ST170 as a cheap daily?
Discussion
right im after saving some money in order to buy a house. with this in mind my 350z will shortly be for sale and as a cheaper replacement i am thinking about an st170.
there seems to be a few good looking ones floating about on the internet with about 80k on them.
basically are they any good/ reliable and what is likely to break on them?
cheers in advance
t
there seems to be a few good looking ones floating about on the internet with about 80k on them.
basically are they any good/ reliable and what is likely to break on them?
cheers in advance
t
Don't think the DMF issue is any worse than any other car equipped with a DMF.
Other than the usual Focus issues of rust and dodgy wheel bearings, the variable length inlet manifold runner tends to fail due to cheap plastic clips used to pull the cables. A failure will light the EML and cause a lack of low down torque. CD changers tend to fail, but are easily swapped out.
Can't think of anything else ST specific, other than watch the insurance costs, they're in quite a high group given the limited extra performance on offer.
Other than the usual Focus issues of rust and dodgy wheel bearings, the variable length inlet manifold runner tends to fail due to cheap plastic clips used to pull the cables. A failure will light the EML and cause a lack of low down torque. CD changers tend to fail, but are easily swapped out.
Can't think of anything else ST specific, other than watch the insurance costs, they're in quite a high group given the limited extra performance on offer.
Ok, so my ST170, i like it but if i had to buy again i would have gone for the Mondeo ST155 Diesel and a remap.
Low mileage, late model (05) ST170 so far in 18 months has:
IMRC failure (Warranty covered), Exhaust Sensor (MAF possibly?) failure, rear suspension rusted through (Fixed), thermostat leak (thought it was the head for a while), gearbox cable snapped (very rare, pretty bloody expensive), it eats rear Passenger side brake lights and although can be economical (40mpg) if you do a very steady 70 on the M-way i average 27-30mpg for most tanks of Super Unleaded and 25-28 mpg for Regular. It's not that fast in a straight line it can only just keep with a 120d.
However there are a few plus points:
It's a mk1 Focus, they were the best driving hatch of its age even in boggo 1.4 spec and the ST170 is far better than that.
It's a mk1 Focus, pretty much the answer to the question what cheap, early 00s hatch should i be looking at.
It looks pretty nice.
Oh, it has a decent gear box, revvy (but wheezy sounding) engine which on a good day might make 160bhp, decent brakes as standard, a terrible turning circle, moderately playful rear end, pretty nice seats and when all of that is it together it is better than the sum of it's parts.
It's a warm hatch not a hot hatch, however it is IMO the best handling recent warmish hatch and as standard handles much better than a lot of the recent hot-hatches. The lack of power is something that will grate, but once up to speed it can still put a smile on my face and although you will never overtake anything with any grunt you will definitely be able to hang onto their coat tails on many b-roads.
Oh and today it will have been nearly 15months with an engine warning light on, that is not unusual for an ST170 but make sure you check how to read the warning codes from ignition.
Low mileage, late model (05) ST170 so far in 18 months has:
IMRC failure (Warranty covered), Exhaust Sensor (MAF possibly?) failure, rear suspension rusted through (Fixed), thermostat leak (thought it was the head for a while), gearbox cable snapped (very rare, pretty bloody expensive), it eats rear Passenger side brake lights and although can be economical (40mpg) if you do a very steady 70 on the M-way i average 27-30mpg for most tanks of Super Unleaded and 25-28 mpg for Regular. It's not that fast in a straight line it can only just keep with a 120d.
However there are a few plus points:
It's a mk1 Focus, they were the best driving hatch of its age even in boggo 1.4 spec and the ST170 is far better than that.
It's a mk1 Focus, pretty much the answer to the question what cheap, early 00s hatch should i be looking at.
It looks pretty nice.
Oh, it has a decent gear box, revvy (but wheezy sounding) engine which on a good day might make 160bhp, decent brakes as standard, a terrible turning circle, moderately playful rear end, pretty nice seats and when all of that is it together it is better than the sum of it's parts.
It's a warm hatch not a hot hatch, however it is IMO the best handling recent warmish hatch and as standard handles much better than a lot of the recent hot-hatches. The lack of power is something that will grate, but once up to speed it can still put a smile on my face and although you will never overtake anything with any grunt you will definitely be able to hang onto their coat tails on many b-roads.
Oh and today it will have been nearly 15months with an engine warning light on, that is not unusual for an ST170 but make sure you check how to read the warning codes from ignition.
My father has run an ST170 since new and it's now sitting on 110,000 miles. I would echo what the above poster says about it being a warm hatch rather than a hot hatch, however it really is good fun.
Ours has been very reliable with the only real problems being a dodgy heat shield on the exhaust. The DMF is a relatively easy fix these days and you can buy a conversion kit to an uprated version for a couple of hundred pounds.
Try and get a full spec one if possible, the heated Recaros are lovely seats and the Xenons are worth having. I'd happily own one as the handling more than makes up for the lack of straight-line speed.
Ours has been very reliable with the only real problems being a dodgy heat shield on the exhaust. The DMF is a relatively easy fix these days and you can buy a conversion kit to an uprated version for a couple of hundred pounds.
Try and get a full spec one if possible, the heated Recaros are lovely seats and the Xenons are worth having. I'd happily own one as the handling more than makes up for the lack of straight-line speed.
Dave^ said:
As a "Cheap Daily", have you considered the normal 2.0 Zetec/ESP model?
130bhp, (much) cheaper insurance Grpup 17 vs Group 31.
Just a thought...
130bhp, (much) cheaper insurance Grpup 17 vs Group 31.
Just a thought...
or a tidy Mk1 Focus 3door, 1800 "zetec sport" or whatever it was.If the ride is too wallowy/soft, couple of £100 on coilovers and some polybushes would sort that. The 1800 is 125bhp IIRC, same as in my mk3 Mondeo
chrisw666 said:
I averaged mid 20s mpg from my ST170 which renders it a not so cheap daily IMO.
A less sporting MK1 focus will still be fun to drive and a Puma is quite possibly a better thing to put a grin on your face than an ST170, though not as practical or quick.
Surprised by that, my Dad gets mid 30s and he likes to push on. That's not motorway driving either.A less sporting MK1 focus will still be fun to drive and a Puma is quite possibly a better thing to put a grin on your face than an ST170, though not as practical or quick.
ali4390 said:
chrisw666 said:
I averaged mid 20s mpg from my ST170 which renders it a not so cheap daily IMO.
A less sporting MK1 focus will still be fun to drive and a Puma is quite possibly a better thing to put a grin on your face than an ST170, though not as practical or quick.
Surprised by that, my Dad gets mid 30s and he likes to push on. That's not motorway driving either.A less sporting MK1 focus will still be fun to drive and a Puma is quite possibly a better thing to put a grin on your face than an ST170, though not as practical or quick.
omgus said:
In that case he has a different idea of pushing on than i do. I can get mid 30s over a tank of normal driving if i build speed very slowly and stay in 6th as much as possible and never brake for corners, you know drive like a nun, all be it a nun with fast cornering speeds. But ST170s are fairly well known for their thirst in relation to what the are.
As are the ST Fiestas, which use a similar 2.0 lumpNotDave said:
omgus said:
In that case he has a different idea of pushing on than i do. I can get mid 30s over a tank of normal driving if i build speed very slowly and stay in 6th as much as possible and never brake for corners, you know drive like a nun, all be it a nun with fast cornering speeds. But ST170s are fairly well known for their thirst in relation to what the are.
As are the ST Fiestas, which use a similar 2.0 lump
the Fiesta ST uses the same Duratec lump that is fitted in the MK2 Mondeo and MK2 Focus, the ST170 uses a heavily modified version of the 2.0 zetec that was found in the focus and MK2 Mondeos. Not sure about the Fiesta but in my hands the Focus could only better 30mpg on a long steady run, but whenever I drove in a manner I could describe as pressing on it would be into the mid-low 20s.
te on fuel for what they do chrisw666 said:
Agreed, it's something Ford are skilled at.
I'd have had a MK2 ST many moons ago if they'd made them capable of something resembling efficiency.
I'd have had a MK2 ST many moons ago if they'd made them capable of something resembling efficiency.
My best mate had a 2007 Focus ST........ On a run he was "chuffed" when it'd get 30mpg.
Luckily his yearly miles were >8k so it wasn't a massive issue, but his around town MPG of 12-15 was killing him, especially as it was Mountuned & tweeked so liked the VPower.
Awesome car in every other way, barring the shocking MPG
NotDave said:
chrisw666 said:
Agreed, it's something Ford are skilled at.
I'd have had a MK2 ST many moons ago if they'd made them capable of something resembling efficiency.
I'd have had a MK2 ST many moons ago if they'd made them capable of something resembling efficiency.
My best mate had a 2007 Focus ST........ On a run he was "chuffed" when it'd get 30mpg.
Luckily his yearly miles were >8k so it wasn't a massive issue, but his around town MPG of 12-15 was killing him, especially as it was Mountuned & tweeked so liked the VPower.
Awesome car in every other way, barring the shocking MPG
omgus said:
Oh and today it will have been nearly 15months with an engine warning light on, that is not unusual for an ST170 but make sure you check how to read the warning codes from ignition.
Interesting, wouldn't that mean an MOT advisory or a fail now?FWIW, my old 1.6 Focus Ebony Zetec used to have the EML on intermittently. Sometimes it was on more than off. Never made any difference to the drive of the car either.
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