It seems like this may be the leading candidate for our young adult's car purchase. Based on budget, it seems like we should be looking for a Mk7 (2013-2017) model. Any feedback on that model range? What options are important? Are they all 6-speeds (the desired transmission)?
I have a 2017 with almost 60k miles. It's holding up very well. Our 18 y.o. is driving it and will take ownership of what's left in a couple of years.
I recall there being some clutch issues with the early ones, but that should be fixed by now. The later ones (2016?) changed to the Sync 3 infotainment system which was much better than the earlier Microsoft based one. A big choice option-wise are the Recaro seats. They fit me well, but are narrow for some. The standard seats have less aggressive bolsters. Mine is a slick top, but the sunroof seemed to be a common option. I thought it was positioned more for the back seat passengers and found one without it.
I think the seats and sunroof are basically the only options. I don't know about the recaros but the base seats do not age well. The foam in the bottom and potentially the structure in the back are basically 50k mile wear items. The rear spring rubber isolators (they're not actually rubber which is the issue) are like 20k mile wear items especially if you ever transport backseat passengers and/or cargo. Other than that they seem pretty robust though at ~10 years old they'll probably have their fair share on interior rattles and wear. The stock suspension/tiny sidewall tire setup has awful ride quality but a cheap set of 16" wheels and maybe some aftermarket shocks make a big improvement. I owned one for 8.5 years and just under 100k miles and overall enjoyed it and have no regrets. Ford seems to build cars around me specifically, it's one of the few cars I've been genuinely comfortable in, even with limited seat adjustments.
I had a 2014 FiST for quite a while. I think it had over 100k miles when I sold it on here. I was driving 120 miles a day for my commute at the time. It was a phenomenal little car. To be honest, the reason I traded it was because it was so small. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE small cars (and at 6'1", it fit me quite well) but making my commute with innatentive 7000 lb SUV drivers always made me a little nervous. After seeing a fellow FiST owner get his mangled by a Tahoe, I decided it was time for something a little bigger. To be fair to the FiST, he made it out with no injuries but the cabin intrusion was concerning.
Thanks for the input so far. Would a Mk8 be a significant step up from the Mk7?
In reply to dyintorace :
I don't think the Mk8 made it to North America. 2018 was the final model year of Fiesta St in the US
In reply to STM317 :
I think it was '19 but still mk7
Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I read in a Fiesta ST forum that 2016 and newer is a good idea due to an updated cylinder head design.
'19 is the last year as I have one which is probably a rebadged 18.
The tire size and shifter are the biggest letdowns. Hot knife in warm butter describes the shifter and the short sidewall just lead to broke belts and replacement.
When my wife sent my Fiesta to a race track upstate to play with other Fiestas, she was putting 300 ft/lbs to the front wheels and would pull 50 -100mph faster than most exotics. If this is the first car for a young driver, keep the engine stock for a while, they respond VERY WELL to tuning. Mine developed some rust on the leading edge of the rear wheel wells, so look for that. Overall, it was fun to drive at any speed, any time and never failed to put a smile on my face. Pictured below is good old #77 placing DFL at some National-level autocross event.
dyintorace said:Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I read in a Fiesta ST forum that 2016 and newer is a good idea due to an updated cylinder head design.
The heads aren't a problem so much as the blocks are. They crack between the cylinders.
Now that we have Carfax reporting, I'm noting that a surprising number of 1.6 Ecoboost engined vehicles (Escapes mostly) had their engine blocks replaced under warranty. They'd replace just the shortblock, not the engine assembly.
You'd think that the warranty would cover the whole engine, because of how labor intensive and liability prone it is to do a shortblock, but there it is.
The other thing with the 1.6 is that it's a timing belt engine, and this is often ignored because people don't expect a timing belt. The water pump CAN be replaced without removing the belt, but the belt can't be replaced without special service tools.
These seem to have gotten pretty affordable. This thread prompted me to search for one on Marketplace. Seems the challenge is finding one that wasn't owned by Johnny Racecar. 75% of them have black spray painted wheels, trashed interiors, horrendous mods, and the icing on the cake - a rebuilt title. Can't believe how many of them had "rebuilt title" hidden in the ad.
I still want one.
Scotty Con Queso said:These seem to have gotten pretty affordable. This thread prompted me to search for one on Marketplace. Seems the challenge is finding one that wasn't owned by Johnny Racecar. 75% of them have black spray painted wheels, trashed interiors, horrendous mods, and the icing on the cake - a rebuilt title. Can't believe how many of them had "rebuilt title" hidden in the ad.
I still want one.
I've noticed the exact same thing. Lots and lots of rebuilt titles.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:dyintorace said:Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I read in a Fiesta ST forum that 2016 and newer is a good idea due to an updated cylinder head design.
The heads aren't a problem so much as the blocks are. They crack between the cylinders.
Now that we have Carfax reporting, I'm noting that a surprising number of 1.6 Ecoboost engined vehicles (Escapes mostly) had their engine blocks replaced under warranty. They'd replace just the shortblock, not the engine assembly.
You'd think that the warranty would cover the whole engine, because of how labor intensive and liability prone it is to do a shortblock, but there it is.
The other thing with the 1.6 is that it's a timing belt engine, and this is often ignored because people don't expect a timing belt. The water pump CAN be replaced without removing the belt, but the belt can't be replaced without special service tools.
What is the recommended timing belt interval?
In reply to dyintorace :
150k.
I have had them seven years old that were flapping against the covers, so I'd ignore the mileage interval.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Gotcha. Thanks!
dyintorace said:Scotty Con Queso said:These seem to have gotten pretty affordable. This thread prompted me to search for one on Marketplace. Seems the challenge is finding one that wasn't owned by Johnny Racecar. 75% of them have black spray painted wheels, trashed interiors, horrendous mods, and the icing on the cake - a rebuilt title. Can't believe how many of them had "rebuilt title" hidden in the ad.
I still want one.
I've noticed the exact same thing. Lots and lots of rebuilt titles.
I'm not surprised. I'm a pretty calm driver and I drove like an shiny happy person when I test drove one. It kind of goads you into it.
Paging dyintorace to the Cars for Sale section
In reply to glueguy (Forum Supporter) :
I'm investigating!
eastsideTim said:dyintorace said:Scotty Con Queso said:These seem to have gotten pretty affordable. This thread prompted me to search for one on Marketplace. Seems the challenge is finding one that wasn't owned by Johnny Racecar. 75% of them have black spray painted wheels, trashed interiors, horrendous mods, and the icing on the cake - a rebuilt title. Can't believe how many of them had "rebuilt title" hidden in the ad.
I still want one.
I've noticed the exact same thing. Lots and lots of rebuilt titles.
I'm not surprised. I'm a pretty calm driver and I drove like an shiny happy person when I test drove one. It kind of goads you into it.
Same here. It begs to be driven like an shiny happy person
Or this one on our own board....
I'll bet the reason insurance companies aren't fixing Fiesta ST (and thereby totaled...and thereby rebuilt) has a lot to do with Ford probably doesn't stock the ST specific bits.
Is the ST front bumper different that a non-ST? Rear bumper? Tail lamps? Rocker panel aero?
In reply to John Welsh :
ST bumpers are different, much to the dismay of the people who rally these.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Do they still have those rules?
I remember people whinging that the 2.5RS front bumper was more or less visually identical to the Outback Sport bumper, but they had different part numbers. The OBS bumper was like 1/3rd the price to replace, but PGT rules required the 2.5RS part.
Whatshisname who wrote the book on rallying Subarus in the US (Randy Zimmer?) joked that he began to set up his cars for heavy oversteer so he could go off into the trees tail-first instead of nose-first 
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