Ford Focus long-term test review: report 6

The car Ford Focus 1.5 TDCi Ecoblue ST-Line Run by Claire Evans, consumer editor

Why it’s here The latest Focus is a big seller and good enough to have been shortlisted for What Car?'s 2019 family car award. It's therefore important to find out what it’s like to live with 

Needs to Dispatch the daily commute in a fun yet frugal manner and dispel the popular myth that all diesels are evil

Mileage 11,866 List price £22,850 Target Price £20,983 Price as tested £25,200 Test economy 54.5mpg Official economy 80.7mpg Extras Convenience Pack (£750), Driver Assistance Pack (£500), Sync 3 DAB navigation system with 8.0in colour touchscreen (£350), Ford Pass Connect (£250), Frozen White metallic paint (£250), rear privacy glass (£250)

21 June 2019 – Time for some TLC  

As the Focus approached its first birthday and the 11,000-mile mark a polite request to have the oil changed popped up on the dash. Within a week this had changed to more of an instruction (see photo), so I checked online for my nearest dealer.

The Ford site is simple to navigate and it only took a few clicks to find out that the service would cost £125 and that I could book my preferred date and time with local dealership EJ Balaam and Son of West Wickham.

Later that day I got an email confirming the booking from the aptly named service manager Andy Sparks.

I dropped the car off at the agreed time and a couple of hours later I got another email from EJ Balaam containing a simple but informative Vehicle Health Check document letting me know various components on the car had all been checked and were all in fine fettle.

I’m pleased to say the entire experience was great – friendly staff, an efficient service and good information on the condition of the car.

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