Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford

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Sun 12 Feb 2017 17:34
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Ebob

I was wondering if anyone had any input on this.

I have seen a Honda civic 2009 2.2 diesel for around 4k with 90k on the clock. I have also seen a ford focus with 2008 1.8 diesel for the same price with only 45k miles on the clock.

My girlfriend's fiesta had 70k miles when we bought it and it hasn't been awful but it really hasn't been great either.

My question is it better to get the better brand with more miles on or the cheaper brand with less miles on?

The fact they are the same price suggests your get what you pay for either way.

I am sure that people will tell me that blocked injectors and a clogged egr on the focus wouldn't be fun.

I am guessing the parts will be much cheaper for the focus too so it's swings and roundabouts really.....

Be interested to get OPs input?

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Sun 12 Feb 2017 17:53
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Michael Rawlings

I would personally always buy on condition, if there's a load of history with the higher miler and none on the Ford then it'd swing me toward the former.

My BMW is on 170k and runs perfectly so never been too concerned with miles!

Depreciation may also be a consideration as the Honda is approaching 100k, but I do know the 2.2s are considered reliable units.

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Sun 12 Feb 2017 18:44
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Ebob

Cheers ye they both say they have fsh so I'll have to check how many stamps they've both had.

The focus has a better safety rating plus it's more local with a 3 month warranty so that's something to consider as well.

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Sun 12 Feb 2017 19:26
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Steveieb
I have learnt from this site that the engine to avoid like the plague is the Ford diesel as fitted to the Focus.
Better still look for a Focus with the Yamaha designed Zetec engine. A friend bought a 2007 for £3000 from a main dealer with 12 months warranty
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Sun 12 Feb 2017 20:12
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - craig-pd130

If the Focus really is a 1.8 then that's a robust engine, it's the old Lynx diesel that was rebranded as the Duratorq when it got a proper common-rail injection system etc. It's a completely different engine to the troublesome 1.6 diesel. Not refined, but reliable and pretty grunty.

As it's 2008 it might not have a DPF either: it might be a 2007 model that was registered in 2008.

But as said above, look at the service history and condition of both cars carefully, that's more important than model-specific faults.

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Sun 12 Feb 2017 20:39
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Stumblebum

My wife has the Ford Focus 1.8 Diesel 07 reg. We bought it at 40K, and it's now at 120K. Apart from replacing the alternator, it's just had servicing + tyres etc. My wife says it runs noticebly better on premium diesel.

By way of contrast, I have a '57 Petrol Civic. I average about 40mpg, but i do a lot of country A roads and motorways. The Civic benefits from having 6 gears, whereas the the Focus just has 5 gears which out of town makes a big difference in terms of refinement etc.

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Sun 12 Feb 2017 20:42
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - SLO76
Both good cars and neither has a DPF. However unless you're doing a huge mileage or desperately need the pulling power of the Diesel engine I'd steer you away to a lower mileage, less complex and vastly more reliable petrol version of either.

The Yamaha designed Zetec SE 1.6 in the bulk of Focus models is a very sweet and long lived engine if serviced properly, the old Ford Zetec 1.8 is quicker but rougher and drinks a bit more. The old 1.8 TDCi is robust if looked after again but as with any modern turbo diesel there's just a lot more to go wrong and at this price point it likely will. The Focus is a fantastic thing to drive in any form but stay well clear of the PSA 1.6 diesel which has a terrible and well justified reputation.

The Civic 1.8 VTEC is only 5-6mpg worse than the diesel and is next to bombproof. The diesel is very quick and capable of big mileages if looked after but there's plenty that goes wrong on them again down to the far greater complexity of the thing. Turbo failure, gummed up EGR valves, worn and juddering clutches are all very common on the diesel.

I'd be looking at the 1.8 Civic or a nice low mileage 1.6 Zetec Focus instead of leaving yourself open to the costly repairs you're almost guaranteed to encounter on the diesels.
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Sun 12 Feb 2017 22:20
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Ebob

Thanks for the advice.

It seems a lot of people these days are advising against getting a diesel.

I do like the pull off a diesel but maybe it isn't worth it.

I did a mileage check on the focus and in 2014 it had done 39k miles so in the last 3 years it's covered 6k miles which is getting into the territory of a car that's been standing around doing nothing for a long time.

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Mon 13 Feb 2017 10:11
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - madf

Thanks for the advice.

It seems a lot of people these days are advising against getting a diesel.

I do like the pull off a diesel but maybe it isn't worth it.

I did a mileage check on the focus and in 2014 it had done 39k miles so in the last 3 years it's covered 6k miles which is getting into the territory of a car that's been standing around doing nothing for a long time.

or has been clocked.

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Mon 13 Feb 2017 11:05
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - Benet

I would usually go for the higher mileage option, because the mileage is more likely to be kosher. Specially if it's a petrol Honda. Our 18 year old Shuttle still takes the family to Eastern Europe each year.

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Mon 13 Feb 2017 11:40
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - cdbr

I found the advice on here not to get a diesel was well founded, nearly all the dealers I have visited since them over the last few weeks have echoed this.

I have had many Honda's and love them, they are fantatstic motor engineers. The things to check are body related, bushes, coils etc.

Good luck

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Mon 13 Feb 2017 16:41
Buying a high mileage Honda or a low mileage Ford - skidpan

The Yamaha designed Zetec SE 1.6 in the bulk of Focus models is a very sweet and long lived engine if serviced properly, the old Ford Zetec 1.8 is quicker but rougher and drinks a bit more.

I have really liked the Zetec SE engine in the Fiestas I have driven plus in the Puma I owned for 6 years it was totally trouble free. But its not the most economical unit on the planet, my Puma used to average abiut 33 mpg and when fitted in the much bigger/heavier Focus the performance takes a big hit.

Ford stopped fitting the original Zetec engine in the Focus when the Mk 1 ceased production in 2005? In the Mk 2 the 1.8 and 2.0 petrols were badged Duratec which is an all aluminium Mazda design. In a car of the Focus size its a much better bet than the Zetec SE.

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