buying 2nd hand car - Focus vs Cee'd

orange86

I've narrowed down my next car to either Kia Cee'd or Ford Focus. 

I currently have a 2013 Kia Cee'd 1.6ltr CRDi diesel which is going to be a write off.  
I'm looking for a slightly newer version, say 2015 reg.
Ideally: low road tax, great economy from 1.6ltr diesel.

Cee'd has a chain belt which does not require changing, however Focus cam belt which will cost money to change. 


For purchase value and running costs, these two models seem the best
However, any other car makes to look at?

redped

Hyundai i30?  It's basically the same car as the Cee'd, and also comes with the CRDi engine. You may/may not prefer the styling/drive/options etc. of it over the i30.

paul_c123

If its a diesel, I'd honestly go for the Ford. I've heard nightmares about parts availability (like, months of delays for certain things) for Kia/Hyundai so I've avoided them.

fatbelly

Assuming that you have a sensible budget, say £5000, and you don't mind looking at cars that will have done 70/80k miles, then the Ceed is a sensible choice, including the sportswagon version and the Sportage with  a 1.7 diesel

Equally the Ford Focus diesel is a good choice and lots available

Vag group, you might just find a Seat Leon, which I like

If you want to go Japanese there is good value in the Toyota Auris and Nissan Pulsar of that age

singhini

Out of curiosity, how did you get to either a Kia Cee'd or Ford Focus?

When looking for my next car i looked at three things:
Cost:   ---->  my budget was between £1,000 to £1,500
Road Tax:   ---->  between £20 to £35 category 
Insurance group:   ---->  no more than group 20

What methodology did you use (my 3 parameters might not be the same for you).

Things like Safety, MPG, Hatch/Saloon, Brand, Eco Friendliness, Shape/Design, Features, Resale Value might be more important to you.


If you can let us know what your thinking is, we might be able to better help. 

PS ----> i ended up with a 2012 Mini One

orange86

Hi all, 

Thanks for the input.  My top budget is £6.5k. Ideally want great economy with £20 road tax, hatch back. around 1.4 to 1.6 ltr diesel. 

My 2013 kia cee'd, not had issues with the garage finding replacement parts. e.g. coil springs replacement. 

Grumpy_chap

Either the C'eed or the Focus are good cars.
Unless you do sufficient mileage, I'd consider petrol instead of diesel.
It really comes down to a matter of personal preference between the C'eed and the Focus.  If it were me, I'd pick the Focus.  You may prefer the C'eed having just had one and familiarity.

Mildly_Miffed

If you focus exclusively on pre-2017 Band A or B VED, not only are you restricting yourself to cars that are - at the absolute newest - nearly 9 years old, but you're also ruling out plenty of other options for the sake of what might be just £15/year (Band C, £35). If your motoring budget is so tight that £1.25/month is a showstopper...

Anything new from April 2017 is on the flat-rate VED, currently £195/year. If you extend your pre-2017 list to include bands up to and including that price, you're including bands D and E.

If I look at Autotrader nationally, £6.5k with no other filters gets me 32k <£35 VED cars, and 60k <£200. 10,000 of those are 2017 or newer.

strawb_shortcake

Have you test driven a focus? I really dislike the rear window, and felt my view was obscured.
I went for a C-Max, which I really love

paul_c123

Grumpy_chap said:

Either the C'eed or the Focus are good cars.
Unless you do sufficient mileage, I'd consider petrol instead of diesel.
It really comes down to a matter of personal preference between the C'eed and the Focus.  If it were me, I'd pick the Focus.  You may prefer the C'eed having just had one and familiarity.

Avoid the Ecoboost petrol Fords (in particular the 1.0 litre turbo), for several reasons (just Google it!)

fatbelly

strawb_shortcake said:

Have you test driven a focus? I really dislike the rear window, and felt my view was obscured.
I went for a C-Max, which I really love

I am driving a mk2 focus at the moment and like it a lot. Yours will be a mk3 (2011-18). No big complaints. My main grumble is a stupid bonnet release that has broken but I think they sorted it out with the mk 3. If you can get parking sensors and a Quickclear windscreen, those seem useful options

Parts are easily available and cheap - which is going to be relevant as the car goes into its second decade