Im 19 and drive a 1.4 zetec in my picture, im looking at getting a i will have saved £6000 and wondering what spec/year/miles should i expect to pick up for this price?

I was thinking 2005 with 25-30 thousand miles and fsh, I dont mind if it has full leather or half leather and im open to any colour expect black.

My friend reckons i should wait to the new year and i will be able to pick one up for a few hunderd quid cheaper and he said i sjould try get the facelift model in my price range?

looks like you really want one id thats a 1.4 in the pic

i bought mine off my brother for 5.5, and i was 19 with no NCB, issurance was 1800 the VERY CHEAPEST after searching for aaaages, andi live in the sticks with a garage. however, a garage (non ford) recently offered me 6k for mine, pre facelift, 48k, privacy glass, lowered, ind. kit, so expect to pay around about that private.

they look muuuuuch better with a shiny dash BTW (read: "piano dash")

If you're willing to do the leg work you should be able to get an 06/56 plate for £6k I reckon.

You could wait a year but I don't think they will drop much below £5k for the earliest ones for a while. The values took a big hit sometime ago, I doubt they'll drop that much more now.

I paid 6k for mine, pre-facelift full leather 35k miles but i went past a dealer last week and they had the same car in red half leather for 7k! so all deped how far you wanna go to get it, I drove an gour away to get mine

And luke - have you tried Greenlight

Is that £6000 inclusive of a trade in of your 1.4 zetec because that looks like it would fetch a fair amount of dollar!?

As others have said... it's simply a case of being picky and finding a really good example before you jump into it.

There are plenty of s out there so you'll find one.

The best thing to do is write down exactly what things you "really want" and also not down all the faults that they have... then, when you go and look at one you can see how it matches up to what you want and then make sure it doens;t have any of the common faults.

Good Luck with your search, let us know how you get on.

Scotty im not sure what all feature's i want, i dont mind having full leather or half, and they all come will a/c as standard?

I would like the computer in ur dash and i no id need to get a 06 one which has that, where could i find out which options are available so i could decide which ones i would like.

I know everyone is differnt but which features would you recommend to get?

Im mainly after one with below 30,000 miles as i hope to keep it for some time.

The money i get for my car im going to pay of the insurance and put some towards the sale, so i could stretch to 6500. So hopefully id get a 56plate with below 30,000 miles for my budget.

O.K. Jumping in here.

For 6500 you are right on the verge of a facelift model, the one with the 'Bubble eye' headlights.

This model comes with the on board computer.

You wont get many options at this price; but you don't really need any. Rear tints, Full stripes, and thats it.... but all good.

I've managed to find a perfect example of what you are after...

1 lady owner
Facelift
15k Miles

Nice ST from Autotrader

i picked my 05 plate up in feb with 30k miles for £6000 plus my car! (which was a heap) so your bound to get a descent deal on your car!

thats not a bad one you found there Scotty!

Scotty thats a good one you found but im in northern ireland, for some reason all the cars seem more expensive over here and less to choose from,

Because im only 19 and have been driving for 3 months i think i will just have to get a 05 plate with low miles for under 6k and put the rest to my insurance, because i havnt got parents to go under their name, im sure it will be expensive!

Im sure i will be happy with a 05 plate as its still going to be a big step up from my 2003 1.4 zetec! However i would love the trip computer and privacy glass and parking sensors...

theres nothing stopping you getting privacy glass fitted after you buy it!

could it be worth tavelling over to buy one? if the saving was that great you might still get it cheaper?

Andrew, my advise to you would be to get an insurance quote done now on one before you buy. I know of people who have bought Fiesta+Focus s and had to give them back as they couldn't afford to insure them. I made sure I could insure my Focus at the age of 23 before I purchased the car... I insured it with 0 NCB shockingly... it was my second car.

If you can find one with bluetooth that would be a bonus. When your phone rings it kills the tunes and rings and you just press the phone button and it answers the call.

Really good bit of kit... except for when your with a girl and your mum rings... definately lose cool points for that.

And then you get a lecture from your mum not to use rohyphnol again...or is that just me?

must only be you Adam!