Tom's Nile GTi6

[Toms306]

I agree the 90s ones were pretty poor, Mk1 Mondy, Mk1 Focus, Mk4 Fiesta....Eurgh...

I disagree - whilst the early 90's stuff was a bit dubious, by the late 90's Ford were producing various class leading cars that drove superbly.

Puma, Mk1 Focus, Mk2 Mondeo and whatever that era Fiesta was (Mk5?).... all handled and drove brilliantly.

It's just a shame that they dropped the ball when it came to rust protection, hence the smaller Fords of that era (especially Ka's) being such a problem rot wise now.

Each to their own I guess!

Protection is still an issue on them now unfortunately, as well as the sills rusting out before 10 years old they use cheap paint and can't put lacquer on thick enough. The grit/gravel rash on the doors is still awful on the latest Focus and the paint comes off under the sills pretty quick as well still. Mud flaps (like mine has fortunately) do help a bit but it's not ideal, I'm fairly sure the Mk3 Focus will all be as rusty as the Mk1s are now! Even the newest fiestas have paint flaking off around door hinges and boot as well. And they're still full of orange peel from the factory. But then I suppose if you want German paint quality, you have to pay for it!

Tom, have you got the pre-facelift or facelift version?

2008, very late facelift model. It's actually newer than the Focus annoyingly haha.