Thinking about upgrade to Focus ST-3

stevetuk

stevetuk

stevetuk

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I've been driving two years (took my test late, I'm in my 30s) and bought a 2008 (08) Focus Style 1.6 facelift model a couple of months after I passed.
I barely drive anywhere - my annual mileage is ~1000 or less (really, the garages and insurance companies have a chuckle with me about it). I love the car though - it's very nice and for a first car I'm lucky I know.

I've always had my eye on the ST-3 though, and one has come up locally that I'm going to see and test drive tomorrow with any luck.

Insurance quotes me +£30 a month more, for an annual premium of just shy of £1,200 which is a lot of money. I pay £800 at the moment.
Tax is £100 more a year but that's not a biggie.
I know about the MPG and that it will be less, but since I hardly drive anywhere I don't have to worry about petrol costs really... :rolleyes:

I've been offered px of £4500 on mine, and the ST-3 is £10,900.

My questions are: for anyone in the know, is this a reasonable deal, are there any pitfalls with owning an ST-3, will I find myself bankrupt and needing to sell it on in a year or two, or is it worth it?
Also, what am I looking out for when I go to view the vehicle?

Any tips/advice much appreciated. TIA. :)
 
Did you miss this thread? You'll find a wealth of info in there and a forum search will also bring up a lot of info. :)

Biggest pitfall is the price of fuel. If you can afford the fuel costs then the actual running costs aren't much worse than a normal Focus.
 
Fuel is very subjective


Old man picked one up a couple of weeks ago 55 plate Pre facelift though and it's averaged 31 mpg since insurance isn't too bad he's probably a fair bit older than you but he's paying sub£350 a year which is around £50 cheaper than the a3 3.2 it replaced
 
tummelv said:
Did you miss this thread? You'll find a wealth of info in there and a forum search will also bring up a lot of info. :)

Biggest pitfall is the price of fuel. If you can afford the fuel costs then the actual running costs aren't much worse than a normal Focus.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read through that before posting - I didn't want to thread hijack.
It seemed to go on to mods more than the practical realities of owning an ST-3. Helpful though!

So if running costs are the same except petrol (which in my case isn't an issue, really) then it's the insurance which is a killer but hopefully that'd come down? I don't know why I'm quoted so highly but there you go. Maybe they think I'm having a midlife crisis :D
 
Surely at an annual mileage of 1k or less even owning a car is pretty much pointless. It'd be far cheaper to get a taxi whenever you need one and just hire a car for an occasional long journey.
 
That's pretty much what I was thinking too - is there even any point having the car?

I'm sure there are some pretty ballistic things you could own for the kind of money even an early ST will go for if you don't need it to go very far very often if you just want a toy
 
Yup, a lot of people have pointed that out to me :D
I enjoy driving when I do drive, and I love cars :) I've always wanted an ST, and I work hard so why not treat myself?
But back to the topic - any pitfalls of ST-ownership? Are they targeted for theft etc, are there known parts which are unreliable/need repair or replacement regularly? etc
 
The main problems on the face lifts come with modding. There's little that goes wrong with them in their standard form. Although I do agree there's not much point on getting a car like the ST if you're not going to use it, they're meant to be driven!
 
I will echo the point that the ST is pointless for ~1k miles. It's an everyday use car, not a weekend toy.

It's very reliable, ok on fuel. Parts will be slightly more expensive than your 1.6 petrol. But I don't think it's special enough for such low miles...
 
At 1k miles a year by far the biggest cost will be depreciation. Annual servicing isn't much more expensive than your current focus but what do you want out of the upgrade? If it's the performance then fair enough but if it's just the looks then there's lesser engined models that look almost identical but are far cheaper.
 
If you barely drive anywhere it seems a bit pointless to drop nearly £6.5k (cash?) plus your car. I love the ST3 and have wanted one in the past, but the costs in this case don't add up. You're gonna lose a lot particularly in depreciation and insurance for something you barely get to use and enjoy.

If you're minted and not really bothered about the money then go for it :)
 
Haha I'm not minted but I have few hobbies/don't really spend much - don't have children, so why not enjoy myself with nice things for my hard earned money?

Yeah, I know the minute I drove it off the forecourt it would immediately lose £2k in value (£8k part ex valuation). That's true of any car though. There's nothing unique about an ST-3 in that respect.

And all cars are meant to be driven. I barely drive my Focus Style. Does that mean I don't deserve to drive one when I do drive it? Maybe I'm not reading it right but my question wasn't "is it worth me buying one based on my annual mileage" it was "what are the pitfalls of ST ownership?".

Why am I after an upgrade? Two reasons: I love in-car tech, I'm a gadgety kinda person, and the performance is also another reason. I hear only very good things about the 2.5 engine in this car. Why an ST? Because I love Focuses in general. Why not a new style Focus? Because I think they look stayed and far less sporty. I love the Focus MK2.5 facelift design.

I have been looking on autotrader at cars over the last year or so, just keeping an eye on what's out there. Nothing has taken my fancy more than an ST. If I was to buy an ST, it would be all or nothing hence the ST-3.

Hope that helps put a little bg behind it all.

So, another question then now since a couple of people have said: if an ST isn't special enough for low mileage, at that budget, what would be? If there's an epic car out there I don't know about yet I'm all ears :D
 
If you don't need practicality then I'd look at a sports coupe or a roadster. Eg 350z or a S2000. If you do then moving up a couple of classes from a Focus gets you into an executive saloon with an altogether higher class of gadget than a Focus. In fact looking at the ST-3 spec there's nothing unusual there, just fairly standard stuff.
 
Thanks for the info - I've looked at the 350z before, must admit very tempting - same price range and reliability plus positive reviews like the ST.
Executive saloons really aren't my taste though. Too big and too boring and I don't have a family or loads of suits to hang up in the back ;) just kidding - but yeah, I'm looking for a coupe or hothatch really. Why the 350z and not the ST?
 
A 350z at least looks and feels slightly special and not just like a family hatchback with more power and a body kit. The mk2 focus ST doesn't even look special as there seems to be that many gutless diesels with nearly the same body kit. Rwd with a decent level of power is also much more interesting and rewarding to drive than fwd.
 
Delta12 said:
Fuel is very subjective


Old man picked one up a couple of weeks ago 55 plate Pre facelift though and it's averaged 31 mpg since insurance isn't too bad he's probably a fair bit older than you but he's paying sub£350 a year which is around £50 cheaper than the a3 3.2 it replaced
Click to expand...

I can only see it averaging 31mpg on all motorway drives. In reality with. Mixed/town/spirited driving you will not see that.
 
stevetuk said:
Haha I'm not minted but I have few hobbies/don't really spend much - don't have children, so why not enjoy myself with nice things for my hard earned money?

Yeah, I know the minute I drove it off the forecourt it would immediately lose £2k in value (£8k part ex valuation). That's true of any car though. There's nothing unique about an ST-3 in that respect.

And all cars are meant to be driven. I barely drive my Focus Style. Does that mean I don't deserve to drive one when I do drive it? Maybe I'm not reading it right but my question wasn't "is it worth me buying one based on my annual mileage" it was "what are the pitfalls of ST ownership?".

Why am I after an upgrade? Two reasons: I love in-car tech, I'm a gadgety kinda person, and the performance is also another reason. I hear only very good things about the 2.5 engine in this car. Why an ST? Because I love Focuses in general. Why not a new style Focus? Because I think they look stayed and far less sporty. I love the Focus MK2.5 facelift design.

I have been looking on autotrader at cars over the last year or so, just keeping an eye on what's out there. Nothing has taken my fancy more than an ST. If I was to buy an ST, it would be all or nothing hence the ST-3.

Hope that helps put a little bg behind it all.

So, another question then now since a couple of people have said: if an ST isn't special enough for low mileage, at that budget, what would be? If there's an epic car out there I don't know about yet I'm all ears :D
Click to expand...

If you want an ST, then get one! Before I bought mine I considered other cars, but when it came down to it, the ST was the only car I was happy to spend my hard earned cash on. Was kind of my dream car and I'm a bit of a fast ford fanboy!

If you are young with no commitments (like me), then this may be your only chance to own such a car for a very long time.

There generally aren't many pitfalls with the car. The pre-facelift seems to have much more problems which seemed to be cured in the facelift model by ford. However the drivers side CV boot joint will go (£40 part). And there is no cure, so it will go again. Bushes will be shot in less than 3 years (£100 for poly bushes). If you plan to improve performance you will eventually need the RS clutch (£700). The plastic under tray will at some point obliterate into pieces whilst driving (£80 optional replacement).

Tyres will last around 10-15k on the front and maybe 20-30k on the back, depending on tyre choice and driving style. Decent Goodyear Eagle F1's are ~£100 a corner. Standard Ford discs are good an should last 30k, pads will need upgrading if your increasing power.

Hope this helps...
 
As far as the STgoes for pitfalls, I would rate it based on others feed back as having very few, and nothing significant.

I would assume for the price that it is a post 2008 facelift model? If some they do come witha few more cabin toys then the prefacelift, but if a gadgety slightly performance based car is what your after then I would advise the ST won't satisfy your needs, unless you have found one with sat-nav, dual zone AC, parking sensors, and the option packs for total closure, and walk home lights etc.
If your confident and willing to spend some time playing around, you can plug the car in using an adapted cable and turn on options that are not switch on from the factory, but are there in the software.

Things that you won't find as an option are cruise control, this takes a steering wheel change and only a doable change if the sockets are present and the switchesarearound the pedals.

Performance wise I can't see why you wouldn't be pleased with it coming from your current focus, pitfalls minimum (especially if you get a facelift, you avoid the common alternator fault, and oil diaphragm that many see on the prefacelift), gadet wise, I don't know if it will be enough for you, as you really are paying for the chassis and engine on this car, not the toys.
 
Thanks for the replies, appreciate the feedback.
Yeah, it's a 58 plate so facelift like my own Style.

Went for a test drive this morning - oh my word. I came out with slightly wobbly legs and a massive grin on my face :D

I can see the in-car tech is not exactly out of this world but it's a lot nicer than what I currently have. But the performance...wow...it was fantastic - it was like a cheeky Focus. Refined, sensible and smooth as usual (which surprised me - I thought it was going to be a beast to control at 30mph) but with this naughty streak if you really wanted it to (i.e. floor it, whatever gear, and oomph there it goes). Very pleasurable to drive indeed.

I was told it would need a regular blast of the turbo weekly to keep it in shape. That's something to think about so I'd have to be sure to make myself do that given my low usage in general.

I did walk away from it, to think over it some more. The whole thing is a "would be very nice" rather than "must have that". It's growing and growing and growing on me though....
 
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