How many Focus ST owners on here

Soldato
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Only had mine a few days but I don't think I'll get tired of that noise when I accelerate. Would prefer more room to get out of the car from my driving position.
Missus was skeptical at first but she loves the heated seats and had to stop herself from falling asleep yesterday (traffic).
Boot space is a lot more limited than my cavernous Mazda6 but i knew this going into it.
Its thirsty too. Buts whats a few trees compared to my enjoyment?

Overall? Loving it.
 
Associate
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Only had mine a few days but I don't think I'll get tired of that noise when I accelerate. Would prefer more room to get out of the car from my driving position.
Missus was skeptical at first but she loves the heated seats and had to stop herself from falling asleep yesterday (traffic).
Boot space is a lot more limited than my cavernous Mazda6 but i knew this going into it.
Its thirsty too. Buts whats a few trees compared to my enjoyment?

Overall? Loving it.

Good to hear mate! Get some pics up!

Mine has finally been built, so should see it by the first week in October. Not long now :D
 
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I currently own a Fiesta ST Mk6 which I've had for about 7 years. Absolutely love it. With having a 6 month old baby though, it's looking like it's time to get something a bit more sensible and family friendly (5 door).

I was looking at a 2012 Focus ST-2 estate. Is there anything I should be looking for? The one I've seen has done 50k miles. Would this be a good upgrade from a Fiesta ST?

I drive around 15k a year, some of which is on motorways.
 
Soldato
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I currently own a Fiesta ST Mk6 which I've had for about 7 years. Absolutely love it. With having a 6 month old baby though, it's looking like it's time to get something a bit more sensible and family friendly (5 door).

I was looking at a 2012 Focus ST-2 estate. Is there anything I should be looking for? The one I've seen has done 50k miles. Would this be a good upgrade from a Fiesta ST?

I drive around 15k a year, some of which is on motorways.
We went from a mk 7 fiesta to a normal mk 3 st focus. As we now have a 2nd child it's more than enough space apart from when we go away to newquay for the hols.
 
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We went from a mk 7 fiesta to a normal mk 3 st focus. As we now have a 2nd child it's more than enough space apart from when we go away to newquay for the hols.

I do like the hatchback, but I have a weird thing about actually liking estate cars. Not for any practical reason, I just prefer the shape to hatchbacks. The idea that it is just as quick but makes you look more "grown up" too helps. I go to client sites quite regularly and turning up in an estate just feels more appropriate than a boy racer ST (even though its the same car underneath).

One issue I have is that there arn't many estate versions around at all. And so comparing prices is quite difficult. They seem to be more expensive than a comparable hatchback shape.

What extras should I be looking for? The one I've seen has the style pack (but only 18" wheels, is that right?) and the city pack. I don't think it has anything else though.
 
Soldato
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My 2012 St3 estate was c£12k if that helps - 38k and from a Ford dealer so probably on the higher end of pricing really, though tbh there wasn't much variation when I was looking.

I'd say given the fairly minimal price difference between ST2 and 3 it's worth going for the 3 for the xenons and full leather.

Really like mine, it handles well, makes a nice a fake noise from the inside whilst still being relatively refined to run around in and is nippy enough for me. Its a complete world away from the Octavia vrs that came before it to drive which felt like a massive sponge in comparison. Though in terms of space I would say the opposite to the post above - it's a fairly small car in the back, not helped by the massive front Recaros. If you're putting a rear facing child seat in the back make sure the passenger will still be comfortable. It's fine for us but a bigger child seat or bigger passenger could present problems.

For perspective there is nearly as much leg room in the rear of our 5 door fiesta, though the focus is obviously a good bit wider.

The hatch has a comically small boot, with the estate being a bit better but still small compared to some others from the same class - though the shape is good and relatively square all the way back so works well for us putting a dog cage plus kid stuff in.

Watch for the condition of the seats as the leather is of pretty poor quality - lots of bolster damage on cars I looked at that had done very few miles plus the rear bench seems to get totally deformed if not looked after.
 
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Associate
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My 2012 St3 estate...

Thanks. Some really useful information and food for thought!

When did you buy yours?

This one is advertised at £12k so on the face of it, with the additional mileage and age, may be a bit expensive! I'm not sure how much the dealer will reduce, it isn't a ford dealer.

Interesting on the size too. We've just bought a Joie Every Stages car seat which can go either way but we wanted it rear facing for a while. I'd be tempted to take it to the dealer and try fitting it to see what happens.

In terms of the quality of the reat seats, seems a shame as the car seat would presumably wreck it.

I don't mind it being a bit smaller as I go into Manchester and other busy traffic quite often so being a bit smaller can only be good for manouvering quickly.
 
Soldato
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The Joie will be ok my car varies between that and an isize maxi Cosi. Have turned it round now but it was manageable rear facing.

It's more the middle of the bench that seems susceptible to sagging and damage, though the rear leather in general seems awfully keen to dry out.

Bought mine either April or May, was advertised at around £13k

Few other things worth mentioning:

Illuminated sill plates fail, Ford related both mine as they had started to go. Fixable without new parts though.

Door edge protectors can snap off - I only have three at the moment. £15-20 fix a corner but annoying all the same.

The Nav is terrible and not worth holding out for in any way - although the 8 inch Sync 2 system fitted to the facelift cars is a vast improvement. Means adding at least £3-4k to your budget if you want one unfortunately. Even then that will be bottom of the pile. I've been half investigating fitting the newer system to mine but very few people in the UK seem to have done it (and the Americans almost all had a different sync system in the pre face lift) so good info is a bit scarce... plus I have little to no desire to spend hundreds of pounds for what is ultimately just a nicer screen
 
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Associate
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So I went looking at one yesterday. I was on the verge of buying it but decided to walk away and just have a last minute think.

One thing I noticed which I wanted to ask on here about was that in the engine bay at idle, I could hear a ticking noise. It sounds like it's coming from the airbox area but it might not be. My first thoughts were that something was broken, maybe a sensor or maybe something more serious like a valve starting to tap. But from reading online, a lot of people say that the direct injection is quite ticky. Does anybody elses do this?

Neither of the illuminated sill plates lit up. This car didn't have the style pack though and so am I right in thinking that these wouldn't light up anyway?

Yes, I saw a few online with the Sync 2 system and the big screen does look nice. I don't get why these systems are so dear when tablets can be had so cheap.
 
Soldato
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Depends what you're used to but they do make a bit of a tick at idle - hard to tell without audio whether it's unusual or not. Sitting in mine now with it idling and can't hear it from inside the cabin, only a very light noise outside with the bonnet closed. Mine also has a bit of a brushing noise coming from the alternator / pulleys that most of the cars I went to see also made.

Not sure about sill plates on other models, should be easy to Google
 
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Depends what you're used to but they do make a bit of a tick at idle - hard to tell without audio whether it's unusual or not. Sitting in mine now with it idling and can't hear it from inside the cabin, only a very light noise outside with the bonnet closed. Mine also has a bit of a brushing noise coming from the alternator / pulleys that most of the cars I went to see also made.

Not sure about sill plates on other models, should be easy to Google

Yes, I'm fairly confident that it shouldn't have lighting up sill plates. Not something I'm particularly bothered about. If they're both broken then I'm happy that it's symmetrical.

A friend is going to send me a recording of his engine so that I can compare later tonight and I might also call at a Ford dealer and have a listen to one that they have in to see if it's similar.

From everything everyone is saying though, it sounds like it is normal and so I may get back onto the dealer that I was thinking of buying from.
 
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