USED Ford Focus C-MAX MPV (03 - 07)

My car

I have owned my 07 Focus C Max 1.8 petrol Zetec for 11 months. There have been no major mechanical problems with the car but it suffers from rattles from the dash and rear seats. The 07 Zetec has a good equipment list with alloy wheels, space saver spare, a leather steering wheel and steering wheel mounted cd/radio and driving computer controls. Front fog lights and heated front windscreen/washer jets, front and rear electric windows/remote central locking. There are lots of cubby holes/storage in the car – there is a good sized, lidded cubby hole on the top of the dash, which is useful for storing maps, guide books, cleaning cloths etc. and 2 under floor storage boxes behind the front seats – big enough for first aid kit/ tyre pump etc. The front seats have storage pockets on the side – but they just catch dirt. There are 2 “aircraft style” flip up tables for rear passengers and storage pockets on the back of the front seats The 3 rear seats fold and flip individually and they are easily removed individually but they are heavy to lift in and out of the car. All in all not a bad car for the price, the 1.8 petrol engine has plenty of power, good acceleration and reasonable MPG – I do have a heavy right foot! Handling is surprisingly good for a high car.

My car

I have been so unimpressed with this car. I bought it brand new 18 months ago, when i picked it up the dealer hadnt even cleaned it, there was a scratch on the dashboard, no mats and the dog gaurd only half installed. The cosmetics of the car were terrible, the black trim was already and dirty grey colour, oh and no fuel which i had purchased. After many arguements with the garage they changed a couple of panels, correctly fitted the dog guard and gave me the mats. Poor service! Aswell as that mechanically it is terrible! I got told it would be economical it was until its first service. I have had problems with the breaks, the light bulbs go every 6 months at £25 a time to have them changed. It breaks down with no explaination, the AA cant get it going so gets recovered. In the last 10 days it has been recovered 3 times, the first time blocking a roundabout, luckily the second time was only a 3 miles walk to find a road sign as a lone female and today broken down on some traffic lights. Worst car ever and the dealers have been shocking and no help, compensation offered two free services!

My car

I had this car for 5 years and apart from the tailgate sticking once under warranty, I had to pay only for servicing and wear & tear items. The car was lovely to drive, I didnt feel the suspension was too firm. Its very easy to get into (I have long term back problems).

I would have loved to have replaced it with a new CMax, but my local Ford Dealer didnt have a demo, I couldnt get prices from them , so I replaced it with a VW Golf Plus.

The CMAX was a very easy car to drive, I used to spend most of the time in 5th gear, even at 30mph. If I forgot which gear I was in, I could pull away from traffic lights in 3rd if I wanted to, it was virtually unstallable. Plenty of pulling power in the middle gears, I would maybe have liked the 2.0TDi engine, but I couldnt afford it at the time.

MPG was roughly 45, including town and motorway driving.

Would I buy another one? Absolutely YES, just a pity I was changing just before the new one came out. I will run the Golf Plus for a bit and add a review for it. In the meantime, well done Ford, excellent car

My car

Bought this '04' plate C-Max a few weeks ago and am thoroughly dissapointed and fed up with it. I've owned 10 Fords, 1 Subaru, 3 Audis, 1 Alfa Romeo and a Nissan over the years and I can say with some authority that this is the worst car I've ever owned, although the Alfa runs it close. Poor build quality, poor fuel ecomomy, aircon compressor knackered and the front suspension creaks and groans with bent tie rods, all sold to me via the Internet, 'fully inspected, with a warranty' from a franchised Ford dealer.

Had to spend over £600 in 8 weeks on repairs just to make it driveable (couldnt take it back to dealer as I was in Germany), the Dealer is not interested, Ford UK don't respond and I'll now have to take court action to recover my costs. Hardly a fantastic ownership proposition.

At least it's got a big boot. Ace.