Thinking of buying one of these as having sold my mk5 rs2000 these are dirt cheap at the minute just want to know what to look out for when buying any info would be appreciated.

 

prices are all over the place with these cars, plenty of rough ones out there, you have 3 spec levels,
base spec is black headlights manual heating and half leather seats
half spec is xenon headlights with digital heating and heated screen & half leathers
top spec has leather recaros, subwoofer, xenons,climate

most common colour is magnum grey, then its black,silver,and the blues in order

prices start at 400 up to 4000
biggest thing to look out for is the clutch as on average it will set you back Ł800 in parts/labour to replace next is the EML light for issues relating to the IMRC or lambdas, then its usual stuff like mechanicals + rust and general condition

 

Thanks for the info mate i do like the blue ones nice colour will look for a low milage standard car.i have read you can swap the dmf and clutch for a lightend flywheel for roughly the same price will this make a difference in performance.

 

I bought myself a 3 door mid spec one a few years ago and within a week had put it back up for sale, such a disappointing car.

So my buyers guide would be to drive one first, make sure your happy with it then buy on condition.

 

I've had one for 3 months and can only say it's been a bargain. Don't expect to much they are a 10 year old hatchback.

 

plenty of bad examples out there and plenty of owners who are economical with the truth, its a must to test drive and make sure eml warning light bulb is not removed, I would always take a obd reader with me and plug in, the clutch can be done to solid type but its almost same money as a dmf one to convert it only pays for itself if you need to do it again, it does make it a tad more responsive but not a lot in it and also depends on what use you want car for , because unless a car was pristine I would not bother doing a clutch on one and simply dismantle it

 

In my opinion the biggest issue with these is rust.

Rust every where. Front arches. Rear arches. Lift the rear seats and look around the wheel wells.

The billet flywheel is very very nice.

 

Thanks for the replys i have driven one and quite liked it handled really well and was quicker than my rs2000.have read there are a few mods you can do to up the power a bit.i want to stick with a ford and dont want to spend alot of money so i thought one of these would be my best bet it will be a sunny weather weekend car for shows etc.will most prob do an underside resto like i did with the rs2000.

 

inner rear arch rust and the back of the sills are the most common places for rust. Other than that, i can only reiterate everything Steve has said above.