Impulsive st220 purchase
Discussion
Hello All,
Thought I would share my little non planned car buying adventure.
My dad (bored) sent me a link to a very low cost st220 in need of some love. Never driven ( or even been in one), but I always liked the idea!
Despite it being 150 miles away, a quick call to the seller convinced me it may be worth a punt, so we went and picked it up. I will run it about for a couple of weeks and stick it on autotrader.
First impressions;
Anyone still run one of these?
Thought I would share my little non planned car buying adventure.
My dad (bored) sent me a link to a very low cost st220 in need of some love. Never driven ( or even been in one), but I always liked the idea!
Despite it being 150 miles away, a quick call to the seller convinced me it may be worth a punt, so we went and picked it up. I will run it about for a couple of weeks and stick it on autotrader.
First impressions;
- It sounds glorious
- It’s not that fast.. I guess I couple of years of turbo diesels have me used to low down shove, it really needs 4.5k on the dial before it gets going.
- Handles well though, but better than my 17 plate mondeo company car.
- It ocationally make this bloody annoying moose sound, which apparently is to do with a hose which is about 6 quid.
Anyone still run one of these?
I had one for a short time. It was a saloon and an ex-management car so it was loaded with just about every extra. The engine was great (I like a V6) but that was about the only redeeming feature. I thought the rest of the car was appalling. It wasn't as quick as it maybe should have been. Aside from that, I thought the build quality was really poor, it didn't handle that well, had vague steering, extremely uncomfortable Recaro's (always had a 'numb bum' after any drive over 100 miles and absolutely the worst main dealer service I've ever experienced; I've owned a couple of Ford's in the past as well as an Alfa Romeo who supposedly have a poor reputation for customer service (quite the opposite in my experience). I couldn't wait to get rid of it. Hope you have a better experience. Enjoy the V6.
Verdict is out on the seats as I haven’t done a long run in it yet, though I think I know what you mean.
I’m not sure I can agree on handling, this turns in much, much better than the 17 plate mondeo I drive day to day. I thought it may feel a bit nose heavy with that lump up front, but It doesn’t really.
I have yet to take it for a proper B road hoon, I suspect it may be quite entertaining.
I’m not sure I can agree on handling, this turns in much, much better than the 17 plate mondeo I drive day to day. I thought it may feel a bit nose heavy with that lump up front, but It doesn’t really.
I have yet to take it for a proper B road hoon, I suspect it may be quite entertaining.
irocfan said:
has it had a bit of a knock - the front panel gap looks little off?
That aside it does seem like a fun thing to play around with
It’s has a car park ding at some point, the bumper is plastic and has been reseated since that photo which has helped somewhat. It’s the same bumper, so it’s not a structural issue, rather a plastic bumper issue. That aside it does seem like a fun thing to play around with
It’s a bit rough and ready on the outside, few scratches etc.
Cost wise I’d rather not say outright as I’m looking to move it on fairly quickly.
. It was comfortably shed money though, even including the bits it needed desperately to make it roadworthy, ( a wheel bearing, vaccume leak fix and a couple of tyres).I’d like to keep it, but I really don’t need two mondeo’s.
Had one for a few years and it was the only car I have ever owned where I'd happily buy a new one if still sold (ford dealer service aside - I stood next to a guy whose sidelight bulb on a 2 week old mondeo had failed and the dealer actually charged him for a new one at £35... had to stop myself from actually getting involved...)
Loved the electric recaros and mine never let me down but fancied a change. Mine was a 6-speed 55 plate, had the saggy rear bumper and the alloys looked like a volcanic plateau of grey and black rather than the nice silver they were meant to be. But I absolutely loved the engine, what a fabulous sound it made!
For a front wheel drive car, it felt sublime and very 'sorted'. Definitely the best balanced FWD car I have driven, almost felt like I could slide very controllably.
Loved the electric recaros and mine never let me down but fancied a change. Mine was a 6-speed 55 plate, had the saggy rear bumper and the alloys looked like a volcanic plateau of grey and black rather than the nice silver they were meant to be. But I absolutely loved the engine, what a fabulous sound it made!
For a front wheel drive car, it felt sublime and very 'sorted'. Definitely the best balanced FWD car I have driven, almost felt like I could slide very controllably.
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