Early 1.0 3cylinder ecoboost engines are best avoided prior to 2019 where it was replaced with a chain cam engine, although still had a wet belt for the oil pump . The 1.5/6 4 cylinder ecoboost engines are dry belt , but these suffer overheating and coolant loss due to poor design of the engine block water jacket. The Zetec engines are belt drive and probably the best of the bunch, if you can find a good one.

Appreciated, guess Zetec is the way to go.

Keep it simple, leave the turbocharged 1.6 Ecoboost and stick with the simple and robust 1.6 Zetec. The variable valve Ti-VCT is fine, just moderately more powerful, but you’ll hardly notice it on the road.

Ok makes sense, as the ads for the Ti-VCT version are about £1k extra in comparison to the Zetec.

If you consider the lower power 104 bhp one, make sure that it meets your needs and driving style. Our 2012 Mazda3 with the related engine was fine on the flat and when up to speed. But show it a hill and you had to drop a couple of gears and struggle to maintain speed, especially when laden.

It is really quite depressing as we probably approach the end of internal combustion engines in cars how they seem to have rather lost the plot on how to make them work.

The list of current iffy reliability engines is almost endless - Ingenium (Evoques with the older 2.2 engine are worth £2k more than 2 year newer 2.0s in the trade), Puretech (lucky if it makes 50k), Ecoboom/boost, various Hyundias with dodgy timing chains or burning oil, rattly 0.9 and 1.2 Renault TCe, PRINCE burning oil and rattly chains, various VAG models of certain years and types, years of dodgy BMW timing chains......

Some of this is due to complicated engines needing good servicing which they don't get but nonetheless it seems the art of making a reliable long term engine has gone.

I suspect it's the bean counters at work rather than the lack of engineering ability. Continual downward pressure on costs, to make things cheaper, lighter etc.

Except that designing a belt in oil system must be more expensive than a dry belt. I still can't see it as anything other than a method of creating extra income during the life of the car.