ST170 (Mk. 1 or wait for Mk. 2?)

[JulianHJ]

Very tempted by one of these - even considering a new Mk. 1, rather than waiting for the Mk. 2 (providing the price is right!)

Anyone got one? Anyone work for a dealer and know how cheap they can get? Trade Sales are saying £13.6k, but I used to work across the road from them and as such wouldn't touch 'em with a bargepole!

Anyone heard anything about the Mk2 Focus - a big improvement on the horizon?

[T88CAN]

Hi Julian
firstly bad luck on your "incident" with the Griff,ive been reading your thread, but not posted glad your o.k
and i see that every one has turned on that P reg number bloke Back on topic £13.6 is as about as cheap as it gets IMO it will be a self registred import with only 1 yr warrany if i`m right? When the mark 2 comes out there won`t be any deals on them initially and the old model should in theory get cheaper my advise is spend £18k and get a used Focus RS

[T88CAN]

sorry double posted

>> Edited by T88CAN on Friday 12th March 17:12

[trackdemon]

Much as I like the Focus as a family runabout, I think the ST170 is possibly the weakest version in the range. The Cooper S is miles better as an all round package (provided you don't need the rear seat space regularly) and the CTR is much quicker with a nicer interior and more 'pizzaz' about it.
I drove my flatmate's ST170 back to back with the MCS and came away feeling that it was a 'nice car' but with the competition being so strong you need more than that. Residuals will not be strong - I think you'd lose money hand over fist; the fact that you can get substantial discounts does not bode well. Try getting £2k off an MCS / LCR / CTR - it won't happen.

So in summary I guess I'm saying ditch the ST170 altogether, or as someone else mentioned get yourself into an RS - they really are in a different league to the ST.

[Stuart]

I've got one. It's got all the stuff that you love about the focus - cracking turn in, wonderfully communicative handling and a very chuckable chassis, but it lacks power. I was talking to Jost Capito about this (shameless name drop, but I'm getting to the point) and he reckons that most of the new cars have had an ECU remap that delivers a lot more power mid range. I've had it now but you still need to rev the nuts off the thing and the power underwhelms. It needs another 30hp to be interesting. Fuel consumption is, as a consequence, laughable.

If it were my money (and it wasn't - mine is a company fleet purchase) then I'd spend the extra on a used RS or go for almost anything else which competes with the ST (and I'd be hard pushed to choose between the Civic Type R, Cooper S and Leon Cupra - all are worth the extra cash). Either that or save a bit and go for the TDCI sport. Same chassis tweaks, same toys, much better engine.

[julianhj]

Cheers for that Stuart - in all honesty the folks (who I'm buying it for in exchange for their Escort Cosworth Monte) are more taken with the Astra in terms of looks, and like the way the 1.6 SXI felt when I got them one for a few days - it's lack of oomph was the only possible negative. As running costs, reliability and ease of use usurp image, monster performance and handling, I'm looking around at 2.2 SRIs and GSIs, second-hand from main dealers. I've got a great deal of experience with those cars, having driven them daily in my previous job. Quite like 'em actually!

The Focus RS is a lovely idea, but sadly out of the running for budget reasons - the ideal solution would be to spend as little as possible and give the folks the balance in cash. £15k all in is the mooted figure.

While the appeal of specing the car, owning from new, etc is pretty sizable, the new model on the horizon leads to some worries re: depreciation. I'd rather hand the folks the keys to a nice 52 or 03 plate Vauxhall and a wedge of cash than chuck £4k - £5k on depreciation in the first year. The car will be kept for several years, at least (the Escort was bought new nine years ago) - might I be better off buying new given this fact?

Hmmmm... decisions


>> Edited by julianhj on Saturday 3rd April 21:55

[DennisTheMenace]

Stuart_Forrest said:

I've got one. It's got all the stuff that you love about the focus - cracking turn in, wonderfully communicative handling and a very chuckable chassis, but it lacks power. I was talking to Jost Capito about this (shameless name drop, but I'm getting to the point) and he reckons that most of the new cars have had an ECU remap that delivers a lot more power mid range. I've had it now but you still need to rev the nuts off the thing and the power underwhelms. It needs another 30hp to be interesting. Fuel consumption is, as a consequence, laughable. If it were my money (and it wasn't - mine is a company fleet purchase) then I'd spend the extra on a used RS or go for almost anything else which competes with the ST (and I'd be hard pushed to choose between the Civic Type R, Cooper S and Leon Cupra - all are worth the extra cash). Either that or save a bit and go for the TDCI sport. Same chassis tweaks, same toys, much better engine.

Stop it stuart ! i regret picking the mondeo over the Focus TDCI sport, yes its still a bloomin good car but for b road hacking you cant beat the focus (still trying to wrangle one out of my boss and chop the mondy in early (and it has got 21k on the clock in 5 months), try doing a road test across Dartmoor , its great

[DennisTheMenace]

hopefully a TDCI sport focus is on its way the boss man is trying to sort me one out with the lease company they have just got to track one down

The 5 and a bit month old mondeo with 22k will be going , its too big for some of the roads i hack down and i rarely use cruise control and all the other gubbins fitted to it . and the south west has roads made for the Focus

[tvradict]

Dennis, You have to bring it to PF then, I need to Race you