Here is the story.

I have been the smug owner of a black vRS since August 2002. All the complaints about water getting into the boot when opening the tailgate, upholstery that is a nightmare to keep clean, etc. are true. But the incredible "smiles per mile" and relative economy of the wolf in sheeps clothing vRS still shines through.

I do however have a tale of woe. 5 days ago, I was driving to Dublin from the West of Ireland on a frosty morning (avg. -4.5C external temp. and engine temp. showing 90C) taking my time due to the conditions. I got to a stretch of dual-carriageway (not a common thing over here) after about 2.5hrs driving, where I got the chance to stretch my right leg a bit, upto 75ish, when the dash alarm sounds, attracting my attention to the flashing temp. light. I then watched the temp. needle soar scarrily close to 130C at great speed. I took my foot off the gas, glided onto the hard shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief to see the needle creep down to 90C again. I got to a service stop, where I decided to take a look under the bonnet to find no steam at all. In fact, it appeared that ice had formed on the bottom third of the radiator, and was cold to the touch all the way up. The pipe to the top was too hot to touch, and the bottom pipe was icy cold.

I contacted my friendly Skoda dealer (nice guy) and he made arrangements with Mondial Assist to have my car taken to the nearest Skoda dealer, and for a rental car to be delivered to my breakdown location. I was impressed, until they gave me a Focus 1.6 Automatic! Might as well amputate my left foot... anyway, I digress. Since then, the dealer has told me that the thermostat was faulty. It was a part that took three days to obtain, only then to find that the water pump was also shot. They are still waiting for the pump to arrive, but I am hoping to have my vRS back sometime next week. I will have a good excuse to thrash the engine.... 7 months left on the warranty and just want to make sure nothing else got damaged. But why did the rad freeze? I thought coolant was supposed to guard down to -18C?

In conclusion, the last few days driving the Focus Auto has made me realise again, just how great a car the vRS actually is.

Sorry to hear about your woes. I know what you mean about taking the car for granted.

You think a 1.6 focus is bad, try driving a 4 year old Felicia with 50k, never serviced, no acceleration above 60, no brakes.

Witchfinder will know what I mean