Focus ST

mik_da_man

Hey guys,

i'm kinda thinking of getting one of the new Focus ST's

Just want to see what people think of them
I get a discount from list price where i work that's my main reason for looking at it

And I like the colour:p

Focus ST

All comments welcome

Mik

Squirrel

mik_da_man wrote:

Hey guys,

i'm kinda thinking of getting one of the new Focus ST's

Just want to see what people think of them
I get a discount from list price where i work that's my main reason for looking at it

And I like the colour:p

Focus ST

All comments welcome

Mik

I can only imagine them being good cars, but personally I love the Golf GTI so any comment I would have would be extremely biased.

If you get it good luck with it

bazz26

My only concern would be resale value. The old Focus ST depreciated badly, the new one has a bigger 2.5 litre engine. This could be a major disadvantage imo compared to the VW Golf GTi which uses a 2.0 engine.

If these things don't bother you then I say go for it.

fletch

I personally love Fords for their handling but I never thought I'd say it, but given the choice of the Focus ST or Golf GTI I'd go for the Golf anyday. It's an all together more quality package. I also think they look stunning on the 18inch wheels

mik_da_man

It looks like a nice car
but i have to find a dealer near me with one to give it a spin.

My work discount is about 18% off list price afaik
so I could get a decent deal

mondeoman

Attachment not found.

Attachment not found.looks like a lovely car to me-too many gti's out there anyway.

Squirrel

mondeoman wrote:

loooks like a lovely car to me-to many gti's out there anyway.

There'll probably be the same amount of ST's soon. And there being alot can only mean they're good surely

mik_da_man

mondeoman wrote:

Attachment not found.

Attachment not found.looks like a lovely car to me-too many gti's out there anyway.

Had not seen one with thoose wheels on it before.
looks well nice

Think I'll be palnning a trip to my ford dealer soon

fletch

mondeoman wrote:

Attachment not found.

Attachment not found.looks like a lovely car to me-too many gti's out there anyway.

After seein those pics it would be a very tough decision.....Christ it looks well!

mik_da_man

Yep,

I liked the Orange but the blue is even nicer IMO

fletch

I think the wheels on that blue ST are probably photoshopped in linky
Either way it looks savage and shows how well could look with them on...

Gatster

Rialto motors had the Focus ST demo car last week/week before, don't know if they still have, but there is definitely a demo knocking around Dublin (it was on my company car list but I've accepted the allowance instead so the ST idea is out of the window).

Stunning motor, Ford Airside had one at the start of the year which I sat in, I'm not sure if Ford Ireland are doing it like the UK where there is ST1, ST2, ST3 spec levels.

d4r3n

If you get 18% off the list of €35,000 (is it?) it'd be worth it.

Depends what you want from a car really, it's not really that fast but its a good mixture between quick and comfortable.

WizZard

IIRC it's "great fun" to drive! According to Clarkson.
I'd love one.
It's a harsh choice between it and a GTI - but a nice choice to have all the saem! Good luck with whatever you decide anyway.

Farls

Was infront of one the other day and then behind it very quickly

Excellent car, and with that discount i'd go for it. It was actually quicker around Hockenheim than the old RS was :eek:

Atomic Pineapple

with an 18% discount you should get it for around €29000, making it well worth it, lovely car but not in the orange colour

Big Balls

I can see the attraction in the car...

BUT (And I own a MKV GTI so yeh, I'm a bit biased)...

If you're paying the bills yourself, why go for something which is going to cost more to tax, run on petrol (the GTI will return nearly 400 miles on a long stretch), hasn't got a quality feeling interior and will hit you so hard for depreciation that you will cry like a baby when you have to make the cost of the negative equity when you come to trade it.

"There's too many of them" I saw earlier in the thread.. they're not common enough that you see one everyday (I spot a different one maybe once a week) and let's see what you're saying here: 'don't buy this car as it must be so good that people are buying them'??

18s are a must on them IMO and really set the car off.

When I am trading it in, I don't think I'm even going to bother to search for other cars, I'm just going to order another one.

Focus is slightly faster but put into context and the type of driving you can do in this country, it won't be an issue.

Bam Bam

It does look great

But surly it can't cost €35000

Wonder if its available in 1.6ltr Petrol.

Big Balls

Bam Bam wrote:

Wonder if its available in 1.6ltr Petrol.

fletch

Bam Bam wrote:

It does look great

But surly it can't cost €35000

Wonder if its available in 1.6ltr Petrol.

The Focus is available in 1.6...the ST however, is not

Big Balls

Ficus wrote:

And so what about the depreciation, you are getting it at a really good deal so you wont really be hit that much.

I hope you don't work in a bank.. or with numbers for that matter :eek:

If you like a car over another, fair enough.. but don't be fooled by discounts, good trade in prices and depreciation. There are no rules with depreciation on Fords ESPECIALLY special model ones.

mik_da_man

Cheers for the advice lads,

I checked and I should get ot for under 29K with the discount.

But the whole deprecation thing got me thinking,
It'll prob loose quite a bit in the first year
very hard to estimate really.

But I could afford a 01 Evo 7:D

Hmmm New V's FAST!!

more to think about

mondeoman

the lovely wheels in the picture are from a Mondeo ST(220 or tdci)
not sure if the come with the focus but they look great on it:D

Gatster

[PHP]will hit you so hard for depreciation that you will cry like a baby when you have to make the cost of the negative equity when you come to trade it.[/PHP]

Shouldn't make a difference really over the first couple of years if you take the discount into account, every normal car loses value over the first two years and unless he's borrowing bigtime it highly unlikely he'll be in 'negative equity'. As for the quality of the interior there doesn't seem to be a massive difference between the GTI and the ST, I've been in both (also the ST is better equipped - no air-con as standard in the GTI is a bit of a joke for €36k).

I used to work for a firm and could avail of 20-30% discounts on Fords (depending on model) and a lot of people bought into it. I don't know of one person that traded in/sold after getting the discount and lost out, some even made on what they paid.

Henry Ford III

The employees discount is 17% and nobody gets any more off than that.

The dealers have to pay more than that.

The ST is quicker than the VW and several thousand cheaper too. It has a 5 cylinder engine with a sporty sound. Every comparison I've read rates the ST ahead of the GTI. Sure the tax and insurance, never mind the fuel consumption is high, but if you are worried about these you should genuinely be looking at another car completely. Insuring an ST isn't easy btw nor cheap.

With the 17% discount it's a no brainer. Go for it.

p.s. Depreciation. Ford expect to sell about 100 of these a year. Keep your clean tidy and mileage down and in 12 months it'll resell pretty well.

p.p.s. Servicing. Ford have fixed price menus - a petrol Focus costs a small bit over €100 for it's 12 month service. VW are really expensive by comparison.

p.p.p.s. Clarkson tore strips of the new Bora in today's Sunday Times.

Henry Ford III

Quite a good head to head comparison test herehttp://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,26789-1847556,00.html

Big Balls

Ficus wrote:

Well no actually, it wont depreciate that much as its the special ghias and stuff like that that drop like a stone, whereas special racing versions like this will stand the test of time a little better, and even if he did decide to sell it off after the first year, he would still get more for it then what he paid in the first place.
I think the st is a better all rounder and definitly more unique.

God you really don't have a clue.

He'll get more for it after a year will he???

Well let me see, when the last model ST came out, it was 35k. A year later they were going for 27. You'll buy a Golf GTI and sell it on a year later for 2.5k less. These type of cars don't MAKE you money!!!

2.5 litre engine is just unpractical in this country, like it or lump it and the exhaust note sounds sporty enough on the Golf to me.

fletch

Big Balls wrote:

God you really don't have a clue.

He'll get more for it after a year will he???

Well let me see, when the last model ST came out, it was 35k. A year later they were going for 27. You'll buy a Golf GTI and sell it on a year later for 2.5k less. These type of cars don't MAKE you money!!!

2.5 litre engine is just unpractical in this country, like it or lump it and the exhaust note sounds sporty enough on the Golf to me.

I think you're forgetting the fact that the OP is getting this car heavily discounted in the first place and the old ST Focus was more a warm hatch than a hot hatch and never really had an impact on the hot hatch market...this new ST is an all together more convincing effort from Ford and the resale values and desirability will no doubt reflect this

Henry Ford III

I agree with B.B.'s that he won't make any money.

The thing is will he loose much? I think not. Not on a 12 months view anyhow.

The ST is a low volume (expected sales of c.100 in Ireland) high performance model. Demand for a clean used one will be high. It's also a market leader with class leading performance and handling. In addition by comparison to it's nearest rival (VW GTI) it boasts considerably higher power, an extra cylinder, variable valve timing, much higher spec. and still costs several thousand Euros less. It doesn't have a Cosworth badge but has superior performance to the Focus RS. It also has everyday practicality, which the RS doesn't. The ride is rock hard for example.

I think comparisons with the mk1 Focus ST170 are meaningless as regards projected future values. This was a car built on the older chassis, and which was actually a bit of a let down to drive. It really wasn't great and needed to be revved very hard to go well. I found the gearbox poor also. This car was dynamically bettered by several others in it's class, and was I feel overpriced from day 1. Depreciation was inevitable therefore.

I expect the ST to have strong residual values due to it's value (a 2.5l 5 cylinder turbo charged sports hatch for €35k is actually a bargain) and relative rarity. The fact that it beats it's rivals helps too

B.B.'s last point about running a 2.5 litre car is not a bad one. 12 months tax is €900+ and fuel consumption will be quite heavy if it's driven with any vigour. Insurance is pricey too.

The GTI will be cheaper to tax and will be lighter on fuel. Not sure about insurance. Purchase price is higher however and extras will only add to that to arrive at a comparable level of spec.

If your primary concern is cost control however I'd suggest neither of these cars is suitable.

kdevitt

One of the car programs on satelite (god knows which channel it was) featured the Focus RS as one of their 'Free to drive' cars - in other words it depreciated so little according to market prices that you could sell it a year after buying it for close enough to what you paid.

I'd imagine the ST will be more or less the same - looks like a lovely car too, and as said above, road tests are extremely positive. Have read about major delays in deliveries of them though.

Henry Ford III

8-12 weeks delivery times. One dealer unallocated car available recently according to my source.

Big Balls

kdevitt wrote:

One of the car programs on satelite (god knows which channel it was) featured the Focus RS as one of their 'Free to drive' cars - in other words it depreciated so little according to market prices that you could sell it a year after buying it for close enough to what you paid.

I'd imagine the ST will be more or less the same - looks like a lovely car too, and as said above, road tests are extremely positive. Have read about major delays in deliveries of them though.

You really can't rely on UK stuff. An RS is a far more sellable car in the UK than here. Tax and insurance are just one factor, a 2.5 litre Ford in this country is crazy!!!!! I have not seen ONE on the road in ROI - there's a reason for that and it certainly ain't exclusivity.

I appreciate the new ST is in another league compared to the last model, the same can be said for the GTI but I'VE OWNED FORDS and I just would not put any money on them being anywhere near as strong residual wise. It has 25bhp more, in real world terms, that's not a huge amount. It's not going to leave the GTI behind in any situation - the Golf not having at least air con is a joke alright, but at least you get a roof.

There's a pretty good test to take anyway.. go to any finance company and see how many of them will give you a package with a final payment (which keeps your monthly repayments down) on an ST and then do the same with the GTI.

At the end of the day, it's not my money but I can't sit back and watch people type complete rubbish such as you'll sell it on for a profit a year later. Nobody has done that with a GTI here and certainly nobody will do it with a Focus.

HungryJoey

I think this one is a no Brainer. That Focus ST sounds so hot. Great deal, Great specs and is so unique. There are so many GTI's on the road at this point, Im dying to see my first ST. They look so beautiful and that 2.5L Turbo engine sounds savage. I say go for the ST. Its the obvious choice, as nice as the GTI golf is, i think its got to be the ST on this one.

Hj

mik_da_man

Cheers for all the comments,
some good info there.

i Have to admit that the price discount is a good factor in this for me
I get a 2.5 Turbo hot hatch for €29K:D
Pretty good IMO

Fair enough the tax is gonna be high and insurance not too cheap
Unless i go for the 123.ie offer

Also I like the idea of so few sold here to be honest

Don't get me wrong I really like the GTI Golf - But they are common enough
I seen 4 today in a 15 min drive to work!

I have not seen one ST so far!

Just hope the delivery tme aint too long

Keep the comments comming;)

Mik

HungryJoey

I don't think any comments can be added to that You summed it up perfectly. Go for it

Hj

Squirrel

http://www.cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=380052&ID=637554&NumPics=1&Make=Lancia&Model=Integrale%20EvO%202&frmFilter=

A hot hatch is what you want? Oh yeah!!!

Henry Ford III

Big Balls wrote:

You really can't rely on UK stuff. An RS is a far more sellable car in the UK than here. Tax and insurance are just one factor, a 2.5 litre Ford in this country is crazy!!!!! I have not seen ONE on the road in ROI - there's a reason for that and it certainly ain't exclusivity. Simply because none have been delivered yet

I appreciate the new ST is in another league compared to the last model, the same can be said for the GTI but I'VE OWNED FORDS and I just would not put any money on them being anywhere near as strong residual wise. It has 25bhp more, in real world terms, that's not a huge amount. It's not going to leave the GTI behind in any situation - the Golf not having at least air con is a joke alright, but at least you get a roof. Would you buy a VW GTI if it had 175bhp? Only if you got a discount I'd suggest. The Ford has lots of extra power, torque, acceleration and for track or autobahn use only a higher top speed. It's spec. is much higher, it has an extra cylinder and is a less stressed engine, and despite all this costs thousands less.

There's a pretty good test to take anyway.. go to any finance company and see how many of them will give you a package with a final payment (which keeps your monthly repayments down) on an ST and then do the same with the GTI.
Rubbish. What would a finance co. know about a car that has yet to be delivered? Parkers rate it's residuals as strong incidentally.

At the end of the day, it's not my money but I can't sit back and watch people type complete rubbish such as you'll sell it on for a profit a year later. Nobody has done that with a GTI here and certainly nobody will do it with a Focus.

I agree both will loose value. If the o/p gets 17% off the list price of the ST his value after 12 months will still be quite close to what he paid for it.

p.s. There are lots of 2.5l and bigger engined cars around. Lot's of people run them. A 2 litre and 2.5 litre both suffer the same VRT rate. Of course it makes sense to run a 2.5l ST. Compared to the GTI it's actually a bargain.

bazz26

Looks like there are a few in the country already:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=368681

The alloys are nice.

Henry Ford III

Delivery mileage or just disconnected speedo?

A few extras on that one too. Metallic, auto headlights/wipers, bluetooth, 6xcd changer.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote:

Looks like there are a few in the country already:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=368681

The alloys are nice.

That isn't a used car

Henry Ford III

It's advertised in the used cars section.

fletch

Its done 100miles so I guess that counts as used...

Henry Ford III

Very lightly used. I'd wager it's a demo with a disconnected speedo.

The colour is good.

phoenix_nights

If your into motor racing, horse betting, local soccer, DIY, sausages,indian curry and like doing your gardening with your shirt off then the ford ST is for you.

If you know into bluetooth, artic monkeys, electric picnic, 2 megapixel phones, texting,tapas, balsanic vinegar and thai curry then the GTI is for you.

Henry Ford III

I cannot agree. VW means "peoples car". They are not a premium brand. The marketeers have deluded you I suspect.

Betty Swollocks

phoenix_nights wrote:

If your into motor racing, horse betting, local soccer, DIY, sausages,indian curry and like doing your gardening with your shirt off then the ford ST is for you.

If you know into bluetooth, artic monkeys, electric picnic, 2 megapixel phones, texting,tapas, balsanic vinegar and thai curry then the GTI is for you.

what are you talking about? if your into cars which this forums is supposed to be about...then you would respect the heritge that the ST comes from....the ST woul beat the gti around any circuit..i would repect the ST as a choice more..GTI's seem to be everywhere..great though they are..i reckon the ST is a more individual statement than a golf..and better value

mik_da_man

Have to agree with Betty on this

The ST is much more "indvudial" car
which is what i'm after

But it's damn near impossible to get a test Drive in one.

Not one in the country to test drive as far as I could find:mad:

And only 3 Garages have one - but already sold

(apart from Tullamore maybe)

Mik

Henry Ford III

There's one due in Lyons of Limerick soon. The boss man wants it for himself. I'm getting a drive however, and may well order one depending....

Henry Ford III

mik_da_man wrote:

Have to agree with Betty on this

The ST is much more "indvudial" car
which is what i'm after

But it's damn near impossible to get a test Drive in one.

Not one in the country to test drive as far as I could find:mad:

And only 3 Garages have one - but already sold

(apart from Tullamore maybe)

Mik

They are plentiful in the UK. Get a cheap flight and go drive?

mik_da_man

Not a bad plan;)

But hopefully I'll be able to organise something over here.

I was chattin to a guy in ford cork who said the demo they had was booked till July!!
All reporters for motoring columns and stuff

Mik

Cyrus

Personally id get the ST purely for the discount, but id have to have leather those seats like crap.

Just as an aside a mate bought the new gti as soon as it came out, paid 37k for a 5 door with a few extras, went in out of curiousity to see how much an 06 would cost hom and he nearly cried, apparently vw dealers are now giving a 2.5k discount on new gtis? gonna hit residuals a bit

which is good for me i want one!