Apologies to anyone who has already read this over on
uk.rec.cars.maintenance, but I was advised that this would be a better group
to post my query on.

Well I finally took the plunge, acting on several people's advice [Re:
Advice sought on the purchase of a good second-hand vehicle] and from the
majority of good reports I read, I finally parted with three grand and opted
for a high mileage (120,000 ex-fleet vehicle full service history) Ford
focus (51 plate) Tddi Ci estate.

Although it appeared to be a good runner, as I don't pick it up until the
end of the week I haven't had time to really evaluate it.

One thing that worries me however is that the salesman told me that the
intervals for timing belt replacement was every 80,000 miles, and the last
one had been replaced at a 100,000 miles, however according to 'Honest John'
all focus diesel timing belts must be replaced every 36,000 miles (which
seems pretty pathetic for a modern vehicle, considering that even my ancient
Astra is double that) does anyone know if this information is correct?.. Tia
Ivan.