Matthew Smith

My second Focus was pre-registered and had been stood around for about 8 months before I bought it. It had 24 miles on the clock, was immaculate and was about 4k cheaper than the list price. The car was fine. The only problem was a grinding noise coming from the front whenever the brakes were applied. Ford took it in and said it was rust on the brakes from it standing around - they cleaned the brakes up and it was more or less ok after that. Do check the panels though - mine was fine, BUT I did notice a pre-registered Focus on a Ford forecourt once - it was a really nice moondust silver

Typically no rain when you want it to bucket down to test the wipers. I have the Ghia with auto wipers and seem to work ok, but hardly seem to work when the car is stood still or moving very slowly. Think the wipers have something to do with the impact of the rain rather than the amount.

I have the Ti-VCT 1.6 in the Ghia spec. At 50-60 mph I am averaging about 55 mpg. At 70mph I am averaging about 44-46 mpg. Round town I am averaging about 32.5 mpg. I do have a heavy foot on the gas and I am quite impressed with the economy. It seems to have more revs at high speed than my old 99bhp did. For instance, at 70mph the 99bhp did 3k revs pm, this one seems to do 3.5k revs pm.

Dunno, but can anyone help with my problem please?

Kevin, Take it from me - I've driven Foci for over five years and have owned 3 in that time. Overall I have driven 70k in them (average miles I know) and the only thing that has gone wrong (apart from wear and tear probs) was a bunged up washer bottle that I had to pay to be taken out and flushed clean. Think of all the Foci you see on the road and compare it to the "few" complaints in here. It's not Britain's most popular car for nothing.

No more carried away than me. Got to admit the cruise control is great! Surprising how it's not standard on the next model up, the Titanium. My car was parked alongside a Titanium this morning and mine definitely had the nicest wheels. Have you had a look under the bonnet yet? It's much neater than the last model and it takes up a smaller space. See how many of the parts are from Volvo - ie. check under the washer bottle lid when you do your first top up!!

Can anyone help? I have a Ford 6000 CD player/radio in the car. It doesn't have a removable front panel which is really stupid, however, it's supposed to have the VIN number programmed into it. The instructions say that in order to input or edit the VIN number you need the four digit code. However, you can go into the menu, find the VIN number and just edit or delete it by using the search buttons on either side! Anyone else noticed this?

Mine is Machine Silver. I've heard through here Ford have stopped making cars in this colour, so I think I'd opt for Jeans Blue. Saw a red one today - it kind of looked good - there seem to be few bright red cars around at the moment so it kind of looked unique!

I know what you mean. I have had mine for just over 3 weeks and haven't had chance to let her loose properly on a decent run yet. Ah well, next week I have a trip to Peterborough to make so I am hoping to see how well she handles down the A15 / A1 and what the MPG is really like. Sounds like you got a good deal there though.

Hey mate, it feels more solid than the old one. The doors feel better and they have a nice "clunk" to them when you close the door. It drives a lot better too - more nippy and seems even more sure-footed on the road than the old one. You get all the old stuff on the Ghia and more - the cruise control, auto lights and auto wipers are welcome touches which weren't on the old Ghia. The only thing it hasn't got is the electric power switch to move the seat up and down (it's a lever now), but how often do you really need to adjust your seat? I hope you like your new motor. Are you going for

Got to say the Ghia is worth it. I sold my immaculate 03 Focus 1.6 Ghia to the dealer as part exchange for my new Mark 2 Focus in January. As soon as the sales guy knew I had a Ghia to flog he was all over me and was very eager to sell. He gave me a good price for my Ghia and I got a good deal on a 7 month old 8k Mark 2 Focus Ghia as well. He said Ghias were hard to come by and he knows that people who own them generally are the people who will look after their motors. I think the Ghia will fetch up to £500 more when selling on than an equivalent model of different spec. They just se

Mine is a Ghia and I too am totally impressed with the spec like auto-dimming rear view mirror/cruise control/air con in the glove box and the lighting (footwells, glovebox, vantiy mirror lights). Everyone - and I mean everyone - always comments about it all whenever they get in the car. One thing I do miss though is the electric seat adjustments that I had in my Mark 1 Focus Ghia. I have to make do with a push down/up lever. But never mind. Does anyone like the Global window lowering/raising thing? No idea what pratical purpose it serves, but it's nice to show off with it in the summe

Sorry - it's not the 6006 but the standard Ford one without the removable panel. I don't know the number of it until I drive home tonight I will have a look then. Also, does anyone know if underneath the washer bottle lid it says Volvo? I've been told so but haven't had chance to look yet. Apparently a lot of the car's engine was built by Volvo apparently?

This is just a quick one - I have just acquired a new Focus Mk II - the CD player has no removable cover (think its the 6006). Also, the VIN is saved in the menu for identity, yet you can easily go in an change the numbers!! I thought before you could edit the code you had to input the radio code, like I had to with my old Focus stereo? :?:

My Mark II is in Machine Silver (reg May 05) and I really like the colour. It is a big improvement on the Moondust Silver (colour of my last model) and it seems to have a bluish shimmer to it depending on the light.

Amazing what junk is out there. You kind of get used to driving your Focus and then you realise just how good it is after you have driven or been a passenger in something else.