Swapping into an older car? 62 plate Focus to 57 plate golf GTI

[Dav4]

If you've got £6k and looking at 10yr old hot hatches have you not considered what was regarded as the best of that period, the Megane R26 F1? Great chassis, 230bhp, LSD, Brembo 4 pots, Recaros.

Don't many of the Megane's of that era suffer some kind of major electrical malfunction that costs LOL money to fix?
I remember reading up on nearly every hot hatch available before buying my ST trawling Forums etc and always wondered why the Megane 225's were cheap compared to the others then I went on the Renault Sport forums and seen people getting 1k bills for electronic faults that you don't normally hear of on most cars that aren't French

 

[MissChief]

I had a 306 GTI-6 that was very similar. Electrical gremlins that only seemed to be temporarily fixed again and again.

 

[dale1uk]

The only real electrical issue I've heard of is with the front window regulators, which can get expensive to sort properly.
The other main things to look out for are cambelt change (it's every 5yrs so early ones will be due their 2nd belt change), clutch - DMF is costly to replace, front swivel hub bearings - Renault only sell full replacement hubs for ~£200 each but the actual bearings can be bought online for £15 each.
For your budget you'd be able to pick up a low milage example with all the common issues sorted.

Here's an example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201955100915

59,000 miles, recent new clutch and cambelt, good tyres, optional xenons, fsh, remapped by a highly rated tuner to 250hp. If it wasn't black I'd be all over that one myself as I'm in the market for one for the same budget but already have a black car and know how much of a pain in the arse they are to keep clean and swirl free

 

[Mucky_Pup]

Looking at Focus Mk.2 ST's they don't seem to have three rear seat belts? Not even a lap belt?

ST-3's only have 4 seats, ST-1/2's have 5 seats.

 

[MissChief]

ST-3's only have 4 seats, ST-1/2's have 5 seats.

What a strange decision for Ford to make! Thank you though. Do ST-2's come with Cruise control?

 

[slick rick]

Cruise control was not available on the MK2 ST.

 

[Nasher]

What a strange decision for Ford to make! Thank you though. Do ST-2's come with Cruise control?

In the ST-3 the seats are the leather ones as standard, which are full size in the rear. The cloth ones (which I actually think are better) are narrower so you get a middle one.