2008 Ford Focus 1.6L Petrol · NG08 XBT

The vehicle presents a mixed but broadly stable condition following its most recent MOT pass on 8 January 2026 at 110,034 miles. That test, conducted just over five months ago, cleared the car for road use, yet it carried a notable cluster of advisories pointing to corrosion and minor component deterioration rather than a clean bill of health. Comparing the January 2026 pass against the failure recorded only three days earlier on 5 January 2026 at 110,032 miles reveals a rapid repair cycle: the fractured nearside rear coil spring, both rear lower suspension arms flagged as likely to become detached, and the worn front tyres were all addressed within that narrow window. This suggests the seller or a garage intervened promptly, but it also confirms that critical structural and suspension components were genuinely at or near failure point just before the pass was issued. The mileage accumulation tells a consistent story. Between the January 2024 tests at 98,041 miles and the January 2025 pass at 103,091 miles, the car covered roughly 5,050 miles in twelve months. From January 2025 to January 2026, the increase was approximately 6,943 miles, bringing the total to 110,034. At roughly 6,113 miles per year across its eighteen-year life, this sits squarely within typical annual use for a vehicle of its age. There are no alarming gaps or sudden spikes in the odometer record that would suggest long periods of disuse or clocking concerns. The mileage pattern supports a car that has been driven regularly, which in turn means consumable wear on tyres, brakes, and suspension is proportionate rather than excessive. The recurring theme across multiple tests is corrosion concentrated at the rear of the vehicle. The rear sub-frame has appeared as corroded but not seriously weakened in every test from January 2024 onward, and both rear upper and lower suspension arms have carried similar corrosion advisories consistently. The rear inner suspension mounting areas on both sills have also been flagged repeatedly, with the caveat that plastic sill covers obscure full inspection. A buyer should physically examine these areas with the covers removed, checking whether surface corrosion has progressed to structural compromise, particularly around the sub-frame mounting points where long-term water and salt ingress typically accelerates decay. The fractured nearside rear coil spring found in January 2026 raises a further concern: coil fractures often result from fatigue exacerbated by corrosion, and the offside spring was already noted as corroded in the January 2025 test. Both springs warrant close inspection for pitting, cracking, or sag. Beyond the rear structure, the repeated appearance of a damaged nearside rear door, a chipped lower windscreen, and deteriorated registration plate suggests cosmetic neglect rather than mechanical risk, though the door damage could indicate prior impact that may have affected alignment or sealing. The insecure rear heat shield and missing reverse light noted in January 2026 are minor but worth verifying as resolved. Front tyres have appeared close to the legal limit or below it in successive tests, indicating the owner tends to run tyres to the minimum rather than replacing proactively. A buyer should check current tread depth across all four tyres and inspect the inner rear edges for uneven wear, which would point to the rear suspension geometry being disturbed by the corroded components flagged throughout this record.