 120I (confusingly a 1.5 3 cylinder basically as per the MINI Cooper.

Production of the Focus itself ends this month and will only be available from remaining stock.

Thank you Eric,

I haven't been on here since you replied; sorry about that. Afraid I have been having issues that have meant that my mind was on other things. There's no way Craig will be looking at new cars because of his budget; it will have to be used cars. Knowing my son, he wants a car that's similar in shape to a Focus and auto and 5 doors. Hence why I mentioned the cars that might interest him and he will have to do "test drives" to narrow the choice down.

Pardon my ignorance. What's ICE?

14 minutes ago, fiesta boy said:

What's ICE?

Internal Combustion Engine. One that burns dinosaur juice rather than a battery operated motor.

22 minutes ago, fiesta boy said:

What's ICE?

Sometimes used to refer to "In Car Entertainment", but in this context I meant engine as Paul has already said. Sorry for any confusion, there's enough already in searching for cars!

26 minutes ago, pcaouolte said:

Internal Combustion Engine. One that burns dinosaur juice rather than a battery operated motor.

Thank you

 

15 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Sometimes used to refer to "In Car Entertainment", but in this context I meant engine as Paul has already said. Sorry for any confusion, there's enough already in searching for cars!

LOL. Hmm. I showed my ignorance but I'm only a driver .  It's a shame that the Focus ' have issues with wet belts but as I already said before. If only I/we knew

A couple of further suggestions come to mind. 

The Toyota Corolla is closer in concept to a Focus than a C-HR being a 5 door hatch.

Current Honda Civic is also a 2 pedal hybrid 5 door hatch and has now been around long enough to fall into the nearly new - up to 3 years old bracket. 

I found both very pleasant to drive when I last had a round of test drives.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

The Toyota Corolla is closer in concept to a Focus than a C-HR being a 5 door hatch.

Current Honda Civic is also a 2 pedal hybrid 5 door hatch and has now been around long enough to fall into the nearly new - up to 3 years old bracket. 

You have to be careful with foreign cars, the US have ICE checking them out 🤣

 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On 11/21/2025 at 7:17 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

A couple of further suggestions come to mind. 

The Toyota Corolla is closer in concept to a Focus than a C-HR being a 5 door hatch.

Current Honda Civic is also a 2 pedal hybrid 5 door hatch and has now been around long enough to fall into the nearly new - up to 3 years old bracket. 

I found both very pleasant to drive when I last had a round of test drives.

Thank you Eric. I will have to advise my son. Am I mistaken? I could have sworn it was mentioned that Honda Civics also had wet belts?. If I'm incorrect I apologise. I will encourage my son to test drive  before deciding which he likes best. It will depend on his budget.  I  won't want him to go much above 20k ish?

On 11/21/2025 at 8:21 PM, unofix said:

You have to be careful with foreign cars, the US have ICE checking them out 🤣

 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Thank you unofix. It it isn't the govt after us, we now have the US. We can't win

36 minutes ago, fiesta boy said:

Am I mistaken? I could have sworn it was mentioned that Honda Civics also had wet belts?.

It was, but that was in respect of the previous generation which had a turbocharged 1.0 3 cylinder and was something of a rare slip-up for Honda.

The current generation (the 11th!) is a completely different proposition. The sole powertrain option (other than the Type-R hot version) is a 2.0 4 cylinder full hybrid.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/civic/356598/new-honda-civic-2022-review

On 11/21/2025 at 7:17 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

A couple of further suggestions come to mind. 

The Toyota Corolla is closer in concept to a Focus than a C-HR being a 5 door hatch.

Current Honda Civic is also a 2 pedal hybrid 5 door hatch and has now been around long enough to fall into the nearly new - up to 3 years old bracket. 

I found both very pleasant to drive when I last had a round of test drives.

Hi Eric,

I think I am losing it. I could have sworn I replied to your comment about the Corolla and if not mistaken I added that I would encourage my son to test drive the models I mentioned, I then thought I said that the hybrid cars were mentioned in the recent budget and that plug in hybrid drivers will be charged mileage rates? If that's the case and especially after what happened to diesel car owners, it's best to avoid such a scenario and not go for hybrid cars? ( I can't find any of that).

I will definitely look at the link you've kindly provided; thank you.

Furthermore, the ford st line's came with a 999 cc engine. Do any of the models such as Bmw,Toyota CHR Hybrid Auto , BMW 116i auto, Polo auto or Golf auto come with something similar ( engines)? Somehow, I don't think so. P.S If I may, Eric , the questions are for anyone who might know, not just you.

Seeing as both myself and my son have wet belt cars, I too will be in a similar position to him and looking for alternatives . Mind you I am nearly double his age

 

4 hours ago, fiesta boy said:

plug in hybrid drivers will be charged mileage rates? 

Corolla and Civic I mentioned are not plug in hybrids (PHEV). They are self charging hybrids (FHEV) and not subject to the budget proposals.

14 hours ago, fiesta boy said:

Furthermore, the ford st line's came with a 999 cc engine. Do any of the models such as Bmw,Toyota CHR Hybrid Auto , BMW 116i auto, Polo auto or Golf auto come with something similar ( engines)? Somehow, I don't think so.

Of those, only the Polo is available with a 1.0 auto. (Not a wet belt, btw.). 

With respect, I really think you (or your son) need to do some more basic research and decide what size/power car you're actually looking for.  Most of these sort of queries can easily be answered with a quick Google. 

For instance, the BMW 116I was a previous generation model. The current version (2019 on) uses the 1.5 3 cylinder as its core engine, as already mentioned earlier.

14 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Corolla and Civic I mentioned are not plug in hybrids (PHEV). They are self charging hybrids (FHEV) and not subject to the budget proposals.

Thank you Eric. I was just concerned that the Govt want to screw us , drivers and after the diesel debacle I was just trying to safeguard myself. (Yes I knew that they were talking about plug in hybrids). Thanks for putting up with me.

6 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Of those, only the Polo is available with a 1.0 auto. (Not a wet belt, btw.). 

With respect, I really think you (or your son) need to do some more basic research and decide what size/power car you're actually looking for.  Most of these sort of queries can easily be answered with a quick Google. 

For instance, the BMW 116I was a previous generation model. The current version (2019 on) uses the 1.5 3 cylinder as its core engine, as already mentioned earlier.

You are not being disrespectful. Far from it. I apologise and yes you are right. We  ( or rather me) need to do our own research. Thanks again, Eric.

11 minutes ago, fiesta boy said:

I was just concerned that the Govt want to screw us ,

I think we all share your concern there!😀

 

Car design evolves. Certainly BMWs have chain driven camshafts but the chains are seriously under engineered and they stretch like knicker elastic and then they break. Because cars are now designed not to hurt stupid people who walk out in front of them (Rather than having big spikes on the front in support of Darwin,) the engine has to be turned around so that the engine must come out to change the chain. The wet belt is a known quantity. Use the right oil. Change it at half oil life. Warm the engine up gently. Change the belts when it gets to 100,000 miles. It might go bang. Like most modern cars might and the Ford is no worse than average.

On 12/29/2025 at 3:29 PM, anon said:

Car design evolves. Certainly BMWs have chain driven camshafts but the chains are seriously under engineered and they stretch like knicker elastic and then they break. Because cars are now designed not to hurt stupid people who walk out in front of them (Rather than having big spikes on the front in support of Darwin,) the engine has to be turned around so that the engine must come out to change the chain. The wet belt is a known quantity. Use the right oil. Change it at half oil life. Warm the engine up gently. Change the belts when it gets to 100,000 miles. It might go bang. Like most modern cars might and the Ford is no worse than average.

Many Thanks. Happy New Year, too. My son is keen on the BMW 1 series and his other choice is the Vw Golf; he finds the polo rather small in size. I've also recommended that perhaps he should also consider the Audi. Neither myself nor my son know much about car's however (we are novices). We will be relying on the advice that others may give us.

Everybody has their own prejudices. read a few magazine road tests before making any decisions as they are more likely to be impartial.