With the new Ford Focus just around the corner, used prices for the current model (above) are looking more tempting than ever, with tidy examples up for as little as £3000.Best of all, there are hundreds out there. Typical of the deals we spotted was a 99/T 1.8 Zetec in metallic blue, being sold privately for £3000, though we’d have had to live with 100k on the clock.
However, for £195 more we could have bagged a 1.6 LX in silver on the same plate and 80,000 miles up. A similar car with optional air-con and 70k on the clock also looked tempting with a sticker price of £3495 at an independent dealer.Extend your budget a little and there are even more tempting deals on tidier, lower mileage examples – especially if you extend your shop to used car supersites. London’s Great Trade Centre is pretty typical of the deals on offer nationwide. We found a 00/X 1.8 LX 5dr with 50,000 miles. It looked pretty decent value with a £5499 sticker price. Also good value was the 02/02 1.6 Zetec 3dr with just 20,000 miles, up for £6499, though you’d have to live with a power-sapping automatic gearbox.Then again, with more to spend you’ll be better off looking for nearly new cars at main dealers. Less than £8000 will now get you an 04-plate 1.6 Zetec 5dr with around 5000 miles on the clock – and plenty of warranty left.
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