My curent daily expired a few years ago, but its still going somehow?

So im on the lookout for a replacement and could do with an estate.

These ST220s seem to be cheep. Well the rough high mile ones do, and that suits me, i love not worrying about where its parked or what i chuck in the boot.

Are they reasonably reliable? And easy to work on?

Main thing tho gearboxes? 5 or 6 speed? Is one stronger or better than the other?

 

For example Ł1600 !
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193390982151

 

Hasn’t Glenn had a st220 or two? Didn’t they do a derv and petrol?

I can’t imagine the V6 to be easy to work on but the derv was fine.

 

Yeah there was and ST D variant

Not interested in diesels tho.

 

They are cheap as they are at the age where most jobs make them an economic write off.

Some of the last ones are in the stupid road tax bracket of over Ł400 a year.
It’s a Ford so they rust.
Good front bumpers are stupid money. They are long and low and get smashed up on curbs.
They are heavy and along with shit roads it hammers the suspension, bushes ect.
They have a dual mass flywheel. If it doesn’t have receipts for being done. That’s an economic write off.
Due to the price of secondhand cats and space they can be a pain in the arse.
Mine had done 104k and there where multi oil leaks. Modine, cam covers, rear crank seal.

On a plus side I like the inside. Nice seats and loads of leg room. They don’t feel quick but they are smooth with a great v6 sound.

 

If they are the same as the ST TDCi, the brakes will be rubbish and need replacing with Focus ST Mk2 calipers, discs, pads & lines for the front. Will also need carriers and that may be it.

 

I've had mine for 10+ years, BUT I have done very little mileage in it.
Yes brakes are the same as all other mk3's and are a bit shit.
Anything later than 2006 will be extortionate to tax,
I can't really comment on being easy to work on as I've never had to work on anything in the engine bay other than service items.
​​​​​all it's ever needed it the 10years I've had mine is a rear wheel bearing.
It's needed a wheel refurb for years though as they are shit.

 

facelift gets my vote but pre march 2006 or tax is massive like kyle pointed out

 

I bought one off a mate a few years ago. Was on around 112k when I bought it. I sold it about a year later on 145k and it barely needed a thing. Not the quickest or most economical car, but they sound nice and the engine feels willing and fairly revvy for what it is.

The standard brakes aren't brilliant but, as others have said, MK2 Focus ST brakes are meant to improve it. The chassis is brilliant, one of the best around from that era. It feels like a much smaller car than it is. I prefer the handling of the ST220 to the MK2 Focus ST personally. The Focus felt a bit of a lumbering beast compared to the Mondeo. The only issue mine had in the time I owned it was a rear ABS sensor (which took about 10 minutes to swap). Outside of that, it was just normal servicing. Mine had a minor oil leak and probably would have benefited from a suspension freshen up, but what car wouldn't at that age? Basically all the suspension on mine was original on mine.

Try and find one where the clutch/flywheel has been done fairly recently and you should be fine.

 

whats with the clutch? seen it mentioned a fair bit? look to be about Ł400 for a repacement part? or am I missing something

 

It's a sub frame of job. This needs re alignment tools to refit.

If you're having to pay some one to do the job then the bill is going to be close to the value of the car at the lower end of the market.

I have a nice Ttv billit flywheel ( SINGLE MASS ) if someone is doing the job and fancies an upgrade

 

cant be much worse than resealing the 4x4 cos sump seal then

ill look into the tools

 

I felt like the Mondeo (mine was an 2006 ST TDCi) was like driving a boat, comfy but soft. I did grip and handle well.

 

That's interesting,
I have a MK2 focus as well as an st220, admittedly not a focus ST. If I've driven both on the same day I find the focus alot more nimble and easier to throw about. The focus feels smaller than it actually is, but the Mondeo is opposite. It feels like a big heavy car.

 

Good cars. I would go for a face-lift one..you can get ST220s with heater REAR seats. Some also have a separate audio system for the rear passengers. Some have the rare half leather half alcantra( sorry about spelling)

I removed the subframe on my friends V6 zetec s mk3 momdeo to replace the subframe bushes. I didn't use realignment tools to refit it.

If you get one you have to for a cone filter. They just sound mint with the V6 growl.

 

things I found to look out for phil was rot on bottom of doors, downpipes decay badly, clutch is usual dmf so expensive, bushes front and rear fail and rear main oil seal likes to let go, apart from that its usual car common sense

my old one below

 

Looks spot on Steve. Wouldn't expect anything less for one of your cars

been looking at what they have ended at over the past few months on ebay, and seems anywhere between Ł1k to Ł2k for a less than mint 2005 example.


Got my eye on a few other makes and models, but seems the ST220 is the best value quickish petrol estate about at the moment. Will see how prices are once this Covid blip is sorted out

 

I remember when the mk1 mondeo first came out and then in the garage we started doing work on them after they were a few years old. I must have done 100s of mondeo clutches in that garage before we even knew there was a special tool to align the subframe lol.

 

thanks bud, They are not bad car and ones with sat nav are pain in arse as its so outdated better off getting one with normal stereo as royal pain in ass changing over entire dash centre to fit a modern stereo, and 100% fit st225 front brakes very simple mod and well worth it as std brakes are shit at best

 

When I had my mk3 mondeo 2.5 V6 zetec s I filled the bottom of the doors with wax oil. The only things I changed on mine was a osr shocker a osf coil spring and front discs and pads.

Rear calipers sticking on these used to be common.

 

Several months later........

Dailys still going just about and still looking for an ST estate

not quite a blip

a rare car and a pandemic isn't helping much.

Could really do with a Estate now, just needs to have a bit of go and be around 2k, but there just aint much out there these days.


Once apon a time, there were V8 5 series E39s for Ł1000 , and the like, then everyone got suckered in to Diesels are clean and economical ( the last bit might be true )
and then even petrol V6s or straight 6 lumps become a rare thing


guess there is a mk4 mondeo with the focus ST 5 pot lump, shame its one boring looking car

 

Owww nowt boring about a mk4. Ive had one a few years now. They drive so much better than a mk3.


mines a titanium x sport 2.2 diesel donkey. Had it remapped. Its a flying machine now.

 

Thats not bad looking, tho all the estates with the 2.5 5 pot lump, dont seem to look all that?

And is that a facelift, as ive looked at 2007/8 mk4 stuff, again dont look like that, but only after spending a few grand tops



for example when i say boring, look at this, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-Ford...oAAOSwyNdfDo30 got the engine, but other than what were ford thinking?

oh and interors, did any mk4 get Recaros?

 

early ones prefacelift up to 03
facelift to around 06
final facelift till 07
later ones are death to tax
suspension issues are a nightmare as the st220 uses unique hubs and bottom ball joints
body panels get ruined
door bottoms rust away unless you have final facelift 07 doors on it
bottom ends leak
even if you have a receipt for clutch flywheel and thrust it's always a weakness
brakes need upgrading to at least mk2 focus st's 320mm's
drivers seats wear on the bolsters
and then there's some dodgy electrics
but if you get a decent one they are great cars

 

Saggy bottoms on the Mk3 Mondeo ST's aswell .... the rear bumper brackets seem to be rubbish so the bumper saggs and it rubs the rear arch and leaves you with a massive gap under the rear lights

 

Problem with the 2.5T is that it was only available in the pre-facelift and most were bought my older folk, so were in Ghia or Titanium X, rather than Titanium X Sport, so didn't have the body kit. The facelift does look a lot better, but they dropped the 2.5 and moved to the 2.0-litre EcoBoost, and it was only available with the Powershift transmission. No MK4 had Recaro seats.

I had a 2.5T Titanium X briefly, but I never really gelled with it. Thought my ST220 was a much better drive to be honest. It was much sharper, but it was a genuine sporting model, rather than the MK4 which wasn't. I didn't like the seats in the MK4 much either. The backs weren't tall enough I could never get properly comfortable. It was pretty well equipped though. It had reasonable poke, but the gearing was pretty long and it was insanely quiet. I'm sure you could make one good with some modifications, but I didn't think much of it as a standard car. Mine got written off a couple of months after I bought it, and I can't say I was too sad about it.

 

that's normally due to the foam inserts being missing on some models

you can get them and refit them to fix the issues

the issues with sagging front bumpers is purely a design fault

 

ah that explains, why theres no decent looking mk4 2.5s then.

Shame they didnt make a mk4 ST estate with the 2.5 lump and along the lines of a tit X sport look. Im sure they would be a sort after car now, and a decent amount of modded 400BHP+ examples about! oh well.

But you've summed up my thoughts on the mk4 replacing the mk3, the mk3 ST seems to me a modern day xr4 , with a nice sounding V6 and manual gearbox attached

 

Yeh they did a 2ltr ecoboost but it only came with an auto box. Im sure its the same engine thats in the mk3 focus st.s.

I would of gone for the 2ltr petrol in my model but I didnt want an auto box. Im not a fan of diesels but mine flys. The remap gas defo brought it alive. I had a lad behind one in a 420i diesel bmw coupe and he couldn't catch me.

How much do you wanna spend on a car?

 

I think in Australia, the 2.5T Titanium X Sport was badged as an XR5 Turbo, so was sold as a more overtly sporting model than it was here.

 

Couple of grand, 3k tops really, and thats what st220s were it seemed, but its slim pickings now not as many people buying new and selling stuff due to the pandemic

Guess Ford Europe thought it would effect focus ST sales? Or just bottled it

 

facebook st groups have millions for sale in all sorts of cinditions

there are at least 4 that i'm a member of

 

I know see you commenting al the time, think im im most of the bigger ones now too

 

 

Bottled it I imagine. The ST220 didn't sell in big numbers, so I guess they were frightened of making another overly sporty Mondeo in favour of going for the luxury market. I'm not sure that worked either though, as people who want premium will automatically go towards German brands.

 

Zee germans have took over. There 10 a penny around where I live.

 

I reckon they are just a bit too dated now phil, I would look elsewhere personally

 

just strugling to find something else, need an estate, want something that has a bit of look to it, a bit of poke, and for a couple of grand.

did come across volvo v50s , T5s but seems to be rare, also same for v70 .

Really dont want to go diesel, as hate working on them, and have to dip inside the ULEZ now and then, but if I did, I guess a E61 530 or 535 ( a touch over budget ) would do the job.

 

totally get your point as would love a 850 T5 to plod around in, all the 220s I see as of late are tired and in need of some serious wedge spending on them, nice little smax with the 5 pot volvo lump can be fun but a merc is good shout

 

Didn't they say on a Top Gear review of the ST220 that it was rarer than some current Aston Martin.