Going to look at one tomorrow

Any good ??

Any helds up on what to look out for please chaps

Totaly stock so a nice Blank page to start from
Fully stamped up history but 74k

Regards
Ian

 

Anyone

Come on you focus owners, what they like

 

my cuz has 1 and i love it as does he,only thing that would put me off is the chargecooler.
front splitters and bonnet lining usually go awol.they are all getting to the age that the cambelt will need doing if it has'nt already.
cuz says the brakes could be better.
totally stock means barely any boost and can feel quite slow.

 

Cheers for that, I plan (if i get it) to change to front mount cooler and upping the boost as well as filter, exhaust blue fin etc
Will do the belt as well as Ł150 spent now is better than a wrecked top end the following week !!
Thought the Brembos would have been up to the task in hand but intrested to hear otherwise

Cheers
Ian

 

Rust is an issue that I've heard people mention, both underside and also on boot and quarter panels where water can be retained under the glass.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Look out for water leaks around the stat housing and water pump (pumps are not available atm but will be in next 4 weeks or so from Co-ordsport), leaky heater matrix hoses, leaky metal water hose in wheel arch, charge cooler pumps are prone to failure, rust around the boot lid, sumps rot and will eventually leak... Pretty much easy stuff to replace though.

At 74k I'd get cambelt kit and aux belt kit done for piece of mind.


I've had mine 6 months and its a breath of fresh air after 10 years of Cossie ownership.



Steve

 

Cheers for all that

time to upgrade my daily driver so the focus to me seems the obvious choice
Will do the belts if i get it
Is the adjuster wheel on these, Nylon like the escorts/Mundanos ?

 

i know what car your going to look at

 

You know Darren then

 

i may have worded my last response slightly wrongly, sorry

i dont know D.J personally, but less than a mile away from myself and a mate stores a car at his premises.

i meant i purely know which car your going to look at, going by the brief description you gave and your location

 

Have a look in the focus rs room on the rsoc website.....loads of info on there about them mate
As said, good cars....i've only owned mine a few months after 6 years of rst ownership lol and haven't had to touch it so far, though it does have a very small water leak which i think is the thermostat housing ! Go well with a few mods (exhaust/decat/manifold/remap) and seem pretty strong motors!
Rust on the bottoms of the doors, underneath the wing mirrors where they meet the door and the other areas mentioned.
At 74k if it hasn't had a turbo or clutch you may want to assume that they may need changing in the near future, especially once you up the boost and remap!
Hope it's a good one, really nice cars to drive if you're used to old fords lol

 

I hope its a nice example fella. I love the look of them. I went out in a friends focus rs years ago and i was impressed with it. He had a bluefin on his and the car was a flying machine.

 

Bear in mind there are lots of these for sale so it really is a buyers market.

Brakes are ok tbh but the std ford pads need upgrading as they fade quite quickly. I run Mintex with EBC disks. Thermostats can leak, theres a billet aluminium one available. Breather hoses can go soft and collapse, causes them to smoke like a dodgy turbo. Metal water hoses corrode. Clutches last from 40k up to past 100k depending on how theyve been driven. Depending on the ecu map AE or AF it may either have a slightly dodgey cold starting or a small cough at 4k under boost. They have a reputation for torque steer but that can be all but dialled out by polybushing the front end, getting it four wheel aligned properly and fitting decent tyres. Engines are pretty solid and take a lot of abuse. What kills them is overheating so fit an aftermarket temp gauge or scangauge. Chargecooler pumps can fail but they are available as a recon on the RSOC, also the hole in the reservoir can get blocked. I opened mine up slightly with a drill bit.

Paintwork was very poor from new on some examples, the rear quarters were very patchy. Front end suffers badly from stone chipping and most will have been repainted at some point. Front bumpers split very easily but are still available to buy fully painted from about 400 quid.

 

How much is it? For 74k i'd hope 8k absolute tops.

 

Bang on dude but will take close offers
Its nice, just a little high on the miles and tbh the durys still out on this one as it really is a nice one
Very straight and clean with good seats etc
Ian

 

wouldnt be put off by mileage, mines done 110k now and is still as tight as new

other than whats ben said above cant think of many more things to look for. make sure the owner gives you the leather RS wallet that the service history should be in......some owners hang on to these as they are worth alot on ebay, same with the optional mats if they are fitted

check the lips of the arches for rust as they can go here, and on the sills. some parts are unique, hard to get hold of and expensive so make sure everything works and there are no bits of trim missing

i've had mine for nearly 3 years and its been faultless, not cheap to insure for some, and only returns about 230 to a tank (about 19mpg) but they drive well after a remap and the handling is far superior to most other standard fwd cars

enjoy

 

Arches are good and it has the mats. Full history with the folder. Clean engine with no signs on water leaking anywere.
Whoever owned it did not run it on a shoestring as it has a nice set of P Zero's and NO stone chips or scrapes/spots anywere
Only pointers i could find that it has NOT had the Belts done as they are booked for 100k but i wouldnt want to take a 100k chance so that would need doing.
No heated front screen
Had a repair on the nearside quater and although done well with perfect pant match etc at close inspection in the right light it is evedent(to me anyway).
Like i said, its open to close offers around 8k which is good and takes in account of the above. Seller is a respected Cossie and rs seller and ownes a nice mk2 escort himself and have nothing to hide.
Had a nice bit of tin there including a white 500,Rouse 304,a couple of saphs and a late polaris escos

 

The RS never had a heated front screen.