Ford Focus ST good value?

Shootist · 22 May 2006 at 16:54

ST1 is lightest, ST2 is slightly heavier and ST3 is the heaviest..

Shootist · 22 May 2006 at 17:03

n3crius said:
I'm thinking about picking one up. I'm sure the power and handling of this thing will satisfy me for a while, but does anyone have a good idea how the machine will depreciate?
Thanks all!

According to Ford, if you choose to do a finance deal and take a £1000 deposit and payments of £481.99 per month for 36 months, the guaranteed future value of your car will be £7, 286. So I would assume that if a dealer has a 20% mark up on used cars, then he would probably sell it for around £9k. So that's what I would expect it to be worth. How much can you get a 3 year old 36k miles ST170 for now? That may be a good indicator for future values.

edit. Just checked Autotrader, lo and behold, £8,500 to £8,900 for an 03 ST170 with between 20k and 30k on the clock.
I wonder how many of those silver ones I had on the Isle of Man as a hire car.
The dealer/hire company kept them for 3 or 4 months until they had between 2k-3k miles and then shipped them back to Ford to sell through their used car network. 100mph on the mountain road was a joy to behold and pretty hairy too. Nice sound system too, Tangerine Dream was totally suited to that car.

Hilly · 22 May 2006 at 17:05

Shootist said:
ST1 is lightest, ST2 is slightly heavier and ST3 is the heaviest..

Lol y ou could put it that way... but it's more to do with *** standard of equipment.

ST1 has all the standard equipment like: 18" alloys, Recaro's (cloth) AC
ST2 has: MP3, Xenon's, Heated front windscreen and esp (electronic stability program) basically traction control.
ST3 has: 10 way adjustable Leather Recaro's (super comfy) 6 cd player built into dash, leather trim, heated front seats, and recaro's (well "sculptered") in the back, 4 seats maximum though.

Any thing else you want, give me a shout.

Hilly · 22 May 2006 at 17:07

Shootist said:
According to Ford, if you choose to do a finance deal and take a £1000 deposit and payments of £481.99 per month for 36 months, the guaranteed future value of your car will be £7, 286. So I would assume that if a dealer has a 20% mark up on used cars, then he would probably sell it for around £9k. So that's what I would expect it to be worth. How much can you get a 3 year old 36k miles ST170 for now? That may be a good indicator for future values.

The indicator on the ST170 won't be close to the 225, you can expect the ST3's to sell at about 10-11k after 3 years minimum. 7.8k is the guarenteed, but expect it to be higher, or you could go on the ford options plan, which you can either give back the car, part ex it for a new model, or buy the rest e.t.c

Shootist · 22 May 2006 at 17:24

PS. The Gartrac 6 speed box was lovely too, kept the power band nicely available, 70 in 2nd @ 7000 rpm. Did I mention hire car?

Goliath · 22 May 2006 at 17:41

Simon said:
Goliath,

Has your Focus RS been reliable? I'm looking at getting a new car after septmeber and to be honest there is so much choice I don't know what to get. Wouldnt mind a FRS with about 250hp (pretty easy with bluefin), shouldn't be much behind the rover, do they stay reliable at this power level?

I'm not too keen on the interior mind you but im sure i can live with that. Theres a 40k one 03 plate for £13k Ive seen which looked nice.

Pretty much. I've had issues (as have other owners) with numerous sensors (MAF, air bypass etc) failing but these were replaced under warranty. 250bhp is no problem, and a lot of the guys are running in the region of 280bhp without any issues. The engine itself is a heavily re-worked duratec unit (forged pistons, con rods etc with a vastly improved oil system) and the gearbox is a very beefed up version of the standard MT-75 unit with different ratios. All the common niggles will have been sorted under warranty by now anyway.

There are two basic routes to upgrading the power: Improve the breathing (exhaust, sports/de-cat, manifold, air filter etc) or chuck a bluefin on it. Doing all of that will give you 280Bhp quite easily. Above this you'll be looking at replacing the turbo for a GT28 or something near, replacing the cams and gaskets and probably the con-rods as well, and upgrading the intercooler whilst you are at it. Tony McQuire up at PumaSpeed is running one with all of this on and a few more bits to boot and is getting 400bhp.

DanF · 22 May 2006 at 19:51

Rudeboy said:
Like the sound of that. Do you have any more info?

I'll try and find out, might take a day or two.

Rudeboy · 23 May 2006 at 12:42

DanF said:
I'll try and find out, might take a day or two.

Thanks.

Only reason I ask is that the guys on the focus forums are struggling to get cars through brokers. Seems that main dealerships are getting prioirty on all ST's with brokers giving delivery dates of Oct and Nov.

Demon · 23 May 2006 at 13:17

hsp70 said:
The Astra VXR does have a more powerful engine but it's chassis can't handle it. Unless you just like going fast in a staight line, i'd go for the focus. Best handling car in the class.

That would be why the VXR posts better times in all the track tests.. Top gear/fifth gear/evo mag, etc, etc, etc...

The chassis may be more 'refined' , but the VXR must 'handle' as well, or better, remember the VXR only has 13 BHP more...

I've driven the ST, and love it, I'd recommend one to anyone, but I've also driven the VXR, and that is 'different' it's more exciting to drive, it does struggle to contain the power at times, but then that's all under the control of your right foot..
I'd have a hard job choosing personally, personal preference and all, I suspect I'd probably go with the VXR.. the more hardcore'ness of it appeals.. but then thats me.., although I do like the slightly more refined linearity of the ST when you just want to pootle around..

I think you'd be mad not to go and test drive the cars before making a decision..

On the broker front, have you tried all the usual www.newcar4me.com type of places?? give them a ring, as their websites are usually out of date, and cancelled orders are sometimes available..

The VXR is fractionally better on depreciation, and there should be more low mileage secondhand ones around to but that initial hit if you want VFM..

DanF · 23 May 2006 at 17:52

DanF said:
I'll try and find out, might take a day or two.

Yeah most of the sites are out of stock so you might just want to phone them up, and try the ones that don't have a website as they might retain more stock.

Arc · 23 May 2006 at 20:06

The supply of Focus ST's at the moment is rather low. Ignore the brokers, they simply cant get the cars at the moment, dealers have priority. Although theres still a good few months wait when ordering from a dealer.

Simon · 24 May 2006 at 13:32

Goliath said:
Pretty much. I've had issues (as have other owners) with numerous sensors (MAF, air bypass etc) failing but these were replaced under warranty. 250bhp is no problem, and a lot of the guys are running in the region of 280bhp without any issues. The engine itself is a heavily re-worked duratec unit (forged pistons, con rods etc with a vastly improved oil system) and the gearbox is a very beefed up version of the standard MT-75 unit with different ratios. All the common niggles will have been sorted under warranty by now anyway.

There are two basic routes to upgrading the power: Improve the breathing (exhaust, sports/de-cat, manifold, air filter etc) or chuck a bluefin on it. Doing all of that will give you 280Bhp quite easily. Above this you'll be looking at replacing the turbo for a GT28 or something near, replacing the cams and gaskets and probably the con-rods as well, and upgrading the intercooler whilst you are at it. Tony McQuire up at PumaSpeed is running one with all of this on and a few more bits to boot and is getting 400bhp.

A nice one cheers, been reading a bit on some of the forums. Have you modified yours at all?

Goliath · 24 May 2006 at 14:59

Simon said:
A nice one cheers, been reading a bit on some of the forums. Have you modified yours at all?

Milltek exhaust & Sports cat and a K&N panel filter, think I''ve got about 240bhp ish from that (will find out at the RR). Manifold is next for me, it's a personal preference but I prefer to improve the breathing first and then look at mapping. TBH, if i get 20-25 bhp from the manifold I'll leave it at that, it's more than enough power for the RS IMHO.

MrMoon · 24 May 2006 at 16:16

thepharcyde said:
Mazda 3 coming out soon in its pimped up guise

mazda 3 MPS looks great, I am very impressed with my new mazda 3 sport its great, and the MPS is only going to make it better, and also its basically a focus underneith a bigger body

Simon · 24 May 2006 at 16:20

Goliath said:
Milltek exhaust & Sports cat and a K&N panel filter, think I''ve got about 240bhp ish from that (will find out at the RR). Manifold is next for me, it's a personal preference but I prefer to improve the breathing first and then look at mapping. TBH, if i get 20-25 bhp from the manifold I'll leave it at that, it's more than enough power for the RS IMHO.

Yeah I think 260-270bhp is a nice amount for a front wheel drive, can still remain driveable. Seem pretty easy to tune though that's for sure!

I'll have to have a nose around at the RR