Hi all, new to the forums, after some advice on a potential Ford purchase and this seemed like the best place to ask.

After a car for my wife, to do a 60 mile daily commute, dropping to 40 miles a day in the spring next year.  We have a 5 month old baby so said car needs to take all baby related gubbins such as prams etc and be safe and reliable.  I was looking at the 2011 Mk3 Focus, but have been considering the 2011 C-Max too as it has a bigger boot. We have a budget of £6k and I've seen examples of both in this price range with 30-40k on the clock.

I'm not sure whether to opt for diesel or petrol though... both cars can be had with the 1.6L at this price.  I've heard bad things about turbos etc going bang on the 1.6L diesel engine, which is worrying.  Then again, doing 60 miles a day in a 1.6L petrol could also cost a lot over time.  Is the Ford 1.6L diesel engine really that bad?

 

I have the 1.6 Diesel, absolutely great engine I've had no problems with it apart from when my fuel filter needed changing, it's not a bad engine on the MK3, my friends had nothing but problems with theirs on the MK2's and .5's, but the 1.6 petrol is rubbish unless it's the ecoboost then it's just fun.  

Thanks Ryan.  The wife isn't fussed at all about performance, as long as it goes.  My worry is fuel economy and reliability reallly.

The diesel would get far better economy over the mileage she'll be doing in it, but if it suffers the failures I've been reading about then it would more than cancel that out.