Which to buy???

[SS Eater]

The wife wants to get rid of her Terry and has decided on a new focus hatch, she wants to go back to a manual, but i feel the Auto is a better option, meant to be better on fuel, better power delivery, ect.
please help, we still havnt test driven one yet, doing that this weekend, what are everyones thoughts, by the way we are looking at either the sport or trend petrol.

[wombat66]

We have just got our Sport Diesel Automatic. We heard some bad things about the auto but are so far really happy with it. It behaves a bit differently to a standard automatic but are having no problems with it at all. From a standing start it feels a little bit like a manual, but once it gets going and gets to about 3rd gear it's really smooth and you don't really feel the gear changes. Have a test drive and see what you think.

Edit: We are glad we got the Sport. Some of those extras are well worth it.
(climate control, better seats, Sony entertainment system with GPS and definately the MUCH better centre console.)

[Fiestaman]

See thread under Powershift gearbox in Fiesta section. You really need an extensive road test to see if you will be happy with this box.

[notoriousnick]

I have the Sport petrol manual. I find the manual gearbox in this car a pleasure to use. I agree that the Sport is the sweet-spot in the range. In addition to what wombat66 said, it also has the lowered suspension for better handling, unlike the Trend.

[SS Eater]

Well my wife and i test drove the manual sport yesterday and we both very much liked the car, what we didnt like was the trade in price on the Terry.
2010 sy mk2 AWD with 30k on the clock and foultless the best we could get was $20500, Robbers, theives.
After telling one of the dealers where he can stick his 20k, we went home very disapointed.
So if anyone is interested in a Terry, PM me.
Joe

[marg99]

big cars do not have great resale value and one should never try selling thirsty Terrys when petrol is on the rise.But focus shares the same depreciation problem my December 2007 TDCI focus cost $30,000 on road with safety pack and less than 45,000 klms is lucky to be worth $15,000

[crowv85l]

are you serious marg99??? try and find a good 2nd hand terri in sydney for any reasonable price.. they dont exist cause they're all sold. everybody goes on about thirsty territories and fuel consumption. seriously they're a family car for people who want a bigger vehicle, so your aiming at a specific type of buyer not a tight *** worried about the price of fuel.

i would put it on carsales and if your desperate to sell advertise it for 30k

[SS Eater]

Thanks crow,
plan to.
The wife was gutted, how can a vehicle with 2 years factory waranty drop over 50%, and the dealers cry poor.....want to give me 20k and then put on the lot for $34990, they dont even need to put warranty on the car, stuff-em.

[crowv85l]

no worries, i would be hoping for at least 35k (assuming its a ts, a tad more for a ghia though) if i were u but i would think 30k private sale with those km's would sell pretty quick if u wanted a quick sale. not to say u cant get more money for it, it all depends how quick u wanna sell it. my brother in law bought a 2005 ts last year for 20k with low km, i thought he got ripped off but he was happy and i guess thats all that matters

[josem]

End of January is the time to buy. Test drive both the 1.6 and 2.0 litre engines. Everyone seems to be buying the 2.0 litre so if you are happy with the test drive on the 1.6, you might be able to negotiate for a discount. We bought the 1.6 ambiente and is very happy with it. Very quiet engine and also very quick to rev high if you need it.

[kevino]

Josem

Can you give us a bit more feedback on the 1.6 Ambients, ie is it noisy at 110kmhr cruise? Must be revving its head off? But would love to get feedback, seems a dam good buy. Are the seats comfortable and how is the fuel consumption.

[josem]

What I like:

First of all, let me describe my driving habit. I see myself as a sedate driver. We bought the 1.6 auto primarily because its looks, driveability (after a test drive), German made quality and published fuel consumption. I don't race my cars so we did not look at the more sporty models and 2.0 engines. Being voted by Drive as small car of the year over mazda 3 and golf did not matter to us.

My previous car was a mazda 3 maxx. I find this Focus better looking (even with the base ambiente model but I do plan to buy some alloys), has better driving dynamics ( I am not sure if the torque vectoring control feature on the front wheels has anything to do with it), feels better quality than my jap made mazda 3 (the doors and hatchback are heavier and closes solidly with a loud thud) and definitely has better fuel economy (my average is around 6.8 litres per 100 kms city driving only).
It also cruises very quietly and engine revs happily if you ask for it. Better than my manual mazda 3 (but it does not have the pull of my magna v6). I am still driving it carefully as I believe in the old school thought of breaking-in your new car for at least the first 1,000kms.

I find the seats comfortable (I have a bad back) and the feel of the dashboard comparable to a new golf (soft leather/vinyl/plastic on top).
I also like the dial temperature gauge because lately the new cars I have been driving just have temperature warning lights.

Also another feature I appreciate is the side mirrors has a wide angle lens on the edges to help you see the blind spots.

It's not in the brochure but the ford technician showed to me that there is a cabin pollen filter at the bottom of the center of the dash. And there is a filter already installed. Our Honda Civic and Toyota Yaris came with an empty compartment to put a filter in (Honda charged me $80 for a filter). I am not aware if the 2006 mazda 3 has a cabin filter.

What I don't like:

Gearing on the normal Drive gear selector is too high (to save fuel). If you are driving slowly and suddenly you are going uphill, engine sometimes struggle. You can press your foot down but I prefer to use the +/- powershift on the gear selector to go down to a lower gear to get my revs up. There is a Sport Mode gear but I have not tried it.

Air circulation is push button and only two modes (inside or external air). I prefer the lever button where you can control or mix the amount of outside air that comes in.

I suggest to go for a test drive and do not commit (even if you are told the special is only for one car and there is someone already interested) until you have tested all the cars you are considering.

[blatchie]

take the terry to the Auctions we have in Adelaide an auction house that offers no sale no fees