Buying Advice On Focus St-3

[Muttley]

Hey Peeps

Am about to buy the wife a Focus St-3 with sat nav and rear facing camera and a sunroof that seems to be very rare on this model on a 10 plate just over two years old as its probably a bit late to be asking advice as the Ford dealer I am about to buy this car from ... well today is decision day.

Have been working on the the best deal I can get on this car with part exchanging an old Volvo S40 and to be honest due to my life circumstances my head is not in a good place to be trying to deal with the situation of buying this car.

What I am looking for is some advice on what bad points I should be looking for ?

Its a one owner with just over 30,000 miles on it ..... I have looked at this car a few times now and the first thing that caught my eye was the squirls on the bonnet .... in the direct sunlight they really stand out and the only thing i can think is there wasn't much care taken when cleaning the car.

The wife took it for a test drive the first time we looked at it and the smile on her face when she got back was a picture.

In general it seems like it is in very good condition but knowing nothing about the model its really not easy to know what bad points to be looking for.

I have since driven the car myself and it seems really precise and solid .

Its funny that we started with budget of around 8k and suddenly after seeing the car in question it had nearly doubled.

Well it will come with a full year warranty from Ford , a full service as according to the dealer it is due a service .... they said all the chips and problems we have found with the paint will be sorted and a full valet and 6 months tax ... tried for 12 but they were not going to budge.

To sum up a car that that started at £14,995 the best they will come down to is £14,000 with the part ex and all of the above.

So any advice would be very much appreciated.

Cheers

Dave

[Foci_st3]

Not bad price for the year, but over average mileage, check to see if the alternator has been changed or not as these tend to pop around 30k oil filter housing diaphragm is another common problem which can be disastress if not dealt with right away but is obviously noticeable when the prob occurs, check over the cv boots make sure there not split as once split can lead to cv joints wearing quickly and cause vibration and replacement drive shaft costs 300 minimum. Other that a great car to drive just not very good on mpg, expect low 20s around town and about 30 on motorways.