To buy or not? 05 Ford Focus Zetec?

Warper

Gonna see a car tomorrow that i saw on Carzone.ie - its a 05 Ford Focus Zetec with 23k miles on the clock. Its asking price is 9,750. Anyone any recommendations or what to look out for as tbh i havnt a clue about cars.

I will be paying cash (if i like it) and obv the price is negotiable - how much should I offer and what should I be expecting? Is 9k too high to offer or should I offer 8.5k or what?

Is it a decent car? All i know is I like the look of it - its a 1.6l and black.

mumblin deaf ro

I drive a 06 focus 1.6l and i love it. Reliable, great to drive with good space. Main downside is that it's a bit noisy at speed, but otherwise I'd consider myself a happy driver. Mine isn't a zetec though, which I believe has a lowered suspension making the ride a bit bumpy on bad roads.

I would have thought that 9K for the car would be a good deal.

mle1324

just looked at the one your on about,not bad.
Recently my da rang up a dealer about one of those in AUTO and more less wanted cash instead of cash+trade,so all i can say that it will be easyer for you to haggel down to 8800-9000 if your are buying using cash, and even chance your arm to go lower:rolleyes:
very good mileage for 2005 too:).

colm_mcm

think that may be a little pricey. I know we have an 07 1.4 that we'd take 11 for all day, so bargain hard on that 05 price.

bazz26

That is asking price is wishful thinking. My recently traded 2005 Focus was advertised at less than that and it was a rarer, higher spec diesel Ghia.

The Focus is a very good car however there are lots of them for sale up and down the country so you can afford to be choosy on condition, spec and price.

pebbles21

friend of mine has a nice focus 04 for sale very clean car like new with about 55 k on it shes looking around the 5000 mark

Topper Harley

I drove an 07 1.4L rental and almost bought one after that but went instead for a Mazda 6 for the boot, I really liked the Focus though a very nice car. And in my opinion even the 1.4 had enough power so a 1.6 should be plenty. I've only ever heard good things about Focus'. But as for negotiating the price, I know from experience recently that on cars in that price range, they won't give much. One dealer told me that because they've had to drop the price by so much on the higher priced cars, they're holding out on the more affordable ones because they know they can still sell them.

bazz26

Topper Harley wrote: »

I drove an 07 1.4L rental and almost bought one after that but went instead for a Mazda 6 for the boot, I really liked the Focus though a very nice car. And in my opinion even the 1.4 had enough power so a 1.6 should be plenty. I've only ever heard good things about Focus'. But as for negotiating the price, I know from experience recently that on cars in that price range, they won't give much. One dealer told me that because they've had to drop the price by so much on the higher priced cars, they're holding out on the more affordable ones because they know they can still sell them.

Forecourts up and down the country are awash with used Ford Focus, if that dealer is holding out for anywhere near his asking price for that 05 Focus then he will be looking at it for along time. 2005 Focus Zetecs are not fetching anywhere near €9,750.

Topper Harley

bazz26 wrote: »

Forecourts up and down the country are awash with used Ford Focus, if that dealer is holding out for anywhere near his asking price for that 05 Focus then he will be looking at it for along time. 2005 Focus Zetecs are not fetching anywhere near €9,750.

True, but they are also popular cars amongst buyers and I've was in the market recently and can tell you that on numerous occasions dealers wouldn't drop their price yet soon the car was gone. On other occasions, they wouldn't drop the price when it was clearly too high and they still have the cars for sale now for the same price. I found that the only way to get a good price was to shop around and find one at a price I liked. I think if you really like the car and they won't drop the price at all, there's only a few hundred quid in the difference when you're spending almost 10 grand, so why not pay up. Having said that I really hope the OP does get a better price if he decides to go for it.

Lex Luthor

I believe there was a poster on here recently selling a 05 Focus 1.6TDCi Zetec with about 40k miles for just less than 8k. Private sale

I would say to start at 8 and pay no more than 8,250. Is there any warranty on offer? It really depends on what you want to pay and if you like it you will pay a little more

Warper

Thanks for the reply guys

Took it for a test drive during lunch and really liked it - good engine - NCT's till Feb 2011 with a 6 month warranty.

Bargaining wise - asking price was 9,750. He said best he can do was 9,250, i wanted it for 8,500. He said not a chance - as they had to advertise it for as low as possible just to get the customer in. We settle @ 9k purely because I really liked it. You know instantly if you like a car or not.

So deal done for 9k. Maybe i could have haggled a couple of hundred more off but ah well - happy anyways.

Vroom Vroom

Topper Harley

Warper wrote: »

Thanks for the reply guys

Took it for a test drive during lunch and really liked it - good engine - NCT's till Feb 2011 with a 6 month warranty.

Bargaining wise - asking price was 9,750. He said best he can do was 9,250, i wanted it for 8,500. He said not a chance - as they had to advertise it for as low as possible just to get the customer in. We settle @ 9k purely because I really liked it. You know instantly if you like a car or not.

So deal done for 9k. Maybe i could have haggled a couple of hundred more off but ah well - happy anyways.

Vroom Vroom

To be fair I think you've done quite well for yourself there. 6 month warrenty's good, a lot only give 3. Happy driving.

Henry Ford III

Best of luck. 1.6 Zetec is a good choice.

mumblin deaf ro

Well done - happy driving.