New £150 Shed MK 1.5 Focus
Discussion
- This is a shed thread, no R888's, Superchargers or anything even remotely exciting. I suspect I will be the only person reading it, and only putting it together to chart how well a £150 shed fares*
So I had a another thread on a shed Mondeo that didn't last as long as I might have wanted. It has now been replaced by this. A £150 Ebay special. 76k on the clock, Cambelt done 8k ago and a very promising looking MOT history persuaded me it was worth a punt. It has only ever failed 1 MOT which was on a dodgy headlight in 2008. The only time it ever had an advisory was in 2015 for a worn tyre and an oil leak. Looking at the mileages between MOT's which were as low as 2k some years, and a maximum of 10k I have a suspicion this was probably owned by a Doris up until the couple I acquired it from got their hands on it. It had been the girl's car, but the couple had taken it off the road after having a baby and buying a Tiguan as the family car, though the lad had used it as a run-around for a month......always ominous!
The owner stated it had been sat up for 6 months, but the MOT history suggested it was more like 10 months. I had forgotten to ask about tyres when bidding, so annoyingly it needed 3 tyres, wiper blades, the brakes freeing up and a couple of spots of welding. £300 all in all. It went through the MOT yesterday with no advisories. Rather pleased with it.
It has the original dealer plates, window sticker and tax disc holder which is quite cool, and it drives really well.
Ebay pics (Only 2 on the listing).
A lot of cleaning on the interior was needed. The lad had used it to transport plasterboard around along with god knows what else. Someone had spilt something on the front passenger seat though after two sessions it is a lot better and suspect will be pretty much gone next time I attack it.
The exterior has a few dents and scratches including a comedy 'BCFC' keyed into the roof
I have removed the chewing gum that was stuck onto the door. I may give it a proper polish as I suspect it would come up quite well, but need to find the energy and motivation first.
CJ1987 said:
Pretty good for £150 considering they usually in pieces, btw how's the arches on it?
Not too bad, had two spots of welding on the back sills, but if it lasts me 12-18 months I'm a happy man. I just need something with a bit of room for carrying stuff about that isn't too silly on fuel or insurance. The total on the road price with purchase, tyres etc is not far off the monthly payment sum on my old 1 series. Crazy.Really surprised at how well it handles. A spirited drive earlier being followed by what looked like a brand new SL was great fun in the twist bits.
Mr Tidy said:
Bargain OP - what can go wrong? 
I thought it was my sister's old one for a minute as she sold her 1.8 Focus 2 years ago, but hers was BW02 KAK!
Just read your Mondeo thread OP - this looks like an even better deal.
I'm guessing by the old tax discs that the BW prefix is a Birmingham one.I thought it was my sister's old one for a minute as she sold her 1.8 Focus 2 years ago, but hers was BW02 KAK!
Just read your Mondeo thread OP - this looks like an even better deal.
Edited by Mr Tidy on Saturday 26th August 21:45
I hope it lasts longer than the Mondeo did! I couldn't believe the bloke who bought the Mondeo was happy to drive it a hundred miles or so back to his house knowing the faults. He did have trade plates though, so that made it alright...
Glad to see I'm not the only one who appreciates a decent car for shed money. It does take some hunting, but the online MOT checker is a brilliant tool for weeding out non contenders.
Took the Focus out today for a bit of a shakedown to see if I could identify anything that needs doing.
There's what I suspect is a piece of trim around the windscreen that whistles above 45mph, so I need to find that and cure it.
The alignment and tracking need doing, but I generally get that done on any new car. I'm good friends with a local independent tyre place so it shouldn't cost too much.
Annoyingly it seems the o/s front brake is sticking, something I'd highlighted to the garage who did the MOT and asked them to remedy. I'll be popping in on Tuesday to hopefully sort that out. If they wriggle their way out of it I'll attack it myself.
Other than that it drives well, seems alright on fuel and everything works. I was relieved to find the code for the stereo on top of the head unit. £2 on some stereo removal keys is far cheaper than the alternative!
There's what I suspect is a piece of trim around the windscreen that whistles above 45mph, so I need to find that and cure it.
The alignment and tracking need doing, but I generally get that done on any new car. I'm good friends with a local independent tyre place so it shouldn't cost too much.
Annoyingly it seems the o/s front brake is sticking, something I'd highlighted to the garage who did the MOT and asked them to remedy. I'll be popping in on Tuesday to hopefully sort that out. If they wriggle their way out of it I'll attack it myself.
Other than that it drives well, seems alright on fuel and everything works. I was relieved to find the code for the stereo on top of the head unit. £2 on some stereo removal keys is far cheaper than the alternative!
My wife's 2nd car was a Focus Mk1. A surprisingly enjoyable drive (and even better than the Mk2 and Mk 3 in my opinion).
It had a few niggles such as needing the fuel pump replacing and an annoying leak into the passenger footwell (which was something to do with the the pollen filter IIRC) but overall a very good all-rounder. Far more fun than my brother's Mk3 Golf GTi (IMO)
It had a few niggles such as needing the fuel pump replacing and an annoying leak into the passenger footwell (which was something to do with the the pollen filter IIRC) but overall a very good all-rounder. Far more fun than my brother's Mk3 Golf GTi (IMO)
stewjohnst said:
Top shedding, I toyed with the idea but I can't be ruthless enough with owning a car and not tinkering/spending on it.
Will be watching with interest
Yeah, that's the problem. I've just spent a happy hour or two putting a new window lifter mechanism in the back of my £380 Alfa. I don't sit in the back, I never use the rear windows, it just annoyed me that they don't work. 10% of the purchase price of the car!Will be watching with interest
That's a good car - I continue to be amazed that in this country people effectively bin a perfectly good car because they are bored with it. In somewhere like Spain, it's LHD cousin would be worth €2000 with about 200k km on the clock.
Jonmx said:
I was relieved to find the code for the stereo on top of the head unit. £2 on some stereo removal keys is far cheaper than the alternative!
Go to a Ford main dealer and ask for the code. I've done it before and was given it for £0. Always worth an ask - but you'll have needed the removal keys to get the serial number off the back of the unit anyway.Gallons Per Mile said:
Excellent, OP! We need all costs written up blow-by-blow and a pence per mile figure on costs of buying the car and all maintenance. I want to compare with my £50 Puma... 
I think you're on a winner already though!
£50 Puma, I feel like I was robbed at £150! I have looked at a few Pumas at the cheaper end, but all too crusty to be worthwhile, but a friend found a stonkingly good one for around the £200 mark last year. Great little cars! I think you're on a winner already though!Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff