MK1 Focus RS - Really this cheap?

[T84]

Are they really at the 7-8k mark or are these likely to be lemons?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

[homerjay]

Tbf they are 7 years old now.

Not really a bargain but still money well spent IMO

[Yazza54]

Doesn't seem that cheap for a 7 yr old glorified ford focus... There's a lot out there of consider before one of them in that price range.

[neiljohnson]

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

[Shropshiremike]

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

[neiljohnson]

Shropshiremike said:

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

Its a great car one of the best things is when you get bored you can just add something & you fall in love with it all over again (much cheaper than buying a new one) im into 300bhp+ now & it copes with the extra power wonderfully

[rb5230]

Yazza54 said:

Doesn't seem that cheap for a 7 yr old glorified ford focus... There's a lot out there of consider before one of them in that price range.

you havent driven one have you. probably never even been a passenger in one.

[bazking69]

Great car, but that sort of money buys an early mk2 ST. I know where my money would be, regardless of the pros (and I do see and respect the pros of the mk1 RS...)

[robsco]

Shropshiremike said:

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

Evo as a magazine, however, seemed to have a problem with the RS if I recall correctly? Each car they drove was completely different according to their reports, some fabulous, others undriveable.

[bazking69]

robsco said:

Shropshiremike said:

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

Evo as a magazine, however, seemed to have a problem with the RS if I recall correctly? Each car they drove was completely different according to their reports, some fabulous, others undriveable.

I've read alot of reports saying they either drive brilliantly or very badly.

[davislove]

robsco said:

Shropshiremike said:

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

Evo as a magazine, however, seemed to have a problem with the RS if I recall correctly? Each car they drove was completely different according to their reports, some fabulous, others undriveable.

latest EVO write up said that the owner car they drove had the rear suspension geometry tweaked, so they are all a bit 'wild' at the front end in standard spec

Edited by davislove on Friday 17th September 21:00

[davislove]

robsco said:

Shropshiremike said:

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

Evo as a magazine, however, seemed to have a problem with the RS if I recall correctly? Each car they drove was completely different according to their reports, some fabulous, others undriveable.

latest EVO write up said that the owner car they drove had the rear suspension geometry tweaked, so they are all a bit 'wild' at the front end in standard spec

Edited by davislove on Friday 17th September 21:00

[davislove]

robsco said:

Shropshiremike said:

neiljohnson said:

Thats the cheaper end of the market for them now but you do need to be careful as a few are beginning to show their age. Tbh i love mine had it over 4 years now & its going nowhere for a while yet

Mr Chris Harris ( Autocar, DR, and now EVO ) really loved his Mk1 as well - did some good reports/write-ups on it

Evo as a magazine, however, seemed to have a problem with the RS if I recall correctly? Each car they drove was completely different according to their reports, some fabulous, others undriveable.

latest EVO write up said that the owner car they drove had the rear suspension geometry tweaked, so they are all a bit 'wild' at the front end in standard spec

Edited by davislove on Friday 17th September 21:01

[k-ink]

The Mk1 is a lot less chavvy than the new ones

[Chris_w666]

I would guess at the bottom of the market you are going to have to start looking at keeping the suspension and bushes etc fresh to make it as good as they were new.

[neiljohnson]

I have deiven a few mk1 Rs's now & yes i have driven a bad one had done 14k from new with 1 owner so was very clean. When checked the rear wheel geomatry was miles out (@7mm iirc ) 1 tweak later it drove like mine, the owner could not believe the differance. I believe this was a problem that was adressed as this was an early one (52 plate) & it always seems to have been the early ones with the problem

[Mutton]

I owned my FRS for 5 years and it was a great car and can certainly handle a lot more power no problem. Two areas can cause the car to handle sub-standard; the geometry being out and uneven tyre wear at the front (usually caused by the geometry being out). Both can cause excessive torque steer.

When EVO were originally complaining about all cars feeling different I was going to write in and tell them it was probably because the geometry set-up was not optimised on some of the cars but never got round to it. Low and behold last issue they had a Ford expert tell them exactly the same thing.

I sold my significantly modified one in March for £10K with 67,000 miles on the clock. I know some people have had trouble selling at the price they wanted (usually over £10K), whether they are standard or upgraded cars.

[David87]

My Focus RS was one of the 'bad' ones that Evo tested on a couple of occasions. At the time it was around three years old and the geometry hadn't been done, so it could well have been out. They were right, though - it was a bit of a pig most of the time, to be honest. The condition of the front tyres also had a big say on how it handled too. 3mm or less and things were not so good.

[AMST09]

I absolutely love mine, have noticed a sudden decrease in the price which isn't good when I want to sell
Anyone that says its a glorified focus needs to go and drive one to understand

[Shropshiremike]

David87 said:

My Focus RS was one of the 'bad' ones that Evo tested on a couple of occasions. At the time it was around three years old and the geometry hadn't been done, so it could well have been out. They were right, though - it was a bit of a pig most of the time, to be honest. The condition of the front tyres also had a big say on how it handled too. 3mm or less and things were not so good.

To be fair this happened on Integrales when they were new - I remember a couple of mags complaining about indifferent handling until the geo was set up correctly. It seemed to be prone to going out of adjustment quickly as well - maybe the roads were particularly bad in the areas 'test-driven'.....