Ford Focus Estate (05-11) - Review

Review by Simon Harris on
Last Updated: 16 December 2008
As small estates go, the Focus is often overlooked in favour of more stylish models. Which is a real shame as it makes a great car for load lugging thanks to a excellent boot space and a wide, long load area. Of course being a Ford it is also great to drive and loses none of the handling prowess of the Focus hatchback, with the same responsive steering and good body control. With supple suspension it also rides well, even with a full load on board and there's decent rear passenger space too. A great range of engines is available, our pick being the excellent TDCi units, which offer a blend of punchy performance and impressive fuel economy. The model was facelifted in January 2008 with sharper looks and improved interior quality while a low emissions ECOnetic version was also available for the first time. In 2009 the eco version was improved to lowering emissions and averaging 70mpg.
4 out of 5

Other Ford reviews

4 out of 5

Running costs

Day-to-day running costs are going to be typically affordable. Although depreciation will always be a factor in this class, improvements over the previous model mean it should hold its value better. Economy is generally impressive and insurance bandings reasonable.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,427 - £1,753 *

Diesel

£986 - £1,335 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

12 months or 12,500 miles.

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£20.00 - £250.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

4 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
    104
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
    192
  • K
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

Focus is an environmentally friendly model. With an average of 154g/km CO2 across the line-up, its emissions are relatively low for a small family estate. There's an ECOnetic version available which uses the 1.6-litre TDCi engine, but through special fuel-saving measures and aerodynamic tweaks emits 114g/km of CO2 and can return 66mpg. In late 2009 the engine was tweaked to improve the ECOnetic model with emissions dropping to 104g/km of CO2.

Find the exact engine and CO2