RE: Ford Focus ST (Mk2) | Shed Buying Guide

[KarlMac]

Jamescrs said:

I do wonder what those complaining about bad build quality and bits falling off are actually doing to their cars?

Quite happy to accept that mine might have been a Friday afternoon car but the interior door handle trim kept falling off, the fascia around the stereo never sat flush (actually bought an aftermarket one that was a better fit), the fake aluminium silver paint flaked off and the 'leather' cracked like buggery. This is on top of the endless unresolved rattles from various bits of trim.

The contrast was stark when I went to my mk5 Golf GTI

[greenarrow]

Jamescrs said:

I do wonder what those complaining about bad build quality and bits falling off are actually doing to their cars?

I had one myself which I sold with just over 100k on the clock and nothing fell off nor did the interior fall apart.
My wife had a Mk2 Focus albeit with a 1.6 petrol engine but that aside nothing fell off that or broke either we traded that in at about 70k miles, I found the interiors to be very robust albeit not the most luxurious of place to sit.

Yup, I've got a 20 year old Focus and none of the interior fittings squeak or rattle. I think maybe the comments are from serial VAG type owners who are used to the typical VAG interiors which admittedly give off an impression of better quality. The Ford interiors tend to be a bit basic and often using cheap plastics, but Iv'e found the cars themselves pretty durable. Our 14 year Fiesta ST has gone through the last 2 MOTs with only cracked tyres (not the cars fault, they were defective Kumho examples) as advisories....Don't think its failed an MOT tbh in the 5 years we've had it.

[Podie]

KarlMac said:

Podie said:

Complete tangent, but you took a corking photo of mine at a Sunday Service (Prodrive)... sadly was on it's winter wheels at the time though.

Was it this one?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/147154182@N05/329956...

I really liked it on the TDs and it made me miss mine!

That's the one!

The TD's did suit it, but I had Mountune OZ HLT Formula wheels for the summer.

[Court_S]

I used to really like these, but they haven’t aged very well at all to my eyes, especially the interior. They do make a good noise though. The replacement never appealed like these did. A chap I worked with had a okie one and it was nice at the time...liked a drink though.

I don’t think quality is the best either judging by the issues colleagues had with Focus’s of this era.

[haggishunter]

Podie said:

That's the one!

The TD's did suit it, but I had Mountune OZ HLT Formula wheels for the summer.

What brakes are on it? Do they fit under the standard wheels?

[RyanTank]

having spent the best part of last year trying to find one that hadn't been abused and was in good nick I conclude that any of the pre facelift generation that is down to "shed" money was simply not worth having, unless you wanted to be ragging it from limiter to limiter and were happy with it popping and banging everywhere. This car has become the Barry boy initbruv car of choice unfortunately.

I needed a 5 door and there just weren't that many available in the early mk2 shape, a few ST3 models but I wanted cloth. the facelift versions are much better at being looked after but still hold strong money for even 100,000 mile examples. the FL also comes with less issues the pfl suffered from.

I wasn't put off with the fuel economy as my commute is nothing and it'd be more of a weekend car. I will still have a MK2 ST at some point as I love the 5pot warble. hopefully it'll be a cared for enthusiast example and not a Barried one.
for now I'll make do with my H6 3.0 Outback, a completely different car to this of course, but easily more suited to what I need in a car compared to what I wanted in the ST

[Podie]

haggishunter said:

Podie said:

That's the one!

The TD's did suit it, but I had Mountune OZ HLT Formula wheels for the summer.

What brakes are on it? Do they fit under the standard wheels?

Mountune Alcon 6 pots.

Without spacers, I suspect not. No issues with OZ or TD wheels, but they had the appropriate ET45 offset to clear them.

[alangla]

RyanTank said:

having spent the best part of last year trying to find one that hadn't been abused and was in good nick I conclude that any of the pre facelift generation that is down to "shed" money was simply not worth having, unless you wanted to be ragging it from limiter to limiter and were happy with it popping and banging everywhere. This car has become the Barry boy initbruv car of choice unfortunately.

I needed a 5 door and there just weren't that many available in the early mk2 shape, a few ST3 models but I wanted cloth. the facelift versions are much better at being looked after but still hold strong money for even 100,000 mile examples. the FL also comes with less issues the pfl suffered from.

I wasn't put off with the fuel economy as my commute is nothing and it'd be more of a weekend car. I will still have a MK2 ST at some point as I love the 5pot warble. hopefully it'll be a cared for enthusiast example and not a Barried one.
for now I'll make do with my H6 3.0 Outback, a completely different car to this of course, but easily more suited to what I need in a car compared to what I wanted in the ST

This was kind of my experience. I wanted a Mk 2.5 certainly & wasn't interested in the Mk2, but getting hold of a 5 door ST3 that didn't have mega miles wasn't easy. You're right about them holding their money as well - so much so that the big dealer groups are still selling them at 10+ years old when the majority of their stock is 5 years & under. I'm pleased with mine, but I did have to hold out for several weeks to get the dealer to do the cambelt before delivery - they wanted top money for the car & I didn't fancy a £500 bill almost immediately. I've had mine almost exactly 2 years now & still love it.

[Water Fairy]

Jon_S_Rally said:

I would suggest that worrying about what other people think of your car is more of a reflection on you than a few people who choose to modify/drive their cars in a way you don't approve of. I can guarantee that most people wouldn't even know what car it is, or even care within five seconds of it passing.

Hmmm you seem to have read something in my post that isn't there. Or have I touched a nerve? I am the last person to worry about what people think, cars or otherwise. I love a well modified car but the cheap, tasteless, ill conceived tat I was clearly referring to certainly isn't to my taste, thank goodness. If it floats your boat then knock yourself out.

[blade7]

Turbobanana said:

A1VDY said:

I've had one and currently have a fiesta ST which we use as our site runabout. Can assure you they ARE sheds. They're a very average car at best with p1ss poor build quality. Can't fault the reliabity though..

Surely it doesn't matter what the build quality is like, as long as it keeps going. Enjoy your build quality while you await the AA.

Her indoors has had a mk7 Fiesta ST for 6 years, no breakdowns so far. I reckon the Fiesta would drive away from the Focus on most B roads too.

[LOBOTOMIZER]

Current dilemma- I have one of these and I still love it. The noise, the handling, the way it looks. So the question is: What do you buy next after this car?!

I’m struggling to find something that will make me as happy as ragging this beast around, contemplated some rear wheel drives especially the Subaru BRZ or Nissan 370Z but as an everyday car they won’t be much fun in the English wet weather. Well they could be but I don’t think I want to have to concentrate that much on my driving first thing on a rainy wet morning drive to work.

Any ideas/suggestions

[ZX10R NIN]

LOBOTOMIZER said:

Current dilemma- I have one of these and I still love it. The noise, the handling, the way it looks. So the question is: What do you buy next after this car?!

I’m struggling to find something that will make me as happy as ragging this beast around, contemplated some rear wheel drives especially the Subaru BRZ or Nissan 370Z but as an everyday car they won’t be much fun in the English wet weather. Well they could be but I don’t think I want to have to concentrate that much on my driving first thing on a rainy wet morning drive to work.

Any ideas/suggestions

The 370Z will be fine in wet weather conditions & will only get out of shape when you provoke it.

[LOBOTOMIZER]

ZX10R NIN said:

The 370Z will be fine in wet weather conditions & will only get out of shape when you provoke it.

Cheers for your comment, it’s appreciated!

My worry is that after the ease of driving the ST in all weather conditions, I will manage to unintentionally provoke it. I’m one of those that dislikes using the breaks I’d rather be looking ahead and come off the power in time but I’ve read doing that in the 370z on a corner will upset it, due to it being rear wheel.

I know ever new car takes a bit of getting used to, but I also don’t want to lose the fun of driving no matter what the conditions and end up becoming a nervous nelly!

370z is appealing but a lot of negative comments out there about them handling in the wet (argh what to do)

[Nickl911]

LOBOTOMIZER said:

Current dilemma- I have one of these and I still love it. The noise, the handling, the way it looks. So the question is: What do you buy next after this car?!

I’m struggling to find something that will make me as happy as ragging this beast around, contemplated some rear wheel drives especially the Subaru BRZ or Nissan 370Z but as an everyday car they won’t be much fun in the English wet weather. Well they could be but I don’t think I want to have to concentrate that much on my driving first thing on a rainy wet morning drive to work.

Any ideas/suggestions

Obvious answer :- VW Golf R32

Performance, sounds great, quality build, 4 wheel drive. Downside :- Heavy tax bracket and they don't pop and bang if that's what you want, but you can turbocharge it.

Yes I am biased because I have one, but I am really fond of Fords and I do look at the ST every now and then (even had a ST170 which I thought was very OK) but 6 cylinders is better than 5 every time.

[rasto]

LOBOTOMIZER said:

Current dilemma- I have one of these and I still love it. The noise, the handling, the way it looks. So the question is: What do you buy next after this car?!

I’m struggling to find something that will make me as happy as ragging this beast around, contemplated some rear wheel drives especially the Subaru BRZ or Nissan 370Z but as an everyday car they won’t be much fun in the English wet weather. Well they could be but I don’t think I want to have to concentrate that much on my driving first thing on a rainy wet morning drive to work.

Any ideas/suggestions

Without an idea of your budget, it's a bit difficult to say. I looked at M135/M140s and C63s. Ended up with the M140 for various reasons, but it is a great replacement for the ST.

[blueST]

I had an early ‘06 ST2 from new and loved it. Easily my favourite car I’ve ever owned. I just had a basic remap and the engine was tremendous, huge torque curve. Economy aside, it was a great GT and took us all over Europe. Easily the best built car I ever had too. No big problems in 70k I owned it. Even the main dealer servicing was cheap.

I sometimes fantasise about tracking it down, buying it back and having fully restored to new condition.

[RyanTank]

rasto said:

LOBOTOMIZER said:

Current dilemma- I have one of these and I still love it. The noise, the handling, the way it looks. So the question is: What do you buy next after this car?!

I’m struggling to find something that will make me as happy as ragging this beast around, contemplated some rear wheel drives especially the Subaru BRZ or Nissan 370Z but as an everyday car they won’t be much fun in the English wet weather. Well they could be but I don’t think I want to have to concentrate that much on my driving first thing on a rainy wet morning drive to work.

Any ideas/suggestions

Without an idea of your budget, it's a bit difficult to say. I looked at M135/M140s and C63s. Ended up with the M140 for various reasons, but it is a great replacement for the ST.

Depends on the needs too. if its still something ST sized then options would be A Class AMG, M135/140, S3 etc. perhaps even a mk3 ST?

[RyanTank]

alangla said:

This was kind of my experience. I wanted a Mk 2.5 certainly & wasn't interested in the Mk2, but getting hold of a 5 door ST3 that didn't have mega miles wasn't easy. You're right about them holding their money as well - so much so that the big dealer groups are still selling them at 10+ years old when the majority of their stock is 5 years & under. I'm pleased with mine, but I did have to hold out for several weeks to get the dealer to do the cambelt before delivery - they wanted top money for the car & I didn't fancy a £500 bill almost immediately. I've had mine almost exactly 2 years now & still love it.

I really wanted a mk2.5. very nearly bought the first one I'd gone to see, ticked all boxes of 2008 mk2.5, 5 door, decent history, no silly mods, no pops n bangs, cloth etc etc, only negative was it was silver and not the Performance Blue I lusted for. The dealer and I couldn't agree numbers as it needed a few things like the 100k service, water pump and cambelt, rear bumper meets de rusting, 4 kerb'd 1 buckled wheel replacing/repainting and a tear in 2 of the rear headrests.
I was happy to absolve the cost of the service and belt if he'd meet me at least on the price of the parts, he was sorting the wheel and rust out as was attached to a body shop. he insisted price was fixed and all works would be carried out by him for said price, with the caveat that there was a £150 admin and preparation fee on all his "high end motors". that little nugget was when I walked away as I was ready to accept it at set price providing sufficient evidence of all service and parts replaced was there as I didn't get the vibe he'd actually complete the works. Especially since on the test drive he'd slipped up saying he had a great mate in a garage who could write up a receipt for anything he wanted proof for . It was and still is a regret walking away from that car as it had mods on it that he didn't even realise were there. all he knew was that it was remapped as the needle went to the red Budget started to dwindle then which left me in mk2 territory and then it was let down after let down for "pristine examples". Didn't help people believing that early ST's are appreciating in price as they are "the new RSTurbo" depending what Ford forums you visit

[cerb4.5lee]

LOBOTOMIZER said:

ZX10R NIN said:

The 370Z will be fine in wet weather conditions & will only get out of shape when you provoke it.

Cheers for your comment, it’s appreciated!

My worry is that after the ease of driving the ST in all weather conditions, I will manage to unintentionally provoke it. I’m one of those that dislikes using the breaks I’d rather be looking ahead and come off the power in time but I’ve read doing that in the 370z on a corner will upset it, due to it being rear wheel.

I know ever new car takes a bit of getting used to, but I also don’t want to lose the fun of driving no matter what the conditions and end up becoming a nervous nelly!

370z is appealing but a lot of negative comments out there about them handling in the wet (argh what to do)

With the 370Z(or any RWD car) it is just about driving to the conditions, and even in the wet I still drive mine with the traction control off. It has wide tyres on the rear(275 width) so you really have to provoke it or deliberately abuse it to get into trouble.

With the traction control on it will help you out a fair bit too in the wet as well. Plus when you get used to it/master it the 370Z will be great fun to drive for sure. I highly recommend them for certain.

[Chrismawa]

I'm on the lookout for a new car and its between a MK5 Golf GTI or a MK2 Focus ST. I was all for the ST until I started reading online about some of the horror stories.I have found a low mileage low owners car but its other end of country so all I'd be able to do is to judge it by photos and videos. So now I'm back to the drawing board and not sure.