Focus ST170 - things to look out for

Janesy B

Janesy B

Janesy B

Caporegime
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My father has hit what would seem to be a delayed mid-life crisis (he's now 59) and would like to change his 2001 1.6 Focus Zetec to a Focus ST170.

Now I know the Civic Type-R would be a better buy for the money, but considering my father isn't really looking for anything as 'hardcore' and is a bit of a Ford fanboy, I think the ST170 suits him well. He test drove one at the weekend and seemed thrilled to bits with it. Economy is not an issue as he does <10k a year.

Now that's out of the way, I am not very versed in all things ST and would perhaps like a list of general points to look out for. I have noticed spidering on the wheels and centre caps are common issues. Is there anything else I should be wary of?

Any pointers would be helpful.
 
This site is pretty handy.

As you mentioned, the wheels loose there finish very quickly, the paint on them is shocking. Even mine which was a very low milage and well looked after one had blistering and spider marks on some wheels.

Make sure there is no liquid in the passenger footwell.
 
melchy said:
You don't mention budget, but would he consider a Mondeo ST220.
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He's quite a stubborn old fart and doesn't like the Mondeo, he's made his mind up on the car (it's not a bad choice in all honesty) and I'm after anything to look out for in particular.

kidloco said:
Make sure there is no liquid in the passenger footwell.
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Cheers, I assume that's the cabin filter not being sealed properly?
 
Be wary of shaky steering, and don't just think its a case of knocking them down £100 and getting the tracking and balancing done - excessive wear on the bottom balljoint seems to be quite common on the MK1 Focus.

Thats about as far as my knowledge goes on the MK1, but I have two friends that have had the issue on theirs.
 
Janesy B said:
He's quite a stubborn old fart and doesn't like the Mondeo, he's made his mind up on the car (it's not a bad choice in all honesty) and I'm after anything to look out for in particular.



Cheers, I assume that's the cabin filter not being sealed properly?
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Casued by insufficient sealing between the cowl panel grille and the windscreen around the pollen filter.

also just take a very good look at all the bumpers, the paint doesnt seem the thickest and and its a black bumper underneath so they should show up like a sore thumb.

Other than a few comsmetic issues the car is pretty solid. Its far from quick but nippy enough for most. It feels nice and solid to drive, handling is very good for a car of this type. My only niggles with mine is its stupidly low MPG and the cabbin gets pretty noisey above 70mph.
 
I have a ST170. These are the main things I've had issues with:

1) As above the wheels. Poor paint finish on the alloys

2)There is also a problem with the engine air shutoff valve. As I understand it the valve can stick and the actuator will keep trying to move it. Sounds like a cloud clicking coming from the middle of the dashboard, mainly when lifting off with the right foot.

3)The accel pedal vibrate at certain speeds, due to the cable rubbing somewhere. Isn't too bad and haven't fixed it myself, you can get a longer cable I think if needed.

4)The front CAT heat shield is a disaster in design. After a couple of years the expansion cycle of it will break the 2 joints and it will remove itself, probably at the most inopportune moment. If you catch it early its no problem but if rust sets in you can't free up the joints so to fix it properly would involve replacing a section of the exhaust costing around 500 or so. Of course its just a heatshield so I just live with out it....

5) I had the replace some of the capacitors(?) for the windscreen wiper. The intermittent setting stopped working.

These are all more niggles then major problems. I've had mine nearly 2 years and whilst being quite thirsty its never missed a beat on anything major. Its more a warm hatch then a hot hatch. It needs a little more umph but its very nice to drive and handles well. RS is probably more sporty if thats what you want.
 
Having just got rid of one (loved it btw) look out for :

Drumming from the Engine bay. Could be the intake manifold which was a common problem on some years cars, its a 300-450 repair though so not to cheap.

Wheel Drumming. I had some that I couldnt get rid of the only thing I didn't end up changing were the wheels and multiple garages couldn't find the problem. It was like a low speed drumming.

My front spoiler (Black Plastic below bumper) came lose and ripped itself free at motorway speeds. This did damage the bumper mounts but nothing more, this might have been a one off but the mountings for it didn't feel exactly sturdy even after repaired.

4)The front CAT heat shield is a disaster in design. After a couple of years the expansion cycle of it will break the 2 joints and it will remove itself, probably at the most inopportune moment. If you catch it early its no problem but if rust sets in you can't free up the joints so to fix it properly would involve replacing a section of the exhaust costing around 500 or so. Of course its just a heatshield so I just live with out it....

5) I had the replace some of the capacitors(?) for the windscreen wiper. The intermittent setting stopped working.
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**had these too.

...but all in all I had 5 years pleasure from it from new.
 
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Is he not interested in the RS??

ST170 is still a great car though and a great buy.

If he gets one make sure its got the half leathers and xenons, a must with the ST :)
 
I haven't seen one without half leathers, apart from the leather Recaros which are nice, not too common as they were part of a £2000 option pack. The RS is further than he wants to go in running costs, again, not really looking for suggestions.
 
Every single ST170 I drove when we were looking for one a few years ago had an absolute shocking gearbox. You might as well have been booting the gear changes into place with your foot.

One dealer that tried to fob me off with this being how the car was supposed to be said don't change gear under 3000 rpm because the cars not built for low rev gear changes. How I laughed.

I liked the car other than that. A guy I used to work with took his new one back after a couple of months because of the crap gear change and took a massive hit just to get rid.
 
dannyjo22 said:
Every single ST170 I drove when we were looking for one a few years ago had an absolute shocking gearbox. You might as well have been booting the gear changes into place with your foot.

One dealer that tried to fob me off with this being how the car was supposed to be said don't change gear under 3000 rpm because the cars not built for low rev gear changes. How I laughed.

I liked the car other than that. A guy I used to work with took his new one back after a couple of months because of the crap gear change and took a massive hit just to get rid.
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Can't say I found that a problem, maybe you need stronger arms? :p

[TW]Fox;16162550 said:
<pedant>

Leathers are what a biker wears. A leather interior is what a car has.

</pedant>
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Thanks for clearing that up for me, Fox, do bikers wear half leathers too? :p
 
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