Daily drives only...
Sept 2009 to Sept 2010 - 1998 Peugeot 406 L 1.9TD
First car, loved it but it was full of rust. I suspect it had been used to launch boats as all the sills from the B pillar back were non existent.
Sept 2010 to Dec 2011 - 2003 Ford Focus LX 1.6i
My Mother had this since new, as a district nurse it had done stop/start driving every day for the first 7 years/70k of it's life. It had been run dry of oil on several occasions and the lambda had failed causing it to run a bit rich. The engine was very tired and the suspension more so! I replaced every bush, fitted bilstein B6 shocks with ST170 springs, the steering rack, track arms, ball joints, wheel bearings, strut mounts and getting the wheels straightened out because of buckles. And I also replaced the entire brakes with ST170 items including all the lines from the master cylinder back. I then decided the next best course of action was to stick some cams in it, a 1.7 Puma inlet manifold, a 4-2-1 exhaust manifold, sports cat and an OEM-looking exhaust from the sports cat back. After increasing the stock power by 60% the bottom end shat itself a mere 15k/10 months later. What was I expecting? The engine was shot.
Dec 2011 to May 2012 - 2004 Peugeot 406 Rapier HDi90
Uncle happened to be P/Xing this for a new Citreon C5, luckily my Focus destroyed itself just in time for me to have this off him for £350. I put 12k on it in 6 months only changing the TPS and oil 3 times. Bodywork was shot but she done me well for 6 months.
May 2012 to Feb 2015 - 2008 Ford Mondeo Titanium 1.8TDCi
The one car I really miss!Took this car everywhere, done some tasteful mods and it was in a fantastic colour. The car never let me down until the final day which really wasn't the cars fault. Under warranty at 7,000miles it had a new flywheel for some reason. Whatever arsewipe replaced it cross threaded 3 of the bolts destroying the crank. Of course, I didn't know until I went to replace the flywheel again at 150k and found no thread in 3 of the bolt holes. I still see it about to this day although doens't look as well looked after.
Feb 2015 to Sept 2017 - 2015 Ford Focus Titanium 1.5TDCi
Nightmare car! 46 visits to Ford in 30 months. The engine never run right, it was slow, loud and poor on fuel. The paintwork was awful, build quality was awful and the car was generally awful. Ford couldn't care less.
Sept 2017 to Oct 2017 - 2014 Ford Focus Zetec ECOnetic 1.6TDCi
This was my first company car. Had 88,000 very hard miles in the clock. It has dents and scratches on every panel and inside was no better being an array of fabric tears and fag burns. The engine was loud and rough which I suspect was down to a worn flywheel, this was confirmed when the starter motor packed in due to eating a load of swarf but the lease company would only pay to replace the starter motor.
Oct 2017 to Present - 2016 Ford Focus Style 1.5TDCi
Current company car. I often joke that it's 'poverty spec' but I have grown quite Ford of my little work horse! It was well looked after by whoever had it for 18 months before me. The 1.5TDCi was a nightmare in my previous Focus, this one is smooth, quick, responsive and better on fuel. It must weigh a good few hundred KG's less to and it really shows when you throw it about.