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General Car Related Discussion.To discuss anything that is related to cars and automotive technology that doesnt naturally fit into another forum catagory.
I'm about this close *makes gesture with thumb and index finger* to buying one of these on a 2014/2015 plate and I'd be really interested in any owners opinions on them, what are they like to live with and drive every day?
I've read and watched all the reviews and have some areas of potential concern;
The turning circle is meant to be appalling, which might be a bit of a pain for me as my work car park is on the small side and can be a pain to get out of
Torque steer, I've seen some reviews that say its pretty bad (my Mrs will be driving this too)
The seats. I do the occasional long journey with work and I noticed when I sat in one last week the seats are probably great for chucking it about, but would they kill my back on a long journey?
MPG - I'm not buying it with this in mind, and I don't have a commute to work so its not the most important point as it won't get used every day, but how bad are we talking here?!
I'm going to look at and drive one at the weekend. With the sort of mileage car I'm looking at (ideally sub 20,000) I wouldn't expect any issues, but should I be looking for anything in particular?
Any info on the above or anything else greatly appreciated.
The turning circle is pretty poor due to the steering rack they have used.
Torque Steer yes does but only under really hard acceleration but it can be an issue.
I have a 2014 ST3 estate on 9k IMO I would be looking for the street pack, cruise control, Sat nav with rear camera and door protectors.
I really like mine and having a dreamscienced PFL ST2 before it is a nice step up in drive for everyday use but I do miss the drama of the 5 pot.
I love my 2015 ST, I can't really think of anything that I dislike about it.
Ok as said the steering lock isn't great but not a major concern for me, you get used to it
The seats I find really comfy. I hurt my back a few years ago and nearly every car I drive gives me back pain (Vauxhalls especially, horrendously uncomfortable seats!) but I can drive for hours in my ST without a twinge and I'm not exactly skinny either
Torque steer I don't find too bad but then mine is the diesel version (only due to the amount of miles I do these days) so I don't know how different the petrol version would be.
Only problems I have with mine are a noisy drivers door check strap (going in for a warranty repair) and if you leave a CD inserted in the stereo, the button illumination doesn't work until you eject the CD (software fault but Ford hasn't released an update yet as far as I'm aware).
The ST handles so well and drives really nice. Just a very good all round car IMO
I personally think the facelift version is a much nicer looking car over the pre facelift version but it all depends on what you prefer
Other things to be aware of are the door edge protectors can break and the illuminated sill plates can stop working (if fitted obviously). Can't think of any other common faults really
I love my 2015 ST, I can't really think of anything that I dislike about it.
Ok as said the steering lock isn't great but not a major concern for me, you get used to it
The seats I find really comfy. I hurt my back a few years ago and nearly every car I drive gives me back pain (Vauxhalls especially, horrendously uncomfortable seats!) but I can drive for hours in my ST without a twinge and I'm not exactly skinny either
Torque steer I don't find too bad but then mine is the diesel version (only due to the amount of miles I do these days) so I don't know how different the petrol version would be.
Only problems I have with mine are a noisy drivers door check strap (going in for a warranty repair) and if you leave a CD inserted in the stereo, the button illumination doesn't work until you eject the CD (software fault but Ford hasn't released an update yet as far as I'm aware).
The ST handles so well and drives really nice. Just a very good all round car IMO
I personally think the facelift version is a much nicer looking car over the pre facelift version but it all depends on what you prefer
Other things to be aware of are the door edge protectors can break and the illuminated sill plates can stop working (if fitted obviously). Can't think of any other common faults really
My one
Cheers mate!
When we went to have a look at one last week there was a brand new one sitting there. Light Grey with black wheels - looked amazing! However a brand new one is a little outside of what I've budgeted for this little project unfortunately!
When we went to have a look at one last week there was a brand new one sitting there. Light Grey with black wheels - looked amazing! However a brand new one is a little outside of what I've budgeted for this little project unfortunately!
That's good news about the seats too.
Thank again, really useful.
Ah, Stealth grey. A bit of a Marmite colour, you either love it or hate it! I didn't like it at first and then it grew on me! Lol! I wanted that colour for my ST but it's only available on the ST3. I wasnt prepared to pay for all the bits extra on the ST3 when I wouldn't really use them. Electric seats, cruise control etc.....
The seats feel REALLY tight when the car is new but then they seem to loosen up a little after a few miles
Originally Posted by Glenn_
Looks nice mr Kitchen ha ha. Any plans for yours.
Cheers Glenn
No plans at all apart from use it and clean it
My plan is to eventually sell my cosworth and trade this in for the new RS at some stage. Won't be for a while yet.
I have a 62 plate ST2 estate. I love it. Got it on 26500 miles.
The only thing that narced me was the symposer thing, when you accelerate its a horrible artificial noise. Sounds gash! Then the valve stuck and it sounded like a tractor all the time so i removed the lot and made a plate to blank the inlet off.
Just before xmas the drivers door sill stopped lighting up and i took the car in in jan. It was out of ford warranty and the extra warranty i have wont cover it. Ford wanted £167 to replace it, but i have left it for now.
I also have a slightly noisy aux pulley, but i have not heard any other to see if this is normal.
Mine has the style pack, red callipers and darker wheels. I wouldnt get one without as the callipers look shit all rusty!
Also mine has sat nav and the reversing camera. The camera is a bit of a waste of time if your car is slightly dirty as you cant see out of it. Handy for getting close to things tho i guess. Mine also has reversing sensors.
Torque steer has never been an issue for me, it does pull about a little bit but its not that bad imo. As for mpg i was seeing 30ish over a tank, but last few months have been around 26 but had heaters and lights on a lot. I dont hang about in mine tho.
As for the seats, i too used to get back ache on long journeys but done a 300 mile round trip not that long ago and the seats were great. No issues at all. Infact the wife said its the comfiest car i have bought, so that must be a good thing lol.
And as for the turning circle, that has not bothered me yet.
I had a brand new 64 plate ST3 the only options were the style pack and privacy glass. I only had it for 6 months because I had a chance to get a car I have wanted for a long time.
The ST was not a bad car but did nothing peticuarly good IMO the torque steer was really bad even a simple overtake nearly ends in a crash although this is mainly down to fords traction control turn it off and it wheel spins like a chav in a corsa.
The mpg would average around 22mpg daily with the misses driving the most I ever got was 27mpg on a run to France sat at mainly 70-80mph.
I wouldn't have another one given the chance again I think I would spend a little more and buy something else.
I'm about this close *makes gesture with thumb and index finger* to buying one of these on a 2014/2015 plate and I'd be really interested in any owners opinions on them, what are they like to live with and drive every day?
I've read and watched all the reviews and have some areas of potential concern;
The turning circle is meant to be appalling, which might be a bit of a pain for me as my work car park is on the small side and can be a pain to get out of
Torque steer, I've seen some reviews that say its pretty bad (my Mrs will be driving this too)
The seats. I do the occasional long journey with work and I noticed when I sat in one last week the seats are probably great for chucking it about, but would they kill my back on a long journey?
MPG - I'm not buying it with this in mind, and I don't have a commute to work so its not the most important point as it won't get used every day, but how bad are we talking here?!
I'm going to look at and drive one at the weekend. With the sort of mileage car I'm looking at (ideally sub 20,000) I wouldn't expect any issues, but should I be looking for anything in particular?
Any info on the above or anything else greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers
Matt
This is my new toy...2015 st3 in stealth grey
I can't say that I notice any difference in the turning circle to any other front wheel drive car...I've not had a problem yet, torque steer is there, high up in the the Rev range but not really that bad and on day to day driving it's fine, the seats are comfy and it's a dam sight better than our old Mondeo 😂😂 my Mrs uses it every day for work and we are getting around 27mpg.
I'd honestly look into the deals they are doing on a new one and use the finance etc to get a discount and then pay the fiance off a few days later it's defo worth speaking to a dealer to get some figures !(I spent 6 hours haggling to get the price down in mine !)
I can't say that I notice any difference in the turning circle to any other front wheel drive car...I've not had a problem yet, torque steer is there, high up in the the Rev range but not really that bad and on day to day driving it's fine, the seats are comfy and it's a dam sight better than our old Mondeo 😂😂 my Mrs uses it every day for work and we are getting around 27mpg.
I'd honestly look into the deals they are doing on a new one and use the finance etc to get a discount and then pay the fiance off a few days later it's defo worth speaking to a dealer to get some figures !(I spent 6 hours haggling to get the price down in mine !)
Hi mate, that looks great! Just like the one I saw other than the wheels.
So I went for a test drive today. Lovely car, so nice on the road and pin sharp steering and awesome noise. I don't know though, there was just something about it that didn't really do it for me. It was quick and everything but I just didn't get the experience I thought I would. Hard to pin down exactly why that is, but because of that and a few other factors (watching the sales guy take 5 goes to manouvre it out of the fairly tight space instantly put me in mind of my work car park!) it's just not for me. Maybe I'm too used to driving older cars - I just didn't get on with it.
I've decided to re think this plan. I still need a car so I'm going to look at a Mk2 ST next week. Put the 10 odd grand difference aside for another day.
Buy a old ford as a toy, then buy an everyday car matey.
Yeah I think what we'll probably do is ill get something a little older like this ST (its a 2006 but very very low miles) then we'll get something newer for the Mrs in due course. She saw a B Max thing while we were at the Ford garage.....*shudders*
Sounds like a plan. Im a bit lucky cause i have the cossie as my toy and a ST17O as my daily. The wife has a 53 reg 1.6 16v focus. Both focuses have nearly 130k on them. Hers is looking a bit tired but the engine is still fit. She has owned it for nearly 3 years and its cost us nothing really.
Hi mate, that looks great! Just like the one I saw other than the wheels.
So I went for a test drive today. Lovely car, so nice on the road and pin sharp steering and awesome noise. I don't know though, there was just something about it that didn't really do it for me. It was quick and everything but I just didn't get the experience I thought I would. Hard to pin down exactly why that is, but because of that and a few other factors (watching the sales guy take 5 goes to manouvre it out of the fairly tight space instantly put me in mind of my work car park!) it's just not for me. Maybe I'm too used to driving older cars - I just didn't get on with it.
I've decided to re think this plan. I still need a car so I'm going to look at a Mk2 ST next week. Put the 10 odd grand difference aside for another day.
I know what you mean, If it was my weekend best car I probably would have got something different, I had an sl55 Amg before and the focus isn't a patch on that.....but the focus is the perfect family car until I can afford another Amg Merc
Yeah for what she wants it for looks ok. Hasn't got great reviews though so not too sure.
So I found an ST. A 2006 ST2 with less than 40k miles (!) on it. Its older than I wanted ideally but with that mileage it actually seemed to make more sense than getting a slightly newer car with higher miles.
Provisionally bought and deposit paid. Going up there on Friday and assuming its as per the ad (all the vehicle and reg checks all, erm, check out. On another note, its amazing what info you can find out these days!) then it shall be mine!
Yeah for what she wants it for looks ok. Hasn't got great reviews though so not too sure.
I looked at a b max today, the boot is tiny, could just squeeze in a push chair with the wheels off so that's ruled that one out for me. Rest of it seemed pretty good though.
Our other car is a 2007 cmax, had it since it was 3 years/8k miles old. Now on just over 40K and still going fine. Could get a pushchair in the boot diagonally.
So I went and had a look at the 40k mile ST2 and ended up getting it. It drove so nicely on the test drive and seemed in very good nick and was essentially exactly what I was after.
Highlights;
2006 ST2
Completely standard
40k
Full history
Fresh MOT
I got it from a Ford main dealer (had come in in PX against an ST diesel I believe) so it had some bits done in their workshop, full service and a year warranty.
So far so good! Obviously its a completely different experience to my previous car, an E46 330d, but I'm definitely enjoying the change and it feels good to be back in a Ford after some time out!
So I went and had a look at the 40k mile ST2 and ended up getting it. It drove so nicely on the test drive and seemed in very good nick and was essentially exactly what I was after.
Highlights;
2006 ST2
Completely standard
40k
Full history
Fresh MOT
I got it from a Ford main dealer (had come in in PX against an ST diesel I believe) so it had some bits done in their workshop, full service and a year warranty.
So far so good! Obviously its a completely different experience to my previous car, an E46 330d, but I'm definitely enjoying the change and it feels good to be back in a Ford after some time out!
Lovely that how much did you pay if you don't mind me asking.
No plans for it at the moment, my plan is to actually try and keep it as close to standard as possible. Feels like a low mileage, standard, good condition car will holds its value better. Not sure though, a remap is very tempting, but it'll stay as it for now.
I paid 6.5k for it. Whilst that seemed like a lot for a 10 year old Focus I had a good look around at the market and for a low mileage ST it was about right. Plus I guess always going to be a bit more pricey from a dealer but it came with the bits I mentioned so I factored that in too.
So I went and had a look at the 40k mile ST2 and ended up getting it. It drove so nicely on the test drive and seemed in very good nick and was essentially exactly what I was after.
Highlights;
2006 ST2
Completely standard
40k
Full history
Fresh MOT
I got it from a Ford main dealer (had come in in PX against an ST diesel I believe) so it had some bits done in their workshop, full service and a year warranty.
So far so good! Obviously its a completely different experience to my previous car, an E46 330d, but I'm definitely enjoying the change and it feels good to be back in a Ford after some time out!
That looks awesome a wise move going for that 👍🏼😃😃
So I went and had a look at the 40k mile ST2 and ended up getting it. It drove so nicely on the test drive and seemed in very good nick and was essentially exactly what I was after.
Highlights;
2006 ST2
Completely standard
40k
Full history
Fresh MOT
I got it from a Ford main dealer (had come in in PX against an ST diesel I believe) so it had some bits done in their workshop, full service and a year warranty.
So far so good! Obviously its a completely different experience to my previous car, an E46 330d, but I'm definitely enjoying the change and it feels good to be back in a Ford after some time out!
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Lovely looking car, really like these and they are good value now, would like one has a daily but been told they are overly heavy on fuel, whats your experience of that so far?.
As said, I'm on about 24mpg combined and on a run I've had it at around 28 and I'm not exactly caning it everywhere. I don't drive a daily commute though I didn't have to factor this in. If I did then it might have been a different story.
11-02-2016, 11:39 AM
Mk3 Focus ST Owners - EDIT, bought a Mk2!
