looking to update our runabout soon, and probably going to get a new shape focus, are there any things i should look out for, any recalls or mods that should have been done etc etc,

 

Front and rear bumpers a diffrent colour from the rest of the car due to them being painted in seperate factories!!!!

This even applies to ST's......................

Go for Black, White or Silver, colour match seems to be a bit better!

 

Thats one of the first things i noticed too!!! didnt know they were painted in different factories!!!! typical FORD

 

rear boot hinges leaking causing the boot to open when braking,rear wiper recall,koncking from the front end tsb for that ,few other things!!!! as long as you don't buy a c-max u b ok

 

Had mine since May without any problems. New set of front tyres at 12.5k though...oops

Make sure you go for the Zetec Climate upwards...heated front screen is a must

Ł200 option upgrade to 17" alloys instead of the standard 16s (on Zetec/Z climate) fill the arches much better

 

I was working in nottingham yesterday, did 170 mile round trip and only used a little over 1/4 of a tank

Was looking at the engine stats on Ford's site...the 1.6 and 2.0 TDCI models are both 16v...but the 1.8 is only 8v... is this right?

 

One of the engineers at work has a 1.6 TDCi LX estate and his door card fell off

The seats are shite in the LX range, though i've got a Zetec Climate and the sports seats are firm but supportive, and really hold you in really comfy, even on long journeys

Go for the Sony CD player upgrade too, as it plays MP3s (or even 6 discs in-dash if you like, but it's a Ł500 option, instead of Ł200 for the upgrade to single slot/mp3 unit, they look identical though) - the standard ford 6000 unit is terrible and looks like it was made by matsui

 

both the 2.0 and 1.6 drev engines are made by pug,the 1.8 drev is fords old diesel from the escort just with lots of mods for stage 4 emissions