Ford Focus vs Vauxhall Corsa: Running Costs 2026 (UK)

UK petrol averaged £1.57/L in April 2026 and diesel £1.91/L (heycar national tracker, 28-Apr-2026). Comprehensive insurance premiums are up 18% year-on-year. The CMA's Fuel Finder transparency scheme has been live since February 2026, but it's only useful if you already know what your car should cost to run.

This article ranks the Ford Focus and the Vauxhall Corsa — the two best-selling used hatchbacks in the UK by AutoTrader listings volume — against each other on real April 2026 running costs. Fuel, insurance, road tax, service. We use real-world MPG from Honest John, ABI insurance groups, and an independent-garage service average from WhoCanFixMyCar. Every figure assumes the UK average annual mileage of 7,400 miles. The methodology section shows the working so you can re-run the numbers for the exact trim and mileage you're shopping.

Headline finding: the Corsa 1.2 SE is cheaper by 1.5p/mile — roughly £111/year on UK average mileage. The Focus claws back about half of that on residual value and wins outright on boot space. Full breakdown below.

The headline number — who wins on £/year

Mid-trim, 4-year-old example of each. Total annual running cost = fuel + insurance + VED + one service.

The Corsa wins on every line that has a winner. Most of the gap is insurance — the Corsa 1.2 SE drops three insurance groups below the Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Style, which is worth ~£300/year on its own. Fuel is the next-biggest lever: 3 MPG real-world advantage on the Corsa adds up to £67/year at current pump prices.

Before you commit, read the Side-by-side section further down — the Focus's stronger 3-year residual value and 83-litre bigger boot close the gap if you'll resell within 3 years or you regularly haul a buggy.

How we calculated this

Numbers in this article come from publicly verifiable sources, applied to a single methodology so the two cars are compared like-for-like. If you spot a figure that doesn't match what you're seeing, it's almost always because a different MPG source (WLTP brochure vs real-world) or a different insurance assumption (postcode, age, NCD) is being used. We've spelled out every assumption below.

Fuel

Real-world MPG from Honest John Real MPG owner submissions, cross-checked against fuelly.com UK averages. We use real MPG, not the WLTP figure on the brochure.

• Miles per litre = real MPG ÷ 4.546
• Annual fuel cost = (7,400 ÷ miles per litre) × pump price
• Pump prices used: £1.57/L petrol (heycar national average, 28-Apr-2026)

Insurance

ABI insurance group from the manufacturer's UK trim sheet. Premium estimates use band midpoints for a 35-year-old driver with 5+ years no-claims, fully comprehensive, average UK postcode (Confused.com / Finder UK April 2026 sample).

• Groups 1–10: ~£650/year
• Groups 11–20: ~£950/year
• Groups 21–30: ~£1,400/year

For new-driver figures (19-year-old, telematics, 1 year NCD) we apply a 2.5× multiplier to the band midpoint, in line with Confused.com's published 2026 benchmarks.

Road tax (VED)

£195/year standard rate from April 2026 — both the Focus 1.0 EcoBoost and the Corsa 1.2 SE registered after April 2017 sit on the post-2017 flat rate. Source: gov.uk Vehicle tax rate tables.

Service & maintenance

Annual independent-garage service price from WhoCanFixMyCar's 2026 cost tracker, averaged across UK postcodes for a 4-year-old example. We assume one service per year on UK average mileage. We do not include MOT (£54.85), tyres or ad-hoc repairs in the headline number — those are model-agnostic in the first 4 years and would not change the Focus-vs-Corsa winner.

Sources & assumptions

• Fuel prices: £1.57/L petrol, heycar UK pump tracker, 28-Apr-2026.
• Real-world MPG: Honest John Real MPG owner database (Focus 1.0 EcoBoost ~47 MPG, Corsa 1.2 ~50 MPG).
• Insurance groups: ABI / Thatcham group ratings, published via Finder UK and Confused.com (Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Style = Group 11, Corsa 1.2 SE = Group 8). Premium estimates use Confused.com band midpoints for a 35-year-old, 5+ NCD, average UK postcode.
• Road tax: gov.uk Vehicle tax rate tables, post-April-2026 standard rate £195/year.
• Service costs: WhoCanFixMyCar 2026 average independent-garage interim service (£195 Corsa, £215 Focus).
• Mileage assumption: 7,400 miles/year (UK national average per DfT 2025).
• Excluded from headline £/year: depreciation, MOT, tyres, ad-hoc repair. Depreciation is discussed separately in the Side-by-side section.

If your mileage, postcode or driver profile differs materially, plug the same formulas into your own numbers — or let the free CarScreener guide run them against the exact reg you're looking at.

Ford Focus running costs in detail

Worked example: 2020 Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Style, ~30,000 miles on the clock, mid-£10k used price.

• Real-world MPG: 47 (Honest John Real MPG)
• Annual fuel cost: 7,400 ÷ (47 ÷ 4.546) × £1.57 = £1,116/year
• Insurance group: 11 → £950/year (35-year-old, 5+ NCD, average postcode)
• Road tax (VED): £195/year
• Annual service (independent): £215/year
• Total: £2,476/year (£206/month). Pence per mile: 15.7p.

The big variable on the Focus is trim. The 1.0 EcoBoost Style and Zetec sit in insurance Group 11. Step up to the 1.5 EcoBoost Titanium and you're in Group 17 (~£1,200/year). The 1.6 EcoBoost Titanium X is Group 26 — about £1,400/year. The ST hot-hatch is Group 32+ and breaks £1,800/year on its own. Trim choice on the Focus is worth £600/year — the single biggest lever on this car's running cost. If you're optimising for running cost, stick to Style or Zetec.

Other cost realities worth knowing:

• Boot space: 392L (best-in-class for the C-segment hatch)
• ULEZ-compliant: Yes, all 1.0 EcoBoost from 2018 onward
• Common high-mileage faults: Turbo actuator on 1.0 EcoBoost; wet-belt cambelt failure on pre-2020 1.0 EcoBoost specifically (a known £1,500+ repair if it lets go — check the service history). Post-2020 1.0 EcoBoost moved to a chain.
• Parts availability: Excellent. Ford is the largest fleet brand in the UK, so independent-garage parts are everywhere and cheap.
• Residual value: Strong — the Focus has held value better than the Corsa over the last 24 months per AutoTrader retail price index.

Vauxhall Corsa running costs in detail

Worked example: 2021 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SE, ~25,000 miles on the clock, low-£10k used price.

• Real-world MPG: 50 (Honest John Real MPG)
• Annual fuel cost: 7,400 ÷ (50 ÷ 4.546) × £1.57 = £1,049/year
• Insurance group: 8 → £650/year (35-year-old, 5+ NCD, average postcode)
• Road tax (VED): £195/year
• Annual service (independent): £195/year
• Total: £2,089/year (£174/month). Pence per mile: 14.2p.

The Corsa is more uniform across trims than the Focus. The 1.2 turbo in SE, Elite or SRi all sit in insurance Group 8–10 — about £100/year of swing. The GS Line bumps to Group 12. There's no Corsa equivalent to the Focus ST's insurance penalty, so the trim-choice exposure is much smaller.

The Corsa-e (electric): On home overnight charging at 28p/kWh, the Corsa-e costs about £140/month all-in — roughly £40/month less than the petrol Corsa. But on public rapid charging at 75p/kWh, it works out more expensive per mile than the petrol. Used Corsa-e residuals have softened 18% YoY against 6% for the petrol, so the upfront purchase is cheaper but the depreciation cost is higher. Worth it only if you can charge at home and you'll keep the car 4+ years.

Other cost realities worth knowing:

• Boot space: 309L (small for the segment)
• ULEZ-compliant: Yes, all 1.2 turbo from 2019 onward
• Common high-mileage faults: Water pump (post-2020 cars), ignition coil packs (a £40–£80 part but a known recurring item), electric handbrake faults on the post-2020 generation. None catastrophic, all affordable.
• Parts availability: Good — the post-2019 Corsa shares its platform with the Peugeot 208, so PSA-group parts feed into the supply chain.
• Residual value: Weaker than the Focus. The Corsa's strong fleet-sales volume keeps used supply high, which suppresses prices.

Side-by-side — what actually differs

Where the Corsa wins: every line of the cash-out monthly running cost. New-driver insurance gap is bigger than every other difference combined.

Where the Focus wins: boot space (83L is the difference between fitting a buggy and not), residual value (3-year retained value is 6 percentage points higher), and on-road feel (Focus has long been the segment benchmark for ride and handling — relevant if you do a lot of motorway miles). On a £12,000 buy with 3-year resale, the Focus retains about £720 more than the Corsa, which closes the £/year cost gap to roughly £60/year over 3 years.

Which one's cheaper to run?

The Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SE wins on cash-out running cost by £387/year (£32/month). That's the answer if you only weight the monthly outgoing.

The honest caveats:

• If you weight depreciation, the gap closes to ~£60/year over 3 years. The Focus retains more value, so total cost-of-ownership is closer than monthly cost-of-ownership.
• If you need the boot, pick the Focus. 392L vs 309L is the difference between fitting a folded buggy and a weekly shop comfortably or not.
• If a new driver will insure the car, the Corsa's Group 8 vs the Focus's Group 11 is worth ~£400/year on a 19-year-old's policy. That decides it.
• If you want the Focus and want to minimise running cost, stay in the Style or Zetec trim with the 1.0 EcoBoost. Stepping up to Titanium X or ST is worth £400–£600/year in extra insurance alone.

Hidden running costs to factor in

The headline £/year above is fuel + insurance + VED + service. Three more cost lines should be in your decision:

Tyres. Both cars wear similar 16-inch rubber. Mid-range tyres (Avon, Falken) come in around £80 fitted; premium (Michelin, Continental) around £130 fitted. Budget one set of fronts every ~25,000 miles, one full set every ~45,000 miles. On UK average mileage that's about £180/year averaged out — the same on either car.

MOT failure rates. DVSA's published MOT pass-rate data shows the Focus and Corsa both run a first-time MOT pass rate around 65–68% on cars in the 6–10 year old bracket. Most failures are advisories that became failures: brake discs, suspension bushes, headlight aim. Reading the MOT history before you buy catches almost all of these — the failures show up as advisories on the previous test 12–18 months earlier.

Insurance for new drivers. For a 19-year-old with telematics and 1 year NCD, expect roughly £2,400/year on the Focus and £2,000/year on the Corsa — a £400/year delta that's bigger than every other running-cost difference combined. If the car is being insured for a young driver, insurance group is the deciding factor and the Corsa is the answer.

For a more tailored insurance estimate, the CarScreener insurance guide walks you through Confused.com and GoCompare side-by-side using the exact reg.

Get a tailored running cost estimate for your reg

Numbers in this article are mid-trim averages for a 4-year-old example on UK average mileage. The Focus you're actually looking at might be a Titanium X (Group 26, not 11) on 18-inch wheels, with 50,000 miles and a service history that's missing a year. That changes the £/year by hundreds.

The free CarScreener guide takes a reg or a listing URL and returns:

• The exact insurance group for that trim
• A real-world fuel cost using actual MPG submissions for that engine
• The MOT history with advisories called out
• Estimated 5-year total ownership cost, including depreciation
• Anything unusual flagged — outliers in mileage, V5C history, service gaps

30 seconds, no card needed. If you'd rather have a conversation, send Claire the same reg at claire.carscreener.ai and she'll come back with the same numbers in plain English.

For broader context on where the Focus and Corsa sit in the wider used-hatchback market, see our cheapest cars to run in the UK in 2026 ranking — the Focus and Corsa both sit just outside the top 10, beaten on cost by superminis but well ahead of every C-segment alternative. If you're cross-shopping the Focus against its Ford stablemate, the used Ford Fiesta buyer's guide covers the running-cost trade between the smaller car and the larger one.