Been to look at a Focus ST

MrLOL said:
Car supermarkets main problem is that they bang out crap cars on expensive finance

You can avoid problem #2 by paying cash.

Its possible the car is still a rotter. it could have marks all over it and all sorts of issues and been abused by its previous owner, but it doesnt harm to check as not every car they have will be a bad 'un
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Oh yeah, absolutely, most cars there look pretty good usually, but obviously you never know how it has been treated, the one at the Ford dealership looked absolutely spotless, in normal light, in the showroom, not jazzed up with lights or water etc..but yeah, I'l give it a looksee, the parking sensors would be a nice feature to have, but again, lived without them until now, not gonna go between 1 car and another on 1 option!

Although, loving it in Black when I see them, but also in Blue...always wanted a blue car, but also always wanted a black car! :D

Shame you can't find them in white much, would bite one STRAIGHT up!
 
Sneaky Peaky said:
Have you looked at an ST500 ? Red leather can be a bit marmite but I loved it :)
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Think they were a bit more than the ST3? Pushing my budget to its wits end for this, so if its anymore, I really can't even look!

marcus_667 said:
white one on ph for 9k last i looked wasnt face lift though :(
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The only white I saw locally (30 miles) of me, was a 2008'er but on about 60k miles.
 
Hmm, kinda nice, not sure about the body stripes, side I can cope with, but the body ones, BIG hmm in my book really.

Ideally would love to find one in Frozen White, no stripes or blue/black side stripes, only one I can find locally is a 2008 with 64K on it!
 
Mr-White said:
why didn't they just bore out a 6th cylinder ?

Can't help but feel 221bhp is a little low for a 2.5l 5 cylinder engine, especially as Mitsubishi and Subaru are getting over 300bhp from 2.0l 4 cylinder engines

MW
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because if they did that, they couldn't charge 30k for a focus RS that makes 300bhp with the same block....?

and you cant really bore out a 6th cylinder in a block thats only big enough for 5... :rolleyes:
 
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TimBrad said:
Hmm, kinda nice, not sure about the body stripes, side I can cope with, but the body ones, BIG hmm in my book really.

Ideally would love to find one in Frozen White, no stripes or blue/black side stripes, only one I can find locally is a 2008 with 64K on it!
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Stripes are easily added / taken off, don't let that get in the way of a car you like..
 
Sneaky Peaky said:
Stripes are easily added / taken off, don't let that get in the way of a car you like..
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True, its more finding the colour I want, always said I liked Blue, Black and White, just trying to see which of them works best for me (us!).

Also, would anyone still recommend going for a late 2007 on at £12k-ish, or would it be worth looking at an early 07-06 with 25-40k? Not sure how much more risk is associated with an older one, or am I worrying too much about turbos going with age? (Although I would expect normally to last more than 4 years!)
 
Hasn't be many reports of the turbo's going. Main cause of concern is cracking liners, blown oil filter diaphragm housing, and alternators. I got my 07 in March, with 28k miles for £12k.

Depends what you want, do you want a pre-facelift, or a facelift?
 
Late 2007 will have the intermediate facelift revisions, things like the newer, prettier stereo, red SMD lighting rather than green etc. etc.

Avoid black if you're anal about paintwork, it's annoyingly soft and shows up every little mark (I'm talking microfibres leaving marks!). There are a few FW out there, but plenty in performance blue, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding one of those if that is what you want.

ST500 adds a few things ontop of standard pre-facelift ST3 spec - the biggest being auto lights/wipers.

They are good cars, and really quite reliable - mine took a lot of stick and never missed a beat, just be aware of any knocks or bangs on the test drive as there are a few common issues;

Driveshafts clicking, cause by an improper fit into the hub - it was a Ford recall, so you can probably still get this sorting for nothing, but its worth ensuring it is done before you purchase the car. This problem progresses onto knocking on acceleration/deceleration, just something to be aware of, too.

Rear arb droplinks and top mounts are a weak spot, too - the knocking from these will be glaringly obvious though. Again, not expensive fixes, but annoying and worth getting sorted before purchase (I wouldn't walk away from a car because of it).

Last thing I'd say is make sure it has decent performance tyres on, they are useless on anything but. 4 matching is preferable, although I wouldn't walk away from one that had 2+2 matching, per axle.
 
MikeHiow said:
Driveshafts clicking, cause by an improper fit into the hub - it was a Ford recall
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I decided to check on this, given the 'source', and by the looks of it, no it wasn't. It might have been a TSB but it appears it wasn't a recall. All recalls go through VOSA.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/rec...DE52D080257403004BE3CF&freeText=Blank&tx=VOSA

Thats the only recall affecting hubs on a 2005-2010 Focus, and it was the rear.

I wonder how much of the rest of your advice is wrong, I dont know enough extra about the Focus to tell :(
 
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Mucky_Pup said:
Hasn't be many reports of the turbo's going. Main cause of concern is cracking liners, blown oil filter diaphragm housing, and alternators. I got my 07 in March, with 28k miles for £12k.

Depends what you want, do you want a pre-facelift, or a facelift?
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I would love a facelift, ideally, but for the budget it is going to be harder, I know, the facelift rear looks infinitly better and the front is also much improved in my eyes, but pre facelift is hardly ugly, if anyone can show me a good, in price facelift in (ideally) Leicestershire, I'm happy to look! :D
 
[TW]Fox;17758459 said:
I decided to check on this, given the 'source', and by the looks of it, no it wasn't. It might have been a TSB but it appears it wasn't a recall. All recalls go through VOSA.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/rec...DE52D080257403004BE3CF&freeText=Blank&tx=VOSA

Thats the only recall affecting hubs on a 2005-2010 Focus, and it was the rear.

I wonder how much of the rest of your advice is wrong, I dont know enough extra about the Focus to tell :(
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Wow, this takes your pedantry to a new level.
 
MikeHiow said:
LOL. 'nuff said.

I'll be sure to use the correct terminology for you next time (TSB).
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TSB number = 94/2009.

Should a customer express concern over a metallic noise coming from the front spindle carriers when pulling away in 1st gear or reversing the front axle half shaft should be partially removed from the spindle carrier on both sides and sealant applied to the splines. Furthermore copper grease should be applied to the driveshaft companion flange surface.

This one???
 
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