OK, quick question - looking at a 3-4 year old Focus 2 1.6 diesel. The same engine is in the Mazda3, and the cars are a similar price s/h. So, is the Mazda more reliable than the Focus?
If you do a search for problems in the Backroom for Focus, and 3, you get far more Focus ones!
Of course that may be because more Focus' are sold, but still... anyone run a 3 to high mileage here like 200k ... ?
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The Ford Focus is extremely reliable, if the Mazda 3 is any better I'd be astonished. As you say loads of Focuses are sold so lots of comments on forums like this might suggest they are unreliable but they are not. My mechanic friend simply never sees them apart from routine servicing, it's no surprise he picked one as his family car. If you want reliability though and intend to keep the car a while, buy a petrol model. Modern diesel FI systems are too complicated it's a matter of when not if they pack up and they cost a fortune to fix. How many miles do you do? The petrol Focus will be cheaper to buy, how many miles worth of (more expensive) diesel will it take to recoup the additional cost of purchasing a diesel? Change the oil/filter between services and any modern petrol engine should be capable of mega mileages. Clutches tend to be much cheaper for petrol cars too.
Give it another 3 or 4 years as more high-tech diesels start to age and I think we'll see a glut of very unhappy motorists with economically unviable to repair common rail diesel cars which should have had another 6 or 7 years of life left in them. That said direct injection petrols will have similar problems but thankfully these motors are more rare at the moment.
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'Modern diesel FI systems are too complicated it's a matter of when not if they pack up'
So all owners of CR Diesel engine cars are sitting on ticking time bombs? Whilst I agree CR systems can be complicated and expensive to fix when they go wrong its a bit of a sweeping generlisation to say that they will all pack up. Some manufacturers seem to have more problems than others so rather than the tech being flawed it may well be the manufacture process.
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There's much more room for the driver in the Focus - don't know about the rest of the car.
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IIRC, both cars are essentially same as they are based on same platform.
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Ford must be better packaged - I tried a 3 of this vintage and the cockpit was too snug in general and lacked headroom in particular.
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I am considering the 1.6 petrol now - some of the repair bills on my TDCi have been quite big and I face having a new Starter/DMF in pretty soon! Oddly, I now think that the common 'old' wisdom, of diesels being a better long-term high mileage buy - the Mercedes Taxi syndrome - being replaced with a well chosen reliable petrol!
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So all owners of CR Diesel engine cars are sitting on ticking time bombs? Whilst I agree CR systems can be complicated and expensive to fix when they go wrong its a bit of a sweeping generlisation to say that they will all pack up. Some manufacturers seem to have more problems than others so rather than the tech being flawed it may well be the manufacture process.
CR Diesel FI systems and direct injection petrol systems work at incredibly high fuel pressures, this requires a pump with manufacturing tolerances that can be counted in microns, that's why that cost a fortune and is also why they cannot tolerate a poor batch of fuel - which happens more than you'd think. The tiny tolerances mean when they pick up and dump debris into the system, the debris is small enough to go through filters which then takes out the rest of the FI system. It does not matter what manufacturer we're talking about, 99% of cars are fitted with off-the-shelf FI systems so the car manufacturer doesn't come into it. Diesels have a double, sometimes treble whammy of complications thanks to the particulate control systems fitted to them, as well as troublesome dual mass flywheels to hide the vibes of the diesel. The cost of replacing that lot will be more than than the cost of a brand new small hatchback! Look at HJ's car-by-car stuff for supposedly reliable cars like, The Nissan X-Trail, Honda CR-V or Ford Mondeo - you see entry after entry of diesel related issues. These highly complex systems are a liability and if you keep the car long term it's only a matter of time before they bite you on the butt. You cannot expect space-age engineering tolerances to last in the real world of misfuelling, dodgy/dirty fuel, moisture and running out of fuel with has a very high chance of killing a modern FI pump. It's a shame coz engines are better than ever and should go on forever if regularly serviced.
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Brother-in-law and I hired one of each in Portugal last year......not quite like for like as the Focus was a base model and had seen plenty of action whereas the 3 was newer and the Sport model. They both drove very similarly. Cockpit of the Mazda is sportier / snugger (according to taste)
The Mazda had a significantly bigger boot, surprisingly.
I don't think there'll be anything in it reliability wise.
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There'll be far more Focuses to choose from: try to find one that's had an easy life and average mileage (not too high and equally importantly not too low).
I'd imagine that, apart from the engines, Ford parts will be cheaper when you need replacements. But if you have a good Mazda dealer near you, that might swing it the other way.
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