Hi guys,

Reading this site has convinced me to finally go for an

Went to look at a few earlier and saw a decent one at a good price, there did seem to be an issue with the gearbox (it was pretty stiff). This was at a car supermarket type place, just wondered whether that was normal for an ST?

Also what other things should I be looking out for?

What should I expect for a budget of around £6000

Thanks

Jason

Welcome to the site mate, the is a quality choice There are plenty of mint 's being constantly reduced in price at the moment so take you time and you'll find a great one. The gearbox should not be stiff, it should be smooth and precise. I haven't looked myself in ages but I would expect that you could get a decent 56 or 07 plate with that money. Any more questions feel free to post them up

Welcome the gearbox shouldnt be stiff the first i looked at was. i payed £6500 with 30000 on the clock.

Hi Antics and welcome

£6000 should get you an 07 plate at about 20 - 25 thousand miles old, possibly less. As mentioned before there are plenty out there so have fun looking and normally you will know when you know you have found the `one` for you!

The ST is a good choice, I have had my one for 4 years now and it has been fun, reliable and after all this time I still can't help but smile when I put my foot down hard

Apart from the obvious things, check that the gearbox is nice and smooth (not like the one you tested before) and that you don't find difficulty in selecting any gears. This can often be a sign of wear and tear and also that it has been ragged quite a bit.
If test driving it then listen for any engine rattles or `pinking` when driving above 4,000rpm. Don't worry about cabin rattles, from what I know there are very few ST's out there that don't have a few loose screws
Check that the car doesn't pull to one side too drastically (slight left pull is not uncommon) Check tyres for uneven wear that may indicate tracking problems.
If you can, check the heated front screen works (a pain to replace at your own expense)
The engines are pretty durable and unless they have been really mis-treated, you will not find too much goes wrong there.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

gearbox is one of the best you will ever drive.

dontworry about reverse gear being awkward either lol

I think it depends which car you have driven previously. I find all fords seem clunky (good clunky though lol) when changing gears in comparison to the Toyota Yaris I was driving before (I think the Yaris gearbox was made from jelly and marshmallows) give it a good hard drive when your testing it and have a good listen. The ST's have dropped in price loads since last feb when I bought mine, it's a buyers Market so be picky!

Thanks for all the positive replies!

Probably gonna leave the ST with the gearbox issue well alone then, it seems there's plenty of them out there.

Definitely got my heart set on a Performance Blue/Panther Black one, look even better in the flesh!!

Performace blue

Welcome mate

Good luck finding an take ur time, there are loads about, u been on pistonheads mate???

Hi Jason, welcome to the site and thank you for becoming a fully paid up member.

Panther black! Be different! Performance blue is nice, but also the most common.

welcome to the site mate

take your time as has been said before! i went to look at a blue one and saw my silver one sitting next to it and went for the silver one! im glad i did now as im normally one of about 3 silver ST's at shows