S40 vs Focus

[Taurig]

Hi,

New to the forum, and hoping someone could give me advice on potential car choices.

I'm in the market for a used car, not big money; I have £5k saved, but could maybe hold off and stretch to £6k. This would be an upgrade for my old and tired Fiesta. My driving habits are:

- 20,000 miles a year
- During the week it's a 60 mile round trip on mainly motorway
- At the weekend, 100 mile+ trips on any kind of road are fairly normal
- I live in Scotland and my commute goes over a high moor, so have had a few wild journeys in snow
- At the weekends I'm generally mountain biking, hillwalking or ski-ing in winter, so again, potential for bad weather and the odd rough track
- Getting to work without a car is significantly more hassle for me, so reliability and parts availability is a concern.

I've been doing my car research and always come back round to the Focus. I've looked into alternatives like Mazda3, Seat Leon, Astra, Golf etc., but the one I am most interested in is the S40. So far, I've come up with the following pros and cons, which may or may not be accurate:

Focus Pros
- Relatively common so good amount on the market
- Supposedly good handling (I do like the Fiesta's handling)
- A lot of dealers, plentiful parts/scraps
- The mechanic I use and trust is an ex-Ford guy
- Apparently welt built and few major issues like engines

Focus Cons
- Chassis rust apparently an issue
- A lot of cars seem to be overpriced vs guide (although could be talked down)
- A bit common and the safe/boring choice

S40 Pros
- Apparently tank-like build quality and safety
- Better range of engines
- Interior looks plusher and a level up from Focus
- Personal, but I think it looks better
- Bit different, less common

S40 Cons
- Seems to have a fair number of recalls
- Servicing and repairs more expensive than Ford
- Parts more expensive and fewer available from scrap if needed
- Fewer S40s on the market too, less choice
- Mainly 1.8-2.0 L I've seen on the market, debatable if this will drink fuel compared to the 1.6 L Ford?

Basically, my heart says I like the Volvo, but my sensible head says go for the Ford due to perceived higher expenses and (for me) unknown reliability. That's where I'm hoping you lovely people can help me with the choice. I understand coming to a Volvo forum for a car debate may be a bit biased, but I trust you will be as objective as possible. ;-)

Any advice or information much appreciated.

[jmurray01]

I know I will be hated for this but I would go for the Ford.

Don't get me wrong, our V40 is a great car but a Focus is the best bet in my experience (having owned one).

[GrahamBrown1]

Volvos are expensive to repair its a fact especially if you don't enjoy getting your own spanners out. I wouldn't have anything else mind as once you have a volvo you won't have out else. That's what I was told when I bought my first, then bought 2 more! In the car your looking at I would avoid the ford/ Peugeot bassed diesel engines that's just my personal opinion but if you read that section of the forum just
Look at the trouble people have with them. The ones I have seen on the maket in petrol versions are mostly the base model the S versions and they are pretty poverty spec. Overall they are a loverly car but I would go petrol and find one with a good spec and volvo service history.

[owyn]

I know its nothing to do with the question and nothing to do with Volvo but I always preferred driving the astra of that era, felt a lot more settled than the focus and the 1.8 is quite gutsy.

As with buying anything from shoes to cars, have a go in a few and see what you like.

[jmurray01]

Originally Posted by owyn

I know its nothing to do with the question and nothing to do with Volvo but I always preferred driving the astra of that era, felt a lot more settled than the focus and the 1.8 is quite gutsy.

As with buying anything from shoes to cars, have a go in a few and see what you like.

The 1.8 may be gutsy but it is more than capable of exceeding 200,000 miles easily. I'd like to see a Vauxhall do that.

[owyn]

I don't see why not, the 1.7 Isuzu engine in particular is very long lived but that's a diesel.

The cops seem to get rid of the Astras at 130-140k miles.

If you are desperate to go onto really big miles then a Skoda Octavia and somewhere to keep a lot of spare oil is probably your best bet.

[Taurig]

I do appreciate the objectivity so far, cheers.

I should have mentioned, although you may have guessed from my budget, that I'm looking at mainly:

2009-ish Focuses, 1.6 Petrol, Zetec trim, 50-70K on the clock.
2007-9 S40s, a few 1.6 about but mainly 1.8-2.0 Petrols, similar on the clock to above. I'm not too clued up on trim levels at the moment.

I've never heard a hugely convincing debate either way for petrol vs diesel, so sticking with what I know. I'd plan to keep my next car for 3-4 years, taking it 120k or so. My Fiesta didn't really receive much in the way of preventative maintenance, so planning to rectify that with my next car.

Regards the Astra, I think it's more aesthetically pleasing than the Focus, there's even more of them about and they apparently handle well. But, reading the Honest John report for example, it seems like they have a long list of potential problems. I don't know if it's particularly more than any other car or it's just down to the fact there are so many of them, but I get the impression the quality just isn't quite there? Not sure, could be wrong.

[Ninja59]

Originally Posted by GrahamBrown1

Volvos are expensive to repair its a fact especially if you don't enjoy getting your own spanners out. I wouldn't have anything else mind as once you have a volvo you won't have out else. That's what I was told when I bought my first, then bought 2 more! In the car your looking at I would avoid the ford/ Peugeot bassed diesel engines that's just my personal opinion but if you read that section of the forum just
Look at the trouble people have with them. The ones I have seen on the maket in petrol versions are mostly the base model the S versions and they are pretty poverty spec. Overall they are a loverly car but I would go petrol and find one with a good spec and volvo service history.

The PSA engines though are the most common so by deduction you would expect to see the most problems. You cannot say the D5 or other engines are without fault in the P1 cars.

Originally Posted by Taurig

I do appreciate the objectivity so far, cheers.

I should have mentioned, although you may have guessed from my budget, that I'm looking at mainly:

2009-ish Focuses, 1.6 Petrol, Zetec trim, 50-70K on the clock.
2007-9 S40s, a few 1.6 about but mainly 1.8-2.0 Petrols, similar on the clock to above. I'm not too clued up on trim levels at the moment.

I've never heard a hugely convincing debate either way for petrol vs diesel, so sticking with what I know. I'd plan to keep my next car for 3-4 years, taking it 120k or so. My Fiesta didn't really receive much in the way of preventative maintenance, so planning to rectify that with my next car.

Regards the Astra, I think it's more aesthetically pleasing than the Focus, there's even more of them about and they apparently handle well. But, reading the Honest John report for example, it seems like they have a long list of potential problems. I don't know if it's particularly more than any other car or it's just down to the fact there are so many of them, but I get the impression the quality just isn't quite there? Not sure, could be wrong.

The 1.8 and 2.0 petrols are in fact the Ford Duratec/Mazda MZR call it what you will the overall block is the same it is just the capacity.

I have the 1.8 MZR in my MX5 (there are a few subtle differences engine wise) but they are good engines at eating the miles up. In the S40 though I would go for the 2.0 petrol to cope with the extra weight (in comparison with my MX5).

[tickedon]

I used to have a 2007 07 Focus 1.6 (115) Ghia. Had it for a few years and now my parents have it (still going strong!) - it's a great car. I took it to Scottish highlands regularly and it managed some terrible farm roads. Funnily enough, my shortlist back in 2007 was between the Focus and S40!

The 115bhp 1.6l is a step up from the 100bhp version of the engine, but, in my opinion still quite lacking (especially if you drive anything with more power regularly!). They eventually replaced the 115 with a 125 - I'm not sure if that was after 2009 though.

Personally, given the number of miles you are doing, I would be looking at a diesel rather than petrol, and probably something with a bit more power given all the motorway miles.

For me, out of the two, I would probably pick the Focus again - the costs of maintaining and fixing it are so cheap (although no major repairs have been required since I bought it), but crucially, I think the fact your local mechanic that you and trust is an ex-Ford guy, really answers the question for you!

[rowdy]

Originally Posted by tickedon

I used to have a 2007 07 Focus 1.6 (115) Ghia. Had it for a few years and now my parents have it (still going strong!) - it's a great car. I took it to Scottish highlands regularly and it managed some terrible farm roads. Funnily enough, my shortlist back in 2007 was between the Focus and S40!

The 115bhp 1.6l is a step up from the 100bhp version of the engine, but, in my opinion still quite lacking (especially if you drive anything with more power regularly!). They eventually replaced the 115 with a 125 - I'm not sure if that was after 2009 though.

Personally, given the number of miles you are doing, I would be looking at a diesel rather than petrol, and probably something with a bit more power given all the motorway miles.

For me, out of the two, I would probably pick the Focus again - the costs of maintaining and fixing it are so cheap (although no major repairs have been required since I bought it), but crucially, I think the fact your local mechanic that you and trust is an ex-Ford guy, really answers the question for you!

My parents have an 11plate, last of the facelift mk2 focus 1.6 and it has not got 125bhp.

As for budget, my brother in law has just replaced his 02 plate focus that he has had for ten years without problems, for a 10 plate 1.6 zetec (not 125bhp)
I am pretty sure it only had about 30k on the clock, and he paid five or five and a half thousand for it.

I think the 125bhp 1.6 engine was introduced with the mk3 focus.