Buying My Ride: Leo's Ford Fiesta ST

Now, I’ve got a few years on Mr Kew which means that while I’m close to being kicked out of the Car Throttle ‘hood, I’m also edging towards reasonably priced car insurance – something I was itching to exploit when it came to replacing my ageing VW Bora this week. And like many young guns I wanted power. But not so much power that our insurance-toting meerkat friend would want to flip me off when looking for cover for my precious motor.

I wanted a small car that would savour twisty roads – something which my previous steed really didn’t like. Oh, and it absolutely had to be reliable and cheap to run without ridiculously pricey parts – yes I’m looking at you MINI.

With a budget of £5,000 plus my 108,000 mile Bora with creaky suspension in part-exchange, I’d shortlisted several dozen cars including a number of six cylinder BMWs that would have no doubt bankrupted me with a combination of speeding fines and petrol bills. My common sense shortlist contained just three cars; the Fiesta ST, the original Suzuki Swift Sport and the MINI Cooper.

Having read some awful MINI reviews slating the car for dodgy gearboxes, a coarse engine and steep repair bills, the MINI was out. The Swift put up a better fight being properly handsome, small and nippy. But, its reliance on super unleaded petrol (for early models which were all I could afford) plus limited practicality ruled it out. The Fiesta ST was the only car left standing thanks to its beefy engine, reasonable reliability and decent practicality and costs.

After trawling through several million classified ads, I arranged viewings for the three most promising STs I could find nearby. The first was parked in a leafy Surrey garage, between a V10 BMW M5 and a yellow Chevrolet Corvette. Unsurprisingly the price was inflated to match its surroundings, with a ludicrous screen price of £6,495. Thankfully though, the dealer had the sense to drop the price to £5,495 online.

After arriving, the rotund salesman chucked me the keys and left me to it – unlike a monumental tosspot of a dealer I’d met previously, who point blank refused to let me test drive a Fiesta ST even though I’d spent 30 minutes inspecting it and scouring through the service history and was accompanied by my near 60 year old dad, as he’d decided I was a joyrider.

Anyway, the silver ST seemed to be in good nick, with a full service history, 49,000 miles, clean black leather sports seats, refurbed alloys and four newish tyres. And the test drive revealed nothing worse than mediocre aircon, whiny power steering (not unusual for STs) and a huge turning circle. I was sold. That just left the challenge of getting a good price.

Unlike Mr Kew I did (attempt to) haggle and agreed on £4,700 plus my Bora which I knew had several big bills looming and just two weeks’ road tax and MOT left. With a year’s road tax for the Fiesta, the grand total came to £4,915. Whilst definitely not a bargain, the car is HPI clear, has three months’ warranty, six months’ MOT and should keep me motoring for many years.

And what a lot of motoring I’ve been missing at the Ford party. Having driven my old Bora and a 1996 Rover 400 since I passed my test, owning a car that thrives on corners is a revelation. Twirl the wheel, the steering weights up nicely and the car just turns with little roll and no drama.

With a 2.0-litre Mondeo engine crammed under its bonnet, the ST is a properly eager beaver, thrusting forward with real enthusiasm above 3,000rpm, thanks to the combination of 148bhp and its weight of 1,165kg. What’s even more exciting is how it pulls harder and harder towards (and past) the red line and the short throw gearbox that encourages you to use all the revs. Thankfully as the gears are relatively short and because it’s ultimately not that powerful, you can have proper fun and feel like you’re pushing on, all without threatening your licence. Perfect.

And the snug black leather sports seats grip you as tightly as the car grips the road. They’re heated for cold winter mornings too. Mmm. The rest of the kit reads like a carbon copy of Ollie’s Puma with nicely judged sports suspension, electric, heated door mirrors, heated front and rear windscreens, air con, alloys (17 inch this time), upgraded brakes, a 6CD autochanger and metallic paint. And while in stripeless silver form my Fiesta might not be the sassiest hot hatch, it is nicely low key, despite the chunky body kit. In the absence of a replacement Puma, the ST is the closest thing you can get.

As for the thorny issue of insurance, cover for a 24-year-old with a year’s no claims and six years’ claim free driving is around £700-1,000 depending on area. As for the ST itself, tatty high mileage models start at around £3,000 with unmolested later cars costing £4,750 upwards. The ST is a boy racer favourite though, so be wary of chavved up models and cars that have been thrashed to death.

Keep an eye on Car Throttle for updates on how my Fiesta ST is running plus our upcoming Top 10 Used Hot Hatches You Can Buy & Insure For Under £5,000 article. As you can guess, the Fiesta ST will be making an appearance, but in which position...?

Looking for your second performance ride? This could just be it.