Potentially buying a fiesta st-3

[Mikerj22]

Hi everyone, after having my corsa vxr Nurburgring written off by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve I've been looking at purchasing a fiesta st-3.  I was just wondering what I could expect in comparison to the corsa in terms of performance, fuel economy, reliability etc.  I was also wondering what the common faults are with these and is there anything I should look for when looking at buying one of these?  Are these going to hold their value relatively well or am I likely to lose thousands on a second hand one?

thanks in advance. 

 

[MarksST]

Hi,

performance I'll be similar, the ST has 200hp as standard, I get 38-42mog (going off the fuel computer) and that's with 230hp.

over the 4 years I've had STs they've only been into the dealer 3 times other than servicing and mods, 1 for each illuminated sill trim and the other for a sun visor.

Reliability in general on STs seems ok, cars from 2014 on have TPMS and some gave had issues with them leaking, sill cover light fail, rear Spring too mounts can fall apart but are a few £ and 15 mins to swap.

value, depends what you pay and how long you keep it, ST200 and M-sport edition might hold their value a bit better but they will cost more initially.

if you do buy one look into upgrading the security as the first thing to do, disklok, moving or locking the OBD port, Faraday pouch for the key fob, Autowatch ghost or a Pandora alarm etc etc. 

[MarksST]

Worth a read,

http://www.fiestastoc.com/forums/topic/255602-fiesta-mk7-st-buyers-guide-now-includes-identity-checks/

http://www.fiestastoc.com/forums/topic/224641-a-basic-guide-to-the-mk75-fiesta-st-2013/

[Mikerj22]

Thanks very much for your input, I thought they were 180 bhp standard?  How does the overboost function work as I know in the corsa it increased the torque to 207 ft/lbs.  my biggest concern is the difference in handling compared to the vxr as it had bilstein suspension, Brembo brakes and a lsd as standard.  From what I've gathered the chassis on the fiesta is ace.  How many miles do you get to a tank roughly?  The corsa always got me around 280 miles tona 45l tank and that was mixed driving.  I like the fact of having heated seats, a heated windscreen and the projector headlights.  All of which my corsa never had.  In my opinion the corsa was much better looking than the fiesta especially in green which I had.  I'll miss the sound of the Remus exhaust I had on it but from what I've seen the fiesta sounds really good inside.  Are there any big things that tend to go wrong with the fiesta as with the corsa I was always worrying about piston 4 and the gearbox.

thanks again 

[Luke4efc]

1 hour ago, Mikerj22 said:

Are there any big things that tend to go wrong with the fiesta as with the corsa I was always worrying about piston 4 and the gearbox.

thanks again 

I remember that being a big problem on the corsa, I know 2 people who had piston 4 failure (resulting in a complete engine rebuild, then giving one of them having head gasket failure).

Anyway the IB5 gearboxes used on the 1.0L ecoboost in the Zetec-S isn't rated for much more than stock power/torque. There's a few horror stories on here about people who have remapped and had a shattered gearbox or blown engine. That's sort of what you get though having 180+ bhp on a 1.0L 3 cylinder engine...

That being said the 6 speed in the ST is supposed to be improved. I can't honestly say I've heard of any horror stories about the ST.

I know the overboost can be used for 15 seconds and that's about it.

I'd say you're better off second hand. Although I hate paying thousands more for a new model when it will lose a lot of it's value after a year or two. The only Ford that won't is the RS (which actually costs more used because rich people don't want to wait 6 months for it to be built) and maybe new Mustang.

There's not much to inspect on a nearly new car. Only advantage of buying new is that you can ensure the engine hasn't been redlined whilst it's still cold.

[Jethro_Tull]

It'll go round corners like you won't believe after a Nurbugger.

[GaryPL]

Like any 'affordable' sports or performance car, I would be looking at whether it has been molested.  I know there are differing views on this but I would never touch a car that has been modified.  Coming from a Corsa, where there are countless examples of ruined cars, I am sure you'll have some familiarity with this!

[zain611]

Would agree with @GaryPLaffordable performance cars may have been ragged about but obviously there are people with sense to take care with it. If it's been leased in the past I would just walk away as leased cars most likely were ragged about and I'm sure no consideration would of been taken to break in the engine. Best when looking for a car is to see it has full service history. Never rush into a car. I made that mistake with my car where the previous owner said he will send the paperwork for work he did on the car and nothing has turned up. Haven't heard of common problems on the mk7 STs but others would help in that👍

Also sorry to hear about your previous car . Must definitely been a rare example as I've never seen the nurbergring edition on the roads

[Luke4efc]

2 hours ago, zain611 said:

If it's been leased in the past I would just walk away as leased cars most likely were ragged about and I'm sure no consideration would of been taken to break in the engine. Best when looking for a car is to see it has full service history.

Common misconception is that stamps in the book means it must be a good car. I'd argue that people who service their cars themselves (obviously providing receipts as proof) are more likely to look after their car. For example I work with a lot of people at an engineering firm, most of whom are very capable of servicing their car themselves. All of the ones who service their own car treat it like it's their baby. Those who send it to a garage can be hit and miss as to how much they care. You said yourself to walk away from a leased car, but most, if not every leased car will have been serviced at the main dealer as it's usually part of the contract or is included with the price.

I agree though, if I had a leased car it would be seeing the red line a lot more than my car. After all, rental cars are indeed the fastest.

[Mikerj22]

I've seen a fiesta st-3 with the mp215 package, 65 plate, 12000 miles for 13k.  How is that price wise?  It also has the spare wheel and reverse parking sensors fitted.

also having the mp215 package fitted would that put you guys off buying it?  Does this package affect insurance much?

what is the power and torque output of the mp215 whilst being off and on overboost?

sorry for all the questions but I want to know as much as I can before spending thousands on a car.

thanks in advance 

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[MarksST]

29 minutes ago, Mikerj22 said:

I've seen a fiesta st-3 with the mp215 package, 65 plate, 12000 miles for 13k.  How is that price wise?  It also has the spare wheel and reverse parking sensors fitted.

also having the mp215 package fitted would that put you guys off buying it?  Does this package affect insurance much?

what is the power and torque output of the mp215 whilst being off and on overboost?

sorry for all the questions but I want to know as much as I can before spending thousands on a car.

thanks in advance 

Might be a bit high price wise, is it private or dealer?

wouldnt put me off as its been one of the first things I've done to mine, it's also one of the few mods that won't affect the base warranty.

if you insure it as a "fiesta ST3 215 upgrade" it might be a bit cheaper on insurance than a ST3 as its classed a its own model and the claim stats are lower for it, 

212bhp/320nm with overboost, 197bhp/290nm off overboost but, that's unlikely to happen unless you're on an autobahn.