My wife wants to buy a new car in about a months time. We have about £12k to spend and have narrowed the choice down to a new Ford Focus 1.6 (LX or Zetec) or a new Toyota Corolla T3 1.6. We are planning to keep it for about 6 to 8 years.
We would like some help / advice to enable us to make our decision.
Thanks in anticipation
Jason
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Jason, J.D.Power and other surveys suggest you will have a better all round owning experience with a Toyota. I subscribe to a monthly motoring magazine which has a readers' problem page. Over the years I have been shocked by Ford's attitude to its customers. I have yet to see a Toyota feature on this page. Draw your own conclusions. I'ts your money!
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The, er, corollary is that the Toyota will still be worth something in 6-8 years' time...
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The new Corolla 1.6 is a really nice surprise. Not particularly gutsy and the steering is still too light, but it actually grips and handles very well indeed. Add that to the other Corolla qualities and it gets my vote over the Focus 1.6. see road test on this website.
HJ
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You must be kidding! A new car that's actually worth something in 6 to 8 years time?
Oh I've just seen a pink elephant fly past my window :-)
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I'd go for the Corolla. I've got my dad's old 1995 diesel and absolutly nothing has gone wrong with it in those seven years.
My dad's got a year old Avensis and my brother a Yaris and they are excellent.
I think the focus looks stupid and quite a few magazines are recommending the Corolla over the Focus, plus it's a newer design, you get more kit and the dealers are excellent - they aren't exactly stressed.
My dad's experiences of Fords have put us off for life.
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"..actually worth something in 6 to 8 years time?"
Well, not a lot perhaps, but still more than the Focus. Then they could sell it to me, and I would probably run it for another 6-8 years...
(Our garage comprises one 12-year old, one 13-year old and one 24-year old, so it's all relative)
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My wife runs a 1995 Corolla GS which has done about 56,000 miles .
It has never had any problems. Worth around £1300 as a trade in I think.
A small fuel tank is a bit of a pain , seems to be around 8 gallons.
I heard that there is also a problem with corroding sumps on Corollas of this age.
Ours is pretty rough looking and so I've just given it a spray with WD40- but a friends did actually rust through.
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My wife bought a new MR2 from Trade Sales in Slough and saved over £3,500. Completely painless experience which was a bit of a surprise as I was looking for the catch(es) throughout the whole process and it never came. Only downside no in-car sound - easily sortable for £300. Everybody else's comments about Toyota relaibility and better residuals are true. Toyota dealers also well ahead of Ford and very helpful. Take the Focus for a test drive though, they're a hoot to drive! Good luck
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