Thinking about buying a Ford Focus ST

[Cory M]

Looking for a new daily driver. I drive about 50 miles a day freeway and city with some traffic. The ST seems to meet most of my requirements: affordable, fun to drive, 4 doors, hatch/wagon preferred, manual, minimum 20 mpg combined, reasonably quick. My last two daily drivers have been a Subaru WRX and an Audi A4 B7 ultrasport wagon, both all wheel drive and manual. Not sure I'll like the front wheel drive. I'm going to drive the Focus and see how it feels, but for the money it seems like a solid choice. Nice little hatch with 250 hp. It will be smaller than my Audi but I'll get a hitch for my bike rack. Reliability appears to be good if you leave the drivetrain stock. Parts and service should be reasonable and there are several dealers in my area. On paper I like the ST2 trim with the cloth Recaros. Need to sit in it though, seems like the Recaros are a love/hate thing with the journalists.

Other cars in a similar class are:
VW GTI - looks nice, nicer interior, slower and heavier, concerns about long term reliability and repair cost
Subaru WRX - no hatchback or wagon available, more $, reliability concerns and poor local parts and service network, kinda big and ugly, but faster and AWD
Honda Civic Si - seems kinda boring, slower, probably doesn't handle as good, should be reliable though and I have a good friend who is and expert and works for Honda corporate

Unfortunately the Focus RS, Golf R, and Civic Type R are off the table, mostly due to cost and my intended use.

Anybody got one? Thoughts?

[scottmandue]

I know nothing but one of these is high on my list of fun cars to check out.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I daily drove one for a year that I bought from Porsche4Life's parents. They are great cars, very fun and tossable with great power and a nice slick shifter. I really liked mine but found that I really didn't need a daily driver.

[Alan A]

Guy I work with went to get one.
Came home with a loaded Mustang GT.

It cost him way less to drive off the lot in the V8 than the ST...

[impactbumper]

Go for it. Great little car.


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[SeanPizzle]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Guy I work with went to get one.
Came home with a loaded Mustang GT.

It cost him way less to drive off the lot in the V8 than the ST...

You must be thinking of fhe RS. The STs go out the door around 27k

[Tobra]

Yeah, the RS is a beast

[PorscheGAL]

Do not give up on buying an RS!

Prices are coming down on them and there are some really good deals on used ones. Visit focusrs.org and watch for a deal. It appears many people bought the car without figuring the cost and sell them at good deals. Deals around 33K.

We have an ST and an RS. The ST has held up very well with 165K miles on it; my husband used it as a company car. The ST will have wheel spin, but is light. The RS is the better overall car.

[Todge]

I have one. Going on 34k miles now. Haven't had one problem with it. I use it for my DD, round trip is about 50 miles. I have never run out of space for golf clubs, large pizzas, hell I had a massive BBQ in the back of it today. I bought the ST1 trim model, I did not like the Recaros. I'm fairly active in the enthusiast groups, and as you stated above, you either love or hate them. I don't consider myself a large guy, 5-7 180lbs, and I did not fit in them.

I'm averaging 25 mpg. The only thing I would recommend is changing the brakes/fluid if you plan on doing any spirited driving.

I would say that Ford dropped the ball on the marketing of these things, by not mentioning the Octane Academy. Look it up when you get a chance. Its an opportunity to meet/visit Ken Block's Hoonigan HQ, then learn how to drive the ST on the track at Miller Motorsports Park. A feature that usually costs thousands with other manufacturers, and its free with purchase. The ST is a great value.

Todge

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Every morning, for the last two weeks, a coworker who has the keys to the building has been out, so I can't get into the office early.

This leaves me driving around the block killing time until someone with a key finally shows up.

Guess what dealership is down the block. Guess which car I keep driving by thinking of the Top Gear Hot hatchback episodes. I might need to stop in one day for a test drive.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by SeanPizzle

You must be thinking of fhe RS. The STs go out the door around 27k

Maybe. I lost interest as soon as the guy I work with said it was a Focus. I drive Kraut cars.

Whatever it was the dealer wouldn't budge off $40k.
His full loaded stang was knocked down to $38 and has a V8.

Edit: As an aside the wife has a GTI. She loves it. Offered to swap it for an S5 wagon (because I wanted one) and she refused. I hate the thing. But I don't like how FWD cars handle in the wet, and that colors my perception.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Maybe. I lost interest as soon as the guy I work with said it was a Focus. I drive Kraut cars.

Whatever it was the dealer wouldn't budge off $40k.
His full loaded stang was knocked down to $38 and has a V8.

Edit: As an aside the wife has a GTI. She loves it. Offered to swap it for an S5 wagon (because I wanted one) and she refused. I hate the thing. But I don't like how FWD cars handle in the wet, and that colors my perception.

Pretty narrow perspective. Because the ST tops out at about $30k the car you are referring to had to be an RS, which is exponentially more car than the GTI and by most measures superior to the Golf R as well.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Pretty narrow perspective. Because the ST tops out at about $30k the car you are referring to had to be an RS, which is exponentially more car than the GTI and by most measures superior to the Golf R as well.

I already said I hated the GTI. It's my wife's car.
I've owned Fords. You couldn't give me another one.
YMclearlyV and that's fine - this is my opinion, not yours.

[impactbumper]

I am biased though


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[aigel]

How is the torque steer on this?

After having a MS3 for a couple years I am done with hot hatches unless they have 4wd (I don't think there are any with RWD). The MS3 was a hoot but you really couldn't drive it on a mountain road without the fear of going off due to unpredictable torque steer. And that was with an LSD and electronic aids.

G

[BReif61]

I had one as a rental (!) for a week. Great car. Felt held back in the lower gears but definitely an enjoyable car to drive. My only gripe was that the dashboard seemed to be very deep from the drivers' POV and the front of the car just dropped off.

[Nickshu]

Get an RS instead.

[BReif61]

Originally Posted by Nickshu

Get an RS instead.

Originally Posted by Cory M

Unfortunately the Focus RS, Golf R, and Civic Type R are off the table, mostly due to cost and my intended use.

[aschen]

I drove a fiesta st at the nurburgring last year, that car was an absolute ball to drive. The venue helped too of course. Loved the recaros and I am approximately square in cross section.

My daily driver is a wrx, and I really like those cars as well though. Mine has 130k miles on it with no issues. The radiator and throw out bearing recently crapped the bed, but no hard feelings for a 12yo 130k mile car.

I think there are great incentives and discounts for STs also. I say go for it. Personally I would say to do the fist if you can live with its tiny size. RSs like gt350s are piled up on dealer lots holding out for top dollar. There have been reports of some dealers starting to discount even RSs.

[legion]

Originally Posted by Alan A

Guy I work with went to get one.
Came home with a loaded Mustang GT.

It cost him way less to drive off the lot in the V8 than the ST...

That's kind of what I did. I wanted a GT350 or a Focus RS. The dealer markups on both were ridiculous. I got a bare-bones Mustang GT for $29,000.