Anyone with a Ford Focus (05-11 shape) able to help with loading questions?

guitarfishbay

Have been looking to change my car and so far a Focus is the car I can get most comfortable in.  So is anyone lugging gear around in one?  Probably looking at 08-09 1.6 Diesels that haven't been hammered too much.  Undecided between hatch and estate, only looked at a hatch so far.

Do hard cased acoustic guitars fit easily in the boot without flattening seats or removing the shelf?  Not necessarily a deal breaker but would like to know.  Knowing if a bass would fit would also count.

Also do the seats fold flat for shifting larger loads?

My bandmate has the newest Focus estate and IIRC the seats fold flat but a quick look at Parkers online suggests the old one's seats don't flatten properly, can anyone shed any light on that?

I know I can check this myself but I won't have time to do so for at least another week so wonder if anyone can help me out in the interim so I don't get too excited looking at auto trader.  

Thanks in advance.

Cirrus

Mine's an '06 1.6 diesel estate. The back seats fold very close to flat - maybe a 5 degree incline but it's easy to roll a flightcase all the way from the boot to the back of the front seats. And they're easy to fold too - it's a two second job.

The boot is wide enough to accommodate a typical electric or acoustic guitar case. My explorer case is one of those huge rectangle things and it doesn't quite fit width-ways in the boot, but does go in at a slight angle without trouble.

As a gigging car, I absolutely love it. I can get a flightcased 2x12 cab, pedalboard, amp head, box of spare cables etc and stands in the boot without putting the seats down and still get the roll-out boot cover over the top of it all. Then guitars just sit on the back seats. In the past I've taken two amp setups, 4x12 cabs, and my bassist's ampeg head and 4x12 cab as well. It's a great car for loading gear because it's relatively square all the way to the back - some cars taper in at the rear which is annoying when you're mostly dealing with cuboid boxes.

boogieman

I had an 07 Focus hatchback and a 01 one before that. On the older ones, up to 04 I think, you had to take the rear headrests off to fold the seats flat. It was a pig of a job. On the newer model you don't need to bother, they just fold straight down. The seats go almost flat and give you bags of room for such a compact car.

I could just about get an electric in a flat case in, laying across the boot without folding the seats down, but my acoustic in a bigger moulded hardshell case wouldn't fit, although it's a jumbo and therefore a pretty big case. It would lay quite happily on its side across the rear seat though. A combo amp fits easily in the boot too.

Phil_aka_Pip

If your amplifer is an AC30 you will soon realise that the lip on the back (because the floorpan is not flat to the back like it used to be on the older estates) is the work of the devil.

boogieman

Good point. The estate is much easier to load if you have heavy gear.

guitarfishbay

Thanks very much guys, that is a massive help.  I think I'll look for an estate.

Phil_aka_Pip

@guitarfishbay even the more modern estates have a lip. Mine (V-reg) didn't.

Cirrus

My 06 one I guess has the lip? You do need to lift things maybe two cm or they'll catch the plastic trim as they come out the boot. I can't say it's ever been an actual problem though. At that point, you're lifting the thing out of the car anyway. It's such a minor detail I can't see why it'd be worth mentioning. If I remember later I'll take a picture.

And my amp is actually an AC30... so I guess I'm devil blind!

guitarfishbay

I'm less worried about a lip as I am general boot space.  But I wasn't going to bother looking at an estate if I couldn't fit hardcased guitars in the boot anyway as a hatch with the seats down is big enough for lugging my rig for gigging.  If guitars fit leaving space for other stuff without removing the parcel shelf then I'm happy looking at estates.

Phil_aka_Pip

I never lifted things in or out. Especially an AC30 in a flight case. I wheeled it up against the back bumper with a piece of thick carpet between the back of the case and the bumper. Then, crouching, I'd heave it up against the bumper and tip it until it was on its back on the floorpan. Then I'd slide it inside. Getting it back out was the reverse. There was NO WAY I'd lift it over any kind of lip.

Cirrus

I'm definitely going to take that picture. Have I got the wrong end of the stick or are you definitely talking about the estates?

Phil_aka_Pip

Yes, the more recent estates have a lip on them. Don't know if yours is recent enough to have one but if the floorpan doesn't stay flat right to where the tailgate meets it, you've got a lip.

Cirrus

Here's mine, like I say an '06 but I think any estate of the vintage @guitarfishbay is looking at should be like this - that piece of plastic trim just inside the rubber seal is flush with the boot's floor for the middle 3/4s and slightly annoyingly curves up a little at the edges. But I've never had any trouble either lifting a flightcased ac30 right in and out (because I'm in my 20s still) or sliding it on/off the back like you described @Phil_aka_Pip (because despite being in my 20s I'm tired after the gig #:-S  )

So there you have it. Let it be shouted from the rooftops that Cirrus is so helpful, he went out in the rain to take a picture of his boot.
B-)

Phil_aka_Pip

@Cirrus that's similar to the one I had but as you say a bit curved at the edges where mine wasn't. Not as bad as I anticipated though, I've seen rear view pix on autotrader that let you think there's a much bigger lip on more recent models. About moving AC30s in/out - my back is knackered and I'm about twice your age hence its a lot more hassle for me.

guitarfishbay

Fantastic thanks a lot for the picture. The heaviest thing I shift is a 4x12 (probably similar weight to flightcased AC30s). That boot looks super easy, with my Fabia I have a big lip on the way in then the seat creates another lip even when folded flat so loading gets physical.

Cirrus

Reminds me of the guy who bought my flightcased Tremoverb combo - might even be on here - he turned up in a little hatchback with a big lip, non-fold flat seats and the boot entry was only about as wide as the flightcase+ our arms. That was a fun load in!