Focus RS MKII - what to look out for?

[acme]

Decided to get a Focus RS MKII in the next few months, performance blue with lux pack one and the blue insert seats would be my preference. It'll be a short term proposition sadly, circa a year and I'm looking for some advice/pearls of wisdom please. So far I've read;

- windows rattle
- rear arches can rust
- I'd prefer standard
- is Lux pack 2 that much more prized/easier to sell? I'm not bothered about satnav but would like the DAB of Lux pack 1 - but does it work?!
- obviously all the usual caveats about buying a 2nd hand car apply

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Finally, depreciation, seems from looking over the past year or so that prices have actually gone up!

Cheers

PS will also be getting onto RSOC etc to read more/ask questions too.

[ST86Dave]

Not so much of a reliability issue, but have you got a secure place to keep the car at night? As a member of the ST owners club, i would advise that you get a disklok, as unfortunately, stolen Focus RS and ST threads are all too common on the site.

Happy hunting.

[Johnnytheboy]

Sorry, tried to answer this last night but PH was being a bit sloooow.

acme said:

Decided to get a Focus RS MKII in the next few months, performance blue with lux pack one and the blue insert seats would be my preference.

Blue is a very nice colour, if I had my time again, I may have gone for blue. By 'blue insert' seats you mean the standard seats - so just avoid ads saying "half leather seats" or some such.

acme said:

- windows rattle

One of mine's few faults is rattly trim and occasionally rattly windows.

acme said:

- rear arches can rust

So they tell me. Mine are fine but the top of the arches does trap muck.

acme said:

- I'd prefer standard

Don't rule out a Mountune 350 (like mine!) as it's a fairly subtle upgrade that really improves the car's power delivery. There will be a lot of these out there.

acme said:

- is Lux pack 2 that much more prized/easier to sell? I'm not bothered about satnav but would like the DAB of Lux pack 1 - but does it work?!

Lux 2 is a satnav, reversing camera and a worse stereo (no DAB or 6 CD). The DAB on Lux 1 works fine.

acme said:

Finally, depreciation, seems from looking over the past year or so that prices have actually gone up!

I'm amazed at how prices have held. Mine appears to have depreciated by about £7,000 in 4 years. Does not compute.

As far as general reliability, mine (touch wood) has been completely fault-free for four years. The only thing I had that wasn't my own stupidity (e.g. kerbing alloys) was an initial battle to get the tracking to feel right. Other than that it's just worked.

[acme]

ST86Dave said:

Not so much of a reliability issue, but have you got a secure place to keep the car at night? As a member of the ST owners club, i would advise that you get a disklok, as unfortunately, stolen Focus RS and ST threads are all too common on the site.

Happy hunting.

Many thanks for the response. I hadn't considered that aspect, I appreciate they're the 'grandson' of the cossie and I remember their issues well, but thought that was less likely these days......

[acme]

Johnnytheboy said:

Sorry, tried to answer this last night but PH was being a bit sloooow.

acme said:

Decided to get a Focus RS MKII in the next few months, performance blue with lux pack one and the blue insert seats would be my preference.

Blue is a very nice colour, if I had my time again, I may have gone for blue. By 'blue insert' seats you mean the standard seats - so just avoid ads saying "half leather seats" or some such.

acme said:

- windows rattle

One of mine's few faults is rattly trim and occasionally rattly windows.

acme said:

- rear arches can rust

So they tell me. Mine are fine but the top of the arches does trap muck.

acme said:

- I'd prefer standard

Don't rule out a Mountune 350 (like mine!) as it's a fairly subtle upgrade that really improves the car's power delivery. There will be a lot of these out there.

acme said:

- is Lux pack 2 that much more prized/easier to sell? I'm not bothered about satnav but would like the DAB of Lux pack 1 - but does it work?!

Lux 2 is a satnav, reversing camera and a worse stereo (no DAB or 6 CD). The DAB on Lux 1 works fine.

acme said:

Finally, depreciation, seems from looking over the past year or so that prices have actually gone up!

I'm amazed at how prices have held. Mine appears to have depreciated by about £7,000 in 4 years. Does not compute.

As far as general reliability, mine (touch wood) has been completely fault-free for four years. The only thing I had that wasn't my own stupidity (e.g. kerbing alloys) was an initial battle to get the tracking to feel right. Other than that it's just worked.

Many thanks for the detailed response, much appreciated. Nothing better than hearing from an actual owner, especially such a long term one too.

Apart from the more subtle nature of the colour (odd I appreciate on a FRS!)I do think the blue is in itself a cracking colour. I had't realised the insert seats were standard, is the leather not part leather though on the bolsters only, not the main seat base/back?

I'd read the main Evo buying guide (Nov 2012)and the mini one they had last year and these were some of the mentioned things.

There was a thread/comment on here somewhere re arches, I guess it's something to do early on, get the muck out and or remove the liners and clean.

I'm not adverse to the mountune per se, given it was factory backed it must be OK, it's just that with it being a short term purchase being able to sell on easily is paramount, and I'd imagine standard is easiest, though given the typical buyer of these cars I may be wrong.

Good to hear DAB works OK, it's one of the reasons for lux 1 in my eyes. As for depreciation it seems to be a good bet, I hope......

One other question, not that this worries me massively as I drive a certain German make which most perceive as a to**ers make (!), but what's the general attitude towards it? It's somewhat brash and loud and I can understand the perception that it's at the top of the boy racer brigade?

[Johnnytheboy]

acme said:

Apart from the more subtle nature of the colour (odd I appreciate on a FRS!)I do think the blue is in itself a cracking colour. I had't realised the insert seats were standard, is the leather not part leather though on the bolsters only, not the main seat base/back?

Yep, the brightly coloured seats are standard (different pattern in the green cars, the part leather ones are an option. They have leather bolsters and wrap-round head rest, the middle bit is alcantara.

I went for this because - despite really liking the grey/green standard seats - I go and do my dad's garden in mine and knew I'd get them very dirty. The seats in my previous Clio Trophy were very similar to the leather ones in the RS so I knew I could trust them to be durable.

acme said:

One other question, not that this worries me massively as I drive a certain German make which most perceive as a to**ers make (!), but what's the general attitude towards it? It's somewhat brash and loud and I can understand the perception that it's at the top of the boy racer brigade?

I've very rarely had any trouble, the odd bit of "angry overtakee" and the occasional random Saxo chasing me round town. But mainly people love it - specifically children and people with tattoos.

One more thing if you do get one, it is moronically easy to scratch the alloys and scuff the underside of the front spoiler. Also the side skirts are prone to stone chipping from stuff thrown up by the front wheels.

[acme]

Johnnytheboy said:

acme said:

Apart from the more subtle nature of the colour (odd I appreciate on a FRS!)I do think the blue is in itself a cracking colour. I had't realised the insert seats were standard, is the leather not part leather though on the bolsters only, not the main seat base/back?

Yep, the brightly coloured seats are standard (different pattern in the green cars, the part leather ones are an option. They have leather bolsters and wrap-round head rest, the middle bit is alcantara.

I went for this because - despite really liking the grey/green standard seats - I go and do my dad's garden in mine and knew I'd get them very dirty. The seats in my previous Clio Trophy were very similar to the leather ones in the RS so I knew I could trust them to be durable.

acme said:

One other question, not that this worries me massively as I drive a certain German make which most perceive as a to**ers make (!), but what's the general attitude towards it? It's somewhat brash and loud and I can understand the perception that it's at the top of the boy racer brigade?

I've very rarely had any trouble, the odd bit of "angry overtakee" and the occasional random Saxo chasing me round town. But mainly people love it - specifically children and people with tattoos.

One more thing if you do get one, it is moronically easy to scratch the alloys and scuff the underside of the front spoiler. Also the side skirts are prone to stone chipping from stuff thrown up by the front wheels.

Funny you should mention about the seats getting grubby, wanting the standard seats with the blue& light grey centres I've noticed a few looking dirty, even with cars that are supposedly low miles!

I tend to prefer subtle cars, but there's something about the FRS, they just look superb! I guess I'll have to prepare myself for undesirable types talking to me in the petrol station!

Re the front splitter, does it constantly catch on road humps? I've got about 6 of them to get over to get to my house!

The alloys do look pretty low profile and I guess they're easy to scratch as you say. Any history of them corroding? The past two cars I've had have had water ingress under the lacquer, thus causing white worm, particularly a pain on diamond cut edged ones!

[Johnnytheboy]

Never caught the splitter on a hump, it's been a bit vulnerable to verges at the sides I guess.

My wheels are black so I can't help you on the corrosion thing.

[acme]

Johnnytheboy said:

Never caught the splitter on a hump, it's been a bit vulnerable to verges at the sides I guess.

My wheels are black so I can't help you on the corrosion thing.

I was going to ask, I notice quite a lot have black wheels, was it an optional extra or something owners have had done? Any advantages/disadvantages to them?

Cheers

[AlexRS2782]

Black wheels were standard to the RS500 ltd edition, but a lot of owners will have had their own wheels painted or powder coated black for aesthetic reasons.

IMO black wheels suit the overall aesthetics of the Mk2 FRS far more than the factory standard silver.

[Johnnytheboy]

Yep I had my wheels and vents painted. You can see it in my garage pic.

[acme]

I can't work out whether I like the black wheels or not, need to get along & start looking at some!

PITA just missed what looked like exactly what I wanted with just 8k at a decent price!

[Johnnytheboy]

I'm told graphite/anthracite wheels look good on a blue car too.

[acme]

Anyone who monitors the market an idea of what I should be paying for the following?

- Performance blue
- 59/10 plate
- circa 20k miles
- lux 1
- standard seats

Prices seem to be a little all over the shop from 19.5-23k!

Cheers

[Scottish Greg]

Prices vary a lot. But I think around the £21k mark is about right.

I wouldn't worry about the half leather seats, mine are looking great after 4 1/2 years.

Powder coating your wheels, will save a lot of heart ache over the standard finish.

[Johnnytheboy]

Prices are crazy - mine was about £24k new if you ignore the VAT.

Who said depreciation on new cars was a killer?

[Boshly]

I'm just about to advertise my ultimate green lux pack 1 with leather recaros 2010 car with 10k miles.

What do the collective think should I put it up at? I'm confused with all the prices. Are they colour dependant? if so is UG better or worse. I actually didn't want any other colour but appreciate its all personal taste.

The car is great but I just don't use it much, I've done about 2.5k miles in over 2 years

[acme]

Boshly said:

I'm just about to advertise my ultimate green lux pack 1 with leather recaros 2010 car with 10k miles.

What do the collective think should I put it up at? I'm confused with all the prices. Are they colour dependant? if so is UG better or worse. I actually didn't want any other colour but appreciate its all personal taste.

The car is great but I just don't use it much, I've done about 2.5k miles in over 2 years

A PB 2010 car with lux 1, 8.5k miles & standard seats was up for 21k at a main Ford dealers and sold within a few days, I think it was underpriced personally, but might give you an idea.....though I'm only looking at PB not UG.

[acme]

Had a look at a PB one today at my local Ford dealer, not what I wanted due to spec & mileage but bl**dy hell it looked good! It had the black wheels & it's got to be said it looked superb on them!

[Boshly]

acme said:

A PB 2010 car with lux 1, 8.5k miles & standard seats was up for 21k at a main Ford dealers and sold within a few days, I think it was underpriced personally, but might give you an idea.....though I'm only looking at PB not UG.

Cheers, so I would take it that I should ask/expect £20k and colour makes no (price) difference.

Good luck in your search, they are awesome Cars!