Looking at buying my first focus in the next month.

Lady at work I work closely with is selling hers

It's a 1.6d 2011 titanium sport with 150k on the clock.

Full ford service history been in her family from new.

Last mot 6 months ago shows

Nearside Rear Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement trailing arm bush (5.3.4 (a) (i))

• Offside Rear Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement trailing arm bush (5.3.4 (a) (i))

• Rear Suspension arm corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))

So a couple of jobs I know I need to do on it, she's asking for £800

Interior is spotless, only thing needs doing is the button for the heated screen is a bit worn.

What should I look for (timing belt has just been done last week) as well as a full service

Hi David,

First step is to establish exactly what version this is. The Focus changed from the Mk 2 to the Mk 3 in late 2010 and "run out" versions of the Mk 2 were still being sold into 2011.

I don't recognise "Titanium Sport" as a model designation, Ford did do a "Sport" as a late version of the Mk 2, and offered a "sport pack" (larger wheels, etc) as an optional extra at times.

See this recent thread on identification:

Timing belt and full service would've cost £500+. Seems very odd to do that and then sell the car for £800 a week later.

Check the clutch doesn't slip. Check the AC is ice cold. Check the spare wheel well isn't wet.

She selling it as it was her dad's who has passed away suddenly, she thought she would be ok with a manual but she finds it too hard

It has titanium on the back and sales docs but shows as an S on car checks

It's a mk2.5

Ford FOCUS HATCHBACK TITANIUM SPECIAL EDITIONS 1.6 TDCi Sport 5dr [110] [DPF]

• Manual

• Diesel

• Black

So, a very late Mk 2.5 Titanium then. Hope you'll post a pic if you go ahead with the purchase.

As with any 15 year old check carefully for rust - there have been issues with the sills just behind the front wheel arches in particular, also the wings and rear subframe.

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/146841-rust-comes-as-standard/

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/130560-rear-subframe-woes-mk2/

The key operated bonnet release features pretty regularly as an issue.

There are still quite a few owners on here who can help with queries, also plenty of other threads in the Focus section which is worth a browse. Many owners still rate this more highly than the later versions.

So for £800, does this sound good, the boot in bone dry no rust on wheel arches.

Would it be worth swapping the bonnet release to the uprated version? I have a budget of £600 to get it spot on which covers the suspension work (replacement arms) replacement bonnet ( heavily stained replacement from local scrap yard is £150 for a near perfect example in colour)

Looking at that more closely going to need wing mirror repeaters, (are those graduated ones any good?) and an aerial both of which aren't big jobs. ( Famous last words).

Might setup a mini project site on my main website documenting me getting it in this condition getting it prestine, would anyone find that interesting?

11 hours ago, b787register said:

So for £800, does this sound good?

For a running and driving car in 2026, yes.

But you will have to spend way more on it over the years. I'd be very surprised if you can get it 'spot on' for another £600. I bought one of these at 6 years old that needed more than £600 of work even then. If you're just going to leave it as it is and run it ona shoestring until the engine fails or chassis rots then it's a good buy. But having tried to make old cars 'spot on' myself in the past, I know just how expensive that is to do.

Yes, I'm with Tom on this one, I'd just regard it as cheap motoring (assuming diesel prices ever fall again!) until something drastic happens. Might be different if it was an RS or ST. If you do particularly want a project, though, there are lots of threads in the Focus and the Project and Build sections of the site.

If that's a pic of the actual car in question I'd be inclined to see what I could do to tidy up the existing bonnet (clay bar, etc) if its otherwise sound.

Looks as if they are the 18" alloys, so it may well have the sports pack option. Might be possible to find the original build details from the VIN?

Thread on bonnet locks including links:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/154573-replacement-bonnet-lock-focus-mk2/

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Looks as if they are the 18" alloys, so it may well have the sports pack option. Might be possible to find the original build details from the VIN?

They're 16's, designed to look like the 18" snowflakes on the ST.

Sport was a runout trim, only available in 2011 iirc, however I've never seen Titanium mentioned with it. It does have the sight & light pack like Titanium, but misses other Titanium features like rear electric windows. It should have the sat nav headunit with the large LCD cluster display.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

They're 16's, designed to look like the 18" snowflakes on the ST.

Its hard to see at an angle, but yeah, they probably are. My recollection, like yours, is that "Sport" was a standalone end of line model, no other name involved. The mention of Titanium is what made me think 18" as when I got mine in late 2010 there was a sport pack option with 18s on that model. In fact I think one of my first posts on here was about that!

It would be interesting to see what the V5C and the build data say (can we get that far back if we have the VIN?)

Here's a listing for a Sport with a good range of pics, no badging apart from Focus and TDCI:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202603090550045?

Just looking at the interior pics reminded me of another minor thing - the tendency of the audio stalk switch to rattle and drive you nuts! Mine was replaced under warranty, dealer said they'd done loads.

I keep forgetting this very useful resource:

https://www.talkford.com/threads/2011-04-ford-focus-sales-brochure.402656/

Just "Sport" in this brochure. Perhaps someone slapped on a Titanium badge or a S/H tailgate c/w badge was fitted at some point.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

It would be interesting to see what the V5C and the build data say (can we get that far back if we have the VIN?)

ETIS and VIN decoders don't show official trim level names unfortunately. They show the 'series' which I suspect get different names in different countries.

The V5 would be the only way to confirm what this car was registered as. Dealerships can write whatever they want on the V5 (or at least they could a few years ago). The 'how many left' site is often inaccurate due to that as the same cars can get registered under slightly different names.

The Fordzona.sk site shows "version" and correctly identifies mine as a Fiesta ST3. Dont know how far back it goes, though.

17 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

The Fordzona.sk site shows "version" and correctly identifies mine as a Fiesta ST3. Dont know how far back it goes, though.

You're lucky then! 😁

That's only decoding the series number though. It doesn't show the V5 registration. I suspect there aren't many variations of ST3.

This car shows as a Trend on there. We didn't even get those in the UK.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

You're lucky then! 😁

Lol, doesn't always seem that way!

Reg check here just brings up Focus Sport TDCI:

https://www.checkcardetails.co.uk/cardetails/Av11njj

Thanks all interesting reading!

Well it's an upgrade from my Renault Clio 1.2 2007!

Good detective work there from Holmes and Watson !

Yep many thanks!!

Got her down to 500 on it

Not a bad deal in my opinion

I wouldn’t even worry about those rear arms advisories for now, I had them show on MOT for years on my last focus. And have an advisory on my current car for them. As long as they aren’t moving I would save you money until your tester says they need doing or if you notice any symptoms, especially so on a bargain car like that. You never know what might crop up in the mean time, between tests.