ST220 opinion

Capt Doufos

Capt Doufos

Capt Doufos

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,740
Location
Nr Colchester, Essex
Hi Guys,

I have decided the way forward is a performance saloon, I am mainly looking at Accord Type-R's and ST220's this ST220 has come up locally. It has the Red Leather which is high on my list of wants and the bodywork is in good condition for the age, most of the issues I can sort out myself and are minor. Largest downside seems to be 8 owners, which seems a bit excessive?

Were there any major considerations with a pre facelift over a facelift?

Can I ask your opinion on this one:

http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/...20-urgent-sale-please-read-full-advert/772356

Thanks :)
 
It's almost out of tax, too many owners for my liking at it seems too cheap. And a big list of small things that need rectifying, which suggests a lack of care. Next.
 
That one is properly ropey. That plus the fact the owner has admitted he can't afford to run it, along with the eight owners, would lead me to not touch it with a barge pole.

I'd also suggest upping the budget to get a facelift model with the 6 speed box and numerous other improvements and additions.
 
Anytime now. I am looking to see what's about my main problem seems to be lack of inital purchase funding. Maybe I should keep saving up longer, but I was trying to avoid putting another load of money into my MX5 this year.
 
I don't know about the ST220 but ATR's aren't all that cheap to keep running. You'll really struggle to get anywhere above 30 mpg and they need super unleaded if a pre-facelift. Then also budget for swapping of suspension components as most around are quite tired. My EP3, DC5 and even the DC2 I had were a good deal cheaper to run. Don't get me wrong, they are great cars and good fun to drive while being practical, but if you have an MX5 already that ticks the fun box then perhaps look at something cheaper to run to cover the practicality side? Or maybe ignore me as I know nothing about your situation.
 
Capt Doufos said:
Anytime now. I am looking to see what's about my main problem seems to be lack of inital purchase funding. Maybe I should keep saving up longer, but I was trying to avoid putting another load of money into my MX5 this year.
Click to expand...

No point buying an ST220 you need to put money into, then. I'd always advocate spending 3-4k (I'm weeping as I type this that it's all they're worth now :( ;) ) on a nice facelift over an older, shabbier pre-facelift.
 
I don't mind the running costs. That's not a problem I would consider anything that does 25mpg + My commute is short and between 50-60mph non stop the whole way.

In order to get the MX5 through this years MOT it will involve about £600 worth of work, which will come out my car budget, I would get it done eventually but would mean I couldn't really look at another car until next year.

As I now have a Daughter I can only really use the MX5 by myself, which means it doesn't really get used much except for commuting. I don't NEED anything larger but I kind of may as well get somthing that seats all of us. Certainly anything I replace it with really needs to be comparable performance wise, I know it will be hard to match the handling.

I did notice you can get an Alfa 156 Veloce 2.0 JTS around 2005 with 50-70k on the clock for around £2000-£2500 I think these had the sportier suspension setup but I don't know if 170Bhp will be enough for me.
 
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Looks a bit ropey, especially when it needs an airfilter (Why hasn't it been serviced?) and nackered reverse gear..

Not sure what year they came in (2004 I think) but try to find one with the newer 6 spd manual box as they are meant to be much better
 
I know what we said about cheap ones but another has come up cheap about 5 miles from me.

2004 Facelift - Performance Blue
4 Good Pirelli tyres
Wheels are quite bad, definatley need a refurb.
Bodywork and Interior is good cosmetically, Scuff on the side skirt and a couple of parking dings.
It's done 128k with a Ford Service history uptp 107k and then it's been self serviced.
3 Owners (current being the 3rd)
Clutch was also done last year

It's up for £2200 or offers, worth a punt do you think? or is the Mileage a concern?


It sounds and looks alright.
 
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Went to view out of interest. Why is it people lie to you? Just to get you to view the car? This is what puts me off driving 2hrs + to go and see a car, but then maybe if you aren't looking at the lower end you wouldn't have as much trouble?

2 tyres were Pirelli, 2 were unknown, 1 bold on the outside edge, all need replacing!

I wasn't expecting much for 2k anyway tbh. It wasn't that bad, had a couple of scrapes to the body work but by the time you add £500 worth of tyres you may as well just buy a good one!

So as people have commented I think I need to up my budget to £3k and just buy a good one in the first place. :)
 
If people are replacing the clutch then I'd expect "savvy" owners to get the DMF done at the same time - you're stripping down to the same level.

Presumably the subframe bushes had been done? That's something to check on any you view too.
 
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