My Candy Red Focus Titanium

[chrisroberson99]

Seeing as I'm not far off from being 17, I went car shopping today with my dad, and had a look at this, a 2014 Titanium 1.0 Ecoboost 125ps  

& bought it!!!  To say I'm elated is an understatement....I've got my dream car!! 

More details to follow next week when we collect it...

[Ford_Man]

Nice one Chris, I am not sure how many times I've seen you bang on about a candy red focus ;) haha!

All the best with learning to drive and look after your wheels.

I hope you did an insurance quote before the purchase :)

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[chrisroberson99]

Thanks! Haha I know I've been waiting for a long time!

Don't worry, I did! Cheapest was Tesco at £1,516 for the first year, not too bad for a new driver! 

Can't wait now to get on the road!

[TomsFocus]

Not jealous at all!  

Nice one Chris, good luck with the test!

[jmurray01]

Wow, great find!  I know from my personal experience that you'll learn much quicker and have more motivation (as if you need any extra!) when you have your own car parked outside. 

Ironically £1,500 is the same amount I was quoted for my 405, which I was fairly happy with.  Well, not happy, but you know what I mean

I'm looking forward to seeing more information on the Focus, and hopefully you'll pass your test ASAP so you can fully enjoy the car.

Will you get experience driving it with your Mum/Dad?

[rm9]

Very pretty i must say. I'm waiting for my new focus to finally be delivered to the dealers. Not too long to go now :P Dealer could ring at any moment. I was exactly like you when i was coming up to 17 last august. I passed my theory test on my 17th birthday :P passed driving test last november and ordered my new focus on the 16th of march. Latest possible delivery date is on the 21st of may. the suspense is killing me haha. Good luck with all your revision, tests and driving. I hope to see you at ford fair :P

[chrisroberson99]

10 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Not jealous at all!  

Nice one Chris, good luck with the test!

Thanks Tom! It hasn't really sunk in yet! 

9 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

Wow, great find!  I know from my personal experience that you'll learn much quicker and have more motivation (as if you need any extra!) when you have your own car parked outside. 

Ironically £1,500 is the same amount I was quoted for my 405, which I was fairly happy with.  Well, not happy, but you know what I mean

I'm looking forward to seeing more information on the Focus, and hopefully you'll pass your test ASAP so you can fully enjoy the car.

Will you get experience driving it with your Mum/Dad?

Cheers, yes I'm even more determined now than I was before, and my license should be here next week all ready for June. Hopefully the DVLA will spell my name correctly this time!  

Yes I plan to, itll live at my dads for now, and he might use it occasionally to to stop the bsttery getting low. Its only just over a month now till my brithday so not long! After that itll live at my mums and ill rpbsbly drive to school and back with her everyday. I already drove the Focus a little bit at a dead end and manged to stall it! The clutch was very different to the Peugeot and Kia I've driven previously. I can tell I'm going to love this car! I absolutely adore the colour! 

6 hours ago, rm9 said:

Very pretty i must say. I'm waiting for my new focus to finally be delivered to the dealers. Not too long to go now :P Dealer could ring at any moment. I was exactly like you when i was coming up to 17 last august. I passed my theory test on my 17th birthday :P passed driving test last november and ordered my new focus on the 16th of march. Latest possible delivery date is on the 21st of may. the suspense is killing me haha. Good luck with all your revision, tests and driving. I hope to see you at ford fair :P

Wow you did well! I'm already learning for my theory so aim to pass it pretty quickly after my birthday, although a week in Germany the day after my birthday doesn't help! New Focus sounds great, I'm sure you'll love it!

[alexp999]

Nice one. Need to update your profile pic with your real car now :)

[simcor]

Congratulations, however one small word of advice.

It amazes me how many people buy a new or nearly new car for their first car, whether you can afford to or not isn't the question. But statistically due to inexperience in the first year of driving you are more likely to be involved in a crash and or to write a car off. This can be a very expensive lesson to learn especially if the car is on finance and you don't have GAP insurance. I have known people buy a pretty new/new car and had it written off and left paying finance on car they don;t have any more, not to mention a high insurance cost that is cancelled when the company pay out, which you still have to pay for if in instalments, you also need to find the money for a new car and new insurance on top of that.

You only really start learning how to drive once you have passed your test, driving lessons only teach so much.

Personally myself I would always suggest new drivers buy an older car for at least the first year until they have a bit of real world driving experience, just my opinion of course.

Having said that I hope the new car serves you well and you enjoy it and hope you are not one of those statistics.

[alexp999]

It depends how much driving you have done leading up to passing your test. The more the better.

I ended up driving my mums car to sixth form after passing my test as she didn't use it very often and it was the car I learnt in.

That was only about 5yrs old iirc.

The important thing is just to give yourself lots of time to think and react. Most accidents are as a result of people driving too fast or too close and not paying attention.

The 1.0 focus is a great car, although I personally would have found it too big to be my first car.

[chrisroberson99]

36 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Nice one. Need to update your profile pic with your real car now :)

Cheers, just done it and my signature! 

@simcor Yeah I totally understand that, but my parents decided that it would be better to have a newer, safer car for me to drive around in. Probably gives them some comfort that if I do have a crash  (I will do all I can not to!) That I will be surrounded by airbags. Luckily it's not on finance so we would just have to worry about replacing it. Hopefully it won't come to that! I would be gutted. Thanks for the advice, though! 

Me acllornd my friend will probably spend the week arguing whether my Focus or his Fiesta Titanium are the better car! 

[simcor]

1 minute ago, chrisroberson99 said:

Cheers, just done it and my signature! 

@simcor Yeah I totally understand that, but my parents decided that it would be better to have a newer, safer car for me to drive around in. Probably gives them some comfort that if I do have a crash  (I will do all I can not to!) That I will be surrounded by airbags. Luckily it's not on finance so we would just have to worry about replacing it. Hopefully it won't come to that! I would be gutted. Thanks for the advice, though! 

Me acllornd my friend will probably spend the week arguing whether my Focus or his Fiesta Titanium are the better car! 

As I say good luck and lets hope you never have an accident, however that does sort of highlight the issue somewhat these days, people want to know their loved one is safe because of airbags and safety features, none of them can make someone drive safely or at the right speed for the conditions etc, they can certainly help in the case of an accident and even save lives, but it is easier in my opinion to learn in a car without all the safety features in cars these days as people can learn how to control a car properly without expecting various ECU's to intervene. Sorry if it sounds like I am being preachy but I learn't to drive 20 years ago in cars that did not even have power steering let alone ABS/EBD/TC etc etc.

I wish the test would be changed so people are taught to drive properly in the real world and taught on a skid pan etc as people would be able to react to a situation much better, I also believe the test should be made a lot harder as people can pass a test that are dangerous and should not be on the road and yet they are given a licence. The test is merely the minimum required standard to get your licence.

Anyway I am trying to not go off on a tangent and not doing very well at it lol

Nice motor anyway.

[dezwez]

very nice

[chrisroberson99]

Thanks! I've already made a list for some bits to get for it, and one day I'd like it to look similar to @alexp999 2012 Focus which was stunning!

About to order the mud flaps now! 

[alexp999]

Just remember you need to declare things like the grille and spoiler to your insurance. Mud flaps are normally considered accessories so is OK unless it is someone like admiral.

[chrisroberson99]

Yes that's why I will hold off on the spoiler and any other substantial things for a while, I'll probably look at one again at Christmas time or next year for my birthday. 

I don't plan to do much to the car, just accessories like mats and door sill protectors. At some point in the future I'd like to change the wheels too! I plan to have this car at least a few years though, so there's plenty of time. 

[alexp999]

Are you going to come to Ford Fair in the next year to two with it then? :)

[rm9]

Are you going to come to Ford Fair in the next year to two with it then? :)

Or even this year? [emoji12]

Sent from my Toaster using TalkaTap

[alexp999]

Think it might be pushing it to pass his test and book a stand pass for this year, lol.

[chrisroberson99]

20 minutes ago, rm9 said:

Or even this year?

Sent from my Toaster using TalkaTap

Completely off topic, but what a cool toaster you have! 

17 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Think it might be pushing it to pass his test and book a stand pass for this year, lol.

Yeah that may be pushing it a bit...when and where is it?

[alexp999]

1 minute ago, chrisroberson99 said:

Completely off topic, but what a cool toaster you have! 

Yeah that may be pushing it a bit...when and where is it?

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/79808-ford-fair-2015-get-your-tickets-here/

 

[chrisroberson99]

Wow that sounds like great fun! I'd definitely be interested next year, and would be a great day out!

[MrRedman]

Nice motor good luck with the test 

I passed many moons ago age 17 and 1 month and yes I had 2 crashes in the 1st 18 months so simcor has a point.

my advice don't have the radio on for a month to begin with Crapital will only distract you ! 😂😂

[chrisroberson99]

Cheers! Haha yes crapital can be a bit distracting so I might avoid radio when I first start driving.

Already ordered a few bits for the car, just need to pick it up now! 

[jmurray01]

On 01/05/2016 at 11:08 AM, simcor said:

Congratulations, however one small word of advice.

It amazes me how many people buy a new or nearly new car for their first car, whether you can afford to or not isn't the question. But statistically due to inexperience in the first year of driving you are more likely to be involved in a crash and or to write a car off. This can be a very expensive lesson to learn especially if the car is on finance and you don't have GAP insurance. I have known people buy a pretty new/new car and had it written off and left paying finance on car they don;t have any more, not to mention a high insurance cost that is cancelled when the company pay out, which you still have to pay for if in instalments, you also need to find the money for a new car and new insurance on top of that.

You only really start learning how to drive once you have passed your test, driving lessons only teach so much.

Personally myself I would always suggest new drivers buy an older car for at least the first year until they have a bit of real world driving experience, just my opinion of course.

Having said that I hope the new car serves you well and you enjoy it and hope you are not one of those statistics.

You are absolutely right Simon, I know myself that driving 1 mile in my own car in the "real world" gave me more skills and experience than driving over 30 miles in my instructor's car did.  I wouldn't consider going in for my test until I've done at least 2,000 miles of driving in my own car, as well as enough formal lessons to know the technicalities.  That's the advice I would give other learners too.  Passing your test solely on driving lessons is a very, very bad idea I think, and why a lot of new drivers crash within the first month of getting their licence, as they are going from driving in a car with dual controls and a professional instructor, to being on their own in the real world with traffic jams and other accidents going on around them.  Plus, Vauxhall drivers...