Sensible family car - 2017 Focus ST-3
Discussion
Greetings denizens of PH, my name is Jon and I have an addiction to wasting money on cars.
With that in mind behold my previous steed, bought in May 2016 as I was in the mood for something wafty but not huge:
2003 A3 3.2 with the DSG box. It was a ridiculously well specced car with full heated leather, BOSE, CD changers everywhere, dual climate control, storage compartments everywhere and even a detachable towbar (!). With a genuine 69000 miles on the clock I was rather pleased with it. WAS being the operative word there....
After 18 months of EML lights, hesitant gear changes, porous alloys, the rear callipers seizing up and being replaced, 19mpg and finally the cam chain beginning to rattle like a bag of spanners in a washing machine I was looking for a change.
I had no idea what I wanted next but the arrival of our firstborn in April led me down the road of hot hatches. I do love a hot hatch and my favourite car I've owned to date was an Octavia VRs Mk1, not the most exciting car by a long way but it was such a good all rounder I loved it. The hunt was on for a nice MK2 estate or possibly even a Mk3. Alas it seemed decent petrol estates were thin on the ground and as I grew more frustrated a conversation with my sister in law revealed that as she worked for JLR I could qualify for a bit of a discount off a new ford.
Following some minor grovelling to Mrs Thrust "it's got 5 doors, it's much more practical", "It's got a warranty so we won't need to worry about fixing it" was the general line I was going for. In all honesty she was as fed up of the Audi as I was and being a bit of a petrol head herself it didn't take much to convince her a new Focus ST would be a good shout.
I was originally looking at an ST-2 but a dealer just down the road from me had a black ST-3 in stock and offered me a cracking deal on it. I'm not keen on black myself, I love it when it's clean but my first car was black and even when I was young and had enthusiasm for cleaning my cars it was an utter pain however I decided to suck it up and go for it. I picked it up in late September.
I'm 1500 miles in now and I'm absolutely over the moon with it. The heated screen and seats have been a godsend this winter and it performed admirably in the recent snow. It's also very nice to have a lot of modern tech about the place too having never had a car newer than a 57 plate before! I'm really glad I went for the ST-3 in the end as its absolutely loaded with kit, the only optional extra it has is privacy glass on the rear which looks good with the black paint and dark wheels I think. No plans for it other than to drive it and enjoy it, long live the ST!
With that in mind behold my previous steed, bought in May 2016 as I was in the mood for something wafty but not huge:
2003 A3 3.2 with the DSG box. It was a ridiculously well specced car with full heated leather, BOSE, CD changers everywhere, dual climate control, storage compartments everywhere and even a detachable towbar (!). With a genuine 69000 miles on the clock I was rather pleased with it. WAS being the operative word there....
After 18 months of EML lights, hesitant gear changes, porous alloys, the rear callipers seizing up and being replaced, 19mpg and finally the cam chain beginning to rattle like a bag of spanners in a washing machine I was looking for a change.
I had no idea what I wanted next but the arrival of our firstborn in April led me down the road of hot hatches. I do love a hot hatch and my favourite car I've owned to date was an Octavia VRs Mk1, not the most exciting car by a long way but it was such a good all rounder I loved it. The hunt was on for a nice MK2 estate or possibly even a Mk3. Alas it seemed decent petrol estates were thin on the ground and as I grew more frustrated a conversation with my sister in law revealed that as she worked for JLR I could qualify for a bit of a discount off a new ford.
Following some minor grovelling to Mrs Thrust "it's got 5 doors, it's much more practical", "It's got a warranty so we won't need to worry about fixing it" was the general line I was going for. In all honesty she was as fed up of the Audi as I was and being a bit of a petrol head herself it didn't take much to convince her a new Focus ST would be a good shout.
I was originally looking at an ST-2 but a dealer just down the road from me had a black ST-3 in stock and offered me a cracking deal on it. I'm not keen on black myself, I love it when it's clean but my first car was black and even when I was young and had enthusiasm for cleaning my cars it was an utter pain however I decided to suck it up and go for it. I picked it up in late September.
I'm 1500 miles in now and I'm absolutely over the moon with it. The heated screen and seats have been a godsend this winter and it performed admirably in the recent snow. It's also very nice to have a lot of modern tech about the place too having never had a car newer than a 57 plate before! I'm really glad I went for the ST-3 in the end as its absolutely loaded with kit, the only optional extra it has is privacy glass on the rear which looks good with the black paint and dark wheels I think. No plans for it other than to drive it and enjoy it, long live the ST!
Nice
I had a pre face lift ST3 and torque steer aside it was a really fun car. Id suffered with an E92 bmw for 18 months before the ST and I still remember opening it up on a dual carriage way, cool air, over boost in 3rd gear, good times after being stuck in a barge. Heated screen used to be a god send in winter but a nuisance when driving in the dark. Looks like a lovely car.
I had a pre face lift ST3 and torque steer aside it was a really fun car. Id suffered with an E92 bmw for 18 months before the ST and I still remember opening it up on a dual carriage way, cool air, over boost in 3rd gear, good times after being stuck in a barge. Heated screen used to be a god send in winter but a nuisance when driving in the dark. Looks like a lovely car.
Edited by MikeGoodwin on Thursday 21st December 11:43
MikeGoodwin said:
Nice
I had a pre face lift ST3 and torque steer aside it was a really fun car. Id suffered with an E92 bmw for 18 months before the ST and I still remember opening it up on a dual carriage way, cool air, over boost in 3rd gear, good times after being stuck in a barge. Heated screen used to be a god send in winter but a nuisance when driving in the dark. Looks like a lovely car.
Why was the screen a nuisance in the dark? I had a pre face lift ST3 and torque steer aside it was a really fun car. Id suffered with an E92 bmw for 18 months before the ST and I still remember opening it up on a dual carriage way, cool air, over boost in 3rd gear, good times after being stuck in a barge. Heated screen used to be a god send in winter but a nuisance when driving in the dark. Looks like a lovely car.
Edited by MikeGoodwin on Thursday 21st December 11:43
Robfow said:
TheInternet said:
Heated screen wires more apparent, presumably.
Would agree with that, I find them horrible at night with oncoming headlightsLovely car OP, enjoy.
LanceRS said:
Robfow said:
TheInternet said:
Heated screen wires more apparent, presumably.
Would agree with that, I find them horrible at night with oncoming headlightsLovely car OP, enjoy.
Hub said:
Nice. Didn't fancy the estate then? The boot on the hatch isn't that big, so combined with the relatively poor rear legroom it isn't that practical!
You're right, the boot and rear seat space is pretty poor but compared to the A3 this replaced it's massive! Luckily Mrs Thrust had a civic 5dr that covered the real practicalities, I just wanted something with five doors and an excuse to bin the Audi ha!Speaking of Mrs Thrust she has recently replaced her Civic with this:
Which has taken over family duties admirably. It's a 2015 Leon FR TDi 184 with the Tech pack, I really like it and she loves it.
As for the focus, 3000 miles in now and I still love it.
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