Focus 1.0 ecoboost 125 st line

[colin86]

Looking for reviews on the above cat saw a 19 plate for sale . Are these good reliable cars ? It will be used as a second family car for short journeys do about 6k miles a year ? I know there was loads of problems with the last model .

Thanks

[stevemiller]

Had two Fiesta's 1.0 125bhp, a 2013 and a 2020. The 2013 has 137k miles on it now was the son's now the daughters and I had it in between. It was bought new and had the belts done at 120k miles. The five speed gearbox does not lend itself to remapping. The 2020 Fiesta van is on 86k miles now. Other than the issues with the gearbox on the 2013 due to a map they have been trouble free. My son's girlfriend has a 2017 Focus with the same engine bought just over two years ago and now with 47k miles of which she has had no issues during this period. Oil changes with the right oil is a must for belt life apparently.

[MrGTI6]

Wet belt issues are very common. Generally avoidable with regular servicing and using the correct grade oil.

Look after it and it should be OK, but these engines can't handle even the slightest hint of neglect.

Also, the "lifetime" belt wants doing every ten years and it's an absolute bd of a job.

Realising they weren't "lifetime" belts, Ford introduced a 10-year interval quite recently, and a couple of years ago switched to using a timing chain for this engine. I think this would have been at least 2020 onwards.

[Trevor555]

MrGTI6 said:

Wet belt issues are very common. Generally avoidable with regular servicing and using the correct grade oil.

Look after it and it should be OK, but these engines can't handle even the slightest hint of neglect.

Also, the "lifetime" belt wants doing every ten years and it's an absolute bd of a job.

Realising they weren't "lifetime" belts, Ford introduced a 10-year interval quite recently, and a couple of years ago switched to using a timing chain for this engine. I think this would have been at least 2020 onwards.

That's interesting..

So if we bought one of these new, and was told by sales that it was a life time belt, to then be told it now needs changing at 10 years at substantial cost?

Miss sold?

[MrGTI6]

Trevor555 said:

MrGTI6 said:

Wet belt issues are very common. Generally avoidable with regular servicing and using the correct grade oil.

Look after it and it should be OK, but these engines can't handle even the slightest hint of neglect.

Also, the "lifetime" belt wants doing every ten years and it's an absolute bd of a job.

Realising they weren't "lifetime" belts, Ford introduced a 10-year interval quite recently, and a couple of years ago switched to using a timing chain for this engine. I think this would have been at least 2020 onwards.

That's interesting..

So if we bought one of these new, and was told by sales that it was a life time belt, to then be told it now needs changing at 10 years at substantial cost?

Miss sold?

I'm not sure how that would work actually.

Being pedantic, I suppose the term "lifetime belt" is accurate in the sense that when it snaps, the car is effectively scrap anyway and therefore at the end of its life.

Slightly different situation, but shortly after Peugeot brought out the 306 GTI 6 in the 1990s, they revised the timing belt interval, reducing it from every 6y/72k to every 3y/36k. I think this applied retrospectively, but willing to stand corrected.

Back on the subject of the 1.0 Ecoboost, it seems the whole engine was designed around the timing belt! Replacing it requires specialist locking tools and takes ages. I've heard of people being quoted 10-15 hours labour and being charged four figure sums for just a cambelt change.

[Whistle]

My wife has had one of these for the last 5 years doing about 5k a year, it was 6 months old when we bought it.

Other than servicing, fuel and tyres we’ve not spent anything, it’s been 100% reliable.

[captain.scarlet]

colin86 said:

Looking for reviews on the above cat saw a 19 plate for sale . Are these good reliable cars ? It will be used as a second family car for short journeys do about 6k miles a year ? I know there was loads of problems with the last model .

Thanks

My daily runner abroad is a 2016 GCC spec Focus hatchback but with the 1.5 Ecoboost (150/148 bhp). Automatic.

It had around 199,000 km on the clock when I bought it in April last year and it now has just over 233,000 km.

One issue I had was a leaking seal from the turbo back in December but that has been it. With the age, mileage and climate it's just standard wear, tear and maintenance.

Cannot fault the Ecoboost engine one bit and I would vouch for them being reliable.

Performance-wise, as a 1.5 it is frugal yet very powerful and reliable, even in my case with such high mileage. I imagine that a 1.0 will be the same, and as an ST manual a lot of fun.

With proper servicing etc it will last very long indeed.

Fantastic all-rounders.

[NAAHD]

If you’re on Facebook, join the Ford ecoboost nightmare group and have a read through. My neighbours blew up so it got my interest. Don’t want to put you off but it’s not something I’d personally want to be involved with

[captain.scarlet]

What tends to happen with cars is the people who have negative experiences write about their negative experiences and woes on the internet much more than those with positive experiences (who far far exceed the number of people with negative experiences).

[Hitch]

I've had a 2016 for a year and put nearly 15k on it. I have loved it. Not a single issue and it has just passed its MOT at 75k with no advisories.

Great for pottering around locally, good fun when pushed and happy at many leptons on the motorway.

[stevemiller]

For reference we found an independent to change the belts, all the tools and a number of changes carried out before ours. Price £730, not cheap but we know the car as we purchased new done about 5k miles since change. So a £730 belt change on a car worth £2k will be hard for some to swallow. That said we could not have replaced with as good a car for £2700 so an easy spend for us. The belt change included auxiliary belt and water pump, will and filter so £130 parts and £600 labour.

[Trevor555]

stevemiller said:

For reference we found an independent to change the belts, all the tools and a number of changes carried out before ours. Price £730, not cheap but we know the car as we purchased new done about 5k miles since change. So a £730 belt change on a car worth £2k will be hard for some to swallow. That said we could not have replaced with as good a car for £2700 so an easy spend for us. The belt change included auxiliary belt and water pump, will and filter so £130 parts and £600 labour.

£608 + vat?

Have they been able to do it without taking the engine out?

[Nyloc20]

We’ve had our 70 plate Fiesta 1.0L ST Line from almost new. It’s now on 24k, absolutely nothing gone wrong(as I’d expect tbh). Great for local running around and often does journeys of 200 miles per day. Perfectly comfortable cruising on motorways but I’d find it a bit tiresome on longer trips than that.

[Mr Tidy]

stevemiller said:

For reference we found an independent to change the belts, all the tools and a number of changes carried out before ours. Price £730, not cheap but we know the car as we purchased new done about 5k miles since change. So a £730 belt change on a car worth £2k will be hard for some to swallow. That said we could not have replaced with as good a car for £2700 so an easy spend for us. The belt change included auxiliary belt and water pump, will and filter so £130 parts and £600 labour.

That's going to be a major problem as these cars get on in years.

A neighbour of mine had one and had looked into get the belt replaced. Most places didn't want to know, but those who did were quoting the best part of £1,000 to do the job.

He solved the problem by trading it in for a newer one!

[ZX10R NIN]

Mr Tidy said:

That's going to be a major problem as these cars get on in years.

A neighbour of mine had one and had looked into get the belt replaced. Most places didn't want to know, but those who did were quoting the best part of £1,000 to do the job.

He solved the problem by trading it in for a newer one!

I know of a few garages that do this job & the price seems to be between £700-800 inc VAT.

[stevemiller]

Trevor555 said:

£608 + vat?

Have they been able to do it without taking the engine out?

Yes on both counts. The garage has bought a few where owners a looking to off load due to the perceived issue changed the belts and sold on with a little extra profit.

[Trevor555]

stevemiller said:

Trevor555 said:

£608 + vat?

Have they been able to do it without taking the engine out?

Yes on both counts. The garage has bought a few where owners a looking to off load due to the perceived issue changed the belts and sold on with a little extra profit.

That's good to hear.

[Adwillsy]

I have a 69 plate ST-line X 140ps 1.0 ecoboost thing and its brilliant.

The mk8 has had some changes to the engines such as front cover modifications causing leaks. Yes the wet belt was an issue on the old ones but the new ones not so much - again that's an age issue so 8-10yrs replacement. Reasonably easy job to do with engine in-situ but again you need the correct tools and a torque multiplier as the crank bolt is around 1200nm.

I've had no issues on mine and the mk8 in general is very good compared to previous models. 37-42mpg average in town and ive had 63mpg on the motorway but average around 48mpg. Service every 2 years and pretty common too so parts are reasonably cheap and easy to come by. overall I think its a brilliant car

[Nyloc20]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, we’re really happy with our 70 plate ST Line X but with doing a lot of short trips we never get the high mpg figures some folks seem to manage. Still very pleased with it.

[adamj4555]

had a 2017 plate ecoboost 1.0 focus recently went on me at 55k miles, had issues with the oil pump/filter throughout its ownership with myself, one previous owner i cannot account for their servicing of the vehicle but in the end the wet belt snapped in half and caused the engine to go caput, engine replacement at 55k miles, cost 3500 sold for 6500 to wbac , looked into everything to keep it even had warranty on new engine for a year but didnt trust it one bit, even ford wouldnt give warranty on it under 2,000 and thats before i declared the engine swap, they offered 4,000 to buy it off me!!
since got a golf, extremely more reliable