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“Have owned a 03 plate 5 door for just over 12 months...”

written by on 09/05/2009

Good Points
Spec, handling, performance and economy.

Bad Points
Brakes not what they should be for a sporty model.

General Comments
Have owned a 03 plate 5 door for just over 12 months now, it came with full dealer service history with just over 100k miles. One minor niggle when cam sensor failed a few weeks after picking it up but it was cheap to fix. Be careful when buying the Ford Focus TDCi, any blue/ gray smoke from the exhaust under acceleration or flat spots at higher revs or rattling from the turbo please walk away or knock at least £800 off asking price to get new turbo. The turbo had to be replaced on mine and the price will make you wince. Now its repaired the car is excellent one the best turbo diesels i have ever driven. These cars are economical and sporty when you want it to be, just make sure you get a good one as certain faults will empty your bank account pretty quickly. Insurance is fairly cheap sub £250 for my wife and myself (we are in our mid 30's). All in all i love this car for its looks performance handling and economy. Some tips to help to save the turbo.
1 change oil every 6 months
2 don't thrash it until the engine is warm
3 leave idling for at least 1 min.
4 do not rev engine before switching off as turbo will continue spinning without oil flowing to turbo bearings when engine is switched off.