Buying 2.5 ST Question.

[Arcticblue]

Hi there, so I am very close to buying a one of these but I am not very technical minded and unsure about mileage.

I have seem a couple of ST-3's I like but they have what I would consider a (to?) high mileage, anything between 86k and 128k, but I am wondering if I should really be looking for something with a lower mileage on it, I am only looking at the 2008+ face lift versions.

[Ron240]

The absolute oldest cars could be almost 7 years old now, so one done 86k is pretty much spot on average mileage of 12k per year, but 128k is obviously was above average at over 18k per year.
As long as proper scheduled servicing has been carried out then the engine should be fine.
Of course there is the argument that anything major should already have been renewed at these mileages so should be good for years to come....but if it was my money i would be looking at buying a car with much lower mileage. There is plenty of choice out there after all.
Not all owners cover high mileages.....ok i may be at the extreme opposite end of the scale but my 6 month old ST3 has only just clicked over onto 2500 this morning.

[Arcticblue]

Hi thanks for the reply, there are some cars with lower miles on them but it means travelling a lot further to see them, for example a place called car world in Peterborough has one for sale but its almost a 2 hour drive form me 08 plate with 48k on the clock, shame its in silver!

as for low mileage cars, my 04plate RS 182 is just under 30k, ive had it from new but due to just having a baby it is now not big enough, thats why i am looking at the ST.

[thebigmacmoomin]

I drove over 5hrs each way to buy my 1st ST in 2009. Was only 1 of 2 for sale at the time. Went from 22k to 36k miles in 4.5 years without missing a beat.

Then over 4hrs last year each way to buy my 2nd ST as it was the only one I found in budget in the spec I wanted.

[blueST]

I think the timing belt is due at something like 110,000 miles, so worth bearing that in mind if it is around that mileage.

[Arcticblue]

Went to look at one at evans halshaw in nottingham to day, complete waste of time, i phoned before hand they told me the car was till there etc, the usual someone else has been and looked at it and are very interested rubbish, so when i turn up they cannot find any service history for the car, and believe it or not i am then told that i cannot take the car for a test drive because the car had just had or was in the process or having a "brand new" engine fitted because you cannot put a recon in the ST and it had not even been for a test run yet and they were working on fixing one or two other bits and bobs as well!

Lets just say i could not leave fast enough!

going to look at a couple of 3DR cars hopefully in the week, would still prefer the 5DR but not many about and its not the end of the world either just slightly less practical with getting the baby seat in and out.

[ZX10R NIN]

Arcticblue said:

Hi thanks for the reply, there are some cars with lower miles on them but it means travelling a lot further to see them, for example a place called car world in Peterborough has one for sale but its almost a 2 hour drive form me 08 plate with 48k on the clock, shame its in silver!

as for low mileage cars, my 04plate RS 182 is just under 30k, ive had it from new but due to just having a baby it is now not big enough, thats why i am looking at the ST.

Distance should never be a reason for not viewing a car if it's the right car at the right price, get a plane or train & view it book early & it's cheap.

I've flown to Scotland viewed a car at 10am(seller picked me up from the airport) done the deal & was driving home at 12pm

[thebigmacmoomin]

I sold one car to a buyer who caught a plane down from Leeds to Exeter & then drove home and then another who go the train from Sussex somewhere to me then drove home.

[stargazer30]

For high miles check the clutch. 6th gear, 30mph, full throttle and watch the revs.

Many of these STs have had remaps on them in the past and the stock clutches (especially 07s) are not up to the job on the more aggressive maps (DS race, race+).

Other than that and regular service items these cars are fairly solid. Volvo engine :-)

[Arcticblue]

just been talking to a "rep" from car world in Peterborough, the car i was looking at is an 08 plate with 48,616 miles, but it only has service history for:

2009 @ 12812
2010 @ 17015
2011 @ 29863

then nothing else, I take it most people would walk away and show no interest at all seeing as it might not have had even an oil change in 3+ years ?

[DukeDickson]

blueST said:

I think the timing belt is due at something like 110,000 miles, so worth bearing that in mind if it is around that mileage.

125k was the recommended figure (assuming it didn't change on facelift), though many change more often than that.

[blueST]

DukeDickson said:

125k was the recommended figure (assuming it didn't change on facelift), though many change more often than that.

I think you are right. I wanted mine done at 60k and a well regarded ST specialist talked me out of it. He said he'd never heard of one breaking early and I was wasting my money, and to wait for 125k or 10 years.

[BlackST]

Definitely walk away if the service history doesn't add up.
There are too many Focus ST mk2's around to be able to just walk away.

Do travel if it looks the right car.
Make sure you want the colour that you are looking at. I think the silver ones are pretty nasty so even low mileage wouldn't sway it for me.

FocusSTOC.com is the place for Focus ST's. An amazing community, pay £10 or so a year and it opens a wealth of information.

[KarlMac]

Theres loads of low mileage ones around so I wouldn't bother looking a smokers. The crippling fuel economy of these cars mean some haven't been used as daily drivers.

Check clutch, especially if modified, std ones are chocolate, increasing lower reduces life massively. Budget £900 to change to an RS one.

Boost solenoid, recirc valve and actuators are known weak points. Boost solenoid is cheap enough to be a consumable (iirc about £20) but you should consider changing recirc and actuator to Forge or Collins version.

These cars benefit massively from Eibach springs, larger intercooler and induction kit, which should see you up around 260hp-ish with a map. Free flowing exhaust and RS injectors can be over 300. Thats really the limit of the standard turbo.

Check for interior rattles, mine developes quite a few and the interior is clipped together, rather than screwed, so fixing them is a ballache.

Other consumables aren't horrendous. Around £200 for discs/pads.

Not sure I'd recommend FocusSTOC, there loads of information online for free and after 20 minutes browsing you'll be convinced something expensive is about to break.

[BlackST]

KarlMac said:

after 20 minutes browsing you'll be convinced something expensive is about to break.

Most mk specific car forums then

[Arcticblue]

hi thanks for the replies, I have two more cars to look at before i start to look further afield, will link them below, please tell me what you think.

this will take every pound i have saved!
http://www.jjandsoncarsales.co.uk/used-cars/ford-f...

This would leave some spare cash for any unforeseen problems or "extras" i might want to add.
http://www.usedcar123.com/used-cars/ford-focus-2-5...

[Arcticblue]

just found this on auto trader, 5miles away from me

http://www.availablecar.com/used-ford/focus_2.5-st...

So thats 3 reasonably close by.

[thebigmacmoomin]

stargazer30 said:

Many of these STs have had remaps on them in the past and the stock clutches (especially 07s) are not up to the job on the more aggressive maps (DS race, race+).

I was worried when I bought my Dreamscience maps (the blue one) that I would have clutch issues. From what I read before I did it, it was hit and miss you whether you would have issues or not. Mine was an '07 2007 and ran the DSCi map with no clutch issues at all. Was the same on the other 4 lower power maps aswell. I wouldn't let it put you off a car.

Arcticblue said:

This would leave some spare cash for any unforeseen problems or "extras" i might want to add.
http://www.usedcar123.com/used-cars/ford-focus-2-5...

This one has the wrong wheels, pre-facelift wheels on a facelift.

[KarlMac]

All those look good. The mk2.5/'facelift' has a much nicer interior than the pre-facelift, try and go as late as possible - the 10 plate cars have a lot of 'freebie' optional extras such as keyless, climate, auto lights, auto wipers etc...

Go for ST3 spec where you can.

[Arcticblue]

Thanks for the replies, cannot say i noticed any real difference between the wheels, only thing that stood out was the silver cap instead of blue ? just thought that there were an after market centre cap ?