Article -The Ford Fiesta ST Will Be a Future Cult Collectible

[Capri to ST]

I just ran into this, a good read that I hadn't seen before-
https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-ford-fiesta-st-will-be-a-future-cult-collectible/

 

[haste]

Kinda had a feeling about this when I bought my '15 almost six years ago now. Now, the wife and I own two STs. Found a smoking deal on a brand new '17 we couldn't pass up. Used prices will increase with time. Right now is the BEST time to buy a used ST.

 

[powermatt]

Kinda had a feeling about this when I bought my '15 almost six years ago now. Now, the wife and I own two STs. Found a smoking deal on a brand new '17 we couldn't pass up. Used prices will increase with time. Right now is the BEST time to buy a used ST.

For clean, unmodified examples... maybe. How many of those are going to exist in a year or two? Modified or high miles cars are going to keep going down until they bottom out ($4000? $5000?), while a rare low mile example will fetch about the same as they do now. I would not pin any hopes on these cars appreciating. Maybe in another ten years we'll see something like the current JDM insanity (S2000's and other old VTEC Hondas, for example) but for now age and miles are going to keep pushing values down.

 

[XR650R]

Kinda had a feeling about this when I bought my '15 almost six years ago now. Now, the wife and I own two STs. Found a smoking deal on a brand new '17 we couldn't pass up. Used prices will increase with time. Right now is the BEST time to buy a used ST.

I knew when the car came out that it was special. They didn't sell all that well, with the rough ride and manual transmission. It's an enthusiast's car. I like the rough ride and the manual. Cars today are so unlike it.

Got my wheels rotated today. The guy who did it told me he really liked that car. He test drove one, some time ago. The only people who notice my car are always enthusiasts. Everyone else sees a Fiesta, and the ones with automatics suck.

If you find any Fiesta with a manual, they're all bargains right now, and they don't have the issues the autos have.

 

[Ford ST]

My car will never have a upgraded turbo. I have every OEM part except the exhaust to put back on the car, and I have put 12,000 miles on it in 3 years. It is spotless inside and out.

I'm never going to sell it through.

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[Capri to ST]

I'll never sell mine either.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I knew when the car came out that it was special. They didn't sell all that well, with the rough ride and manual transmission. It's an enthusiast's car. I like the rough ride and the manual. Cars today are so unlike it.

FULLY agreed!

Except that I personally just do not 'get' how everyone thinks that these cars ride sooooo 'rough' from the factory.

It is all but outright 'cushy' to me, and I can stand A LOT more spring rate, and damper valving, than this factory setup, as long as it does not result in other suspension component damage, or accelerated wear on those.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I have every OEM part except the exhaust to put back on the car

I have every OEM part including the exhaust to put back on the car, but I do plan on selling (the fugly to me) factory wheels once it is fully paid off (5 sets with even more wanted is just WAY TOO MANY!).

27K miles in 4 years here.

But then yeah, I also NEVER plan on selling it either.

 

[Ford ST]

FULLY agreed!

Except that I personally do not 'get' how everyone thinks that these cars ride sooooo 'rough' from the factory.

It is all but outright 'cushy' to me, and I can stand A LOT more spring rate, and damper valving, than this factory setup, as long as it does not result in other suspension component damage, or accelerated wear on those.

I agree. Some of these guys need to go drive a Isuzu cabover truck.

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[Dpro]

FULLY agreed!

Except that I personally just do not 'get' how everyone thinks that these cars ride sooooo 'rough' from the factory.

It is all but outright 'cushy' to me, and I can stand A LOT more spring rate, and damper valving, than this factory setup, as long as it does not result in other suspension component damage, or accelerated wear on those.

Except if you saw our roads here They are horrible and have not been repaved in like 20 years minimum except random blocks. Ya you would trip its like they figure since we do not have inclement weather we do not need to pave. l
Sucks and you feel it lol.

 

[Business6]

It might be a cult classic but the rust and build quality will prevent it from ever being a "collectible"

 

[Dpro]

It might be a cult classic but the rust and build quality will prevent it from ever being a "collectible"

two words for you.....California Cars.

 

[jmrtsus]

The article is a good read but as we all know the FiST was available in 2014 not 2012 in the USA and Ford records show sales were about 3500 per year or a total of about 21,000 using the years Ford reported as sold in the USA. Funny I wrote several years ago that well maintained non modified cars will hold their value nicely. Stated then and now cars with a legal registered MP-215 will be the rarest and hold a higher value with the EPA cracking down. Many poo-pooed the thought at the time. We have emission testing here in E. TN and I even had an older non-OBD Ford Ranger fail due to the exhaust system. They also do a visual check for Cat's. So in those areas like this a legally modded car will be worth more to collector/enthusiasts that want no worries about registration and illegal mods. Sure, used modded Fist's can be had cheap but no real collector or car person will want them to preserve. The ones looking for inexpensive fun will buy them cheap and enjoy driving them hard but when they stop running they will become scrap metal. Will we get rich, no! Because as many have stated like me they have no intention of selling. Modded cars tend to be driven hard and many have cheap "upgrades" that future buyers will shun unless the are actually looking for a throw away fun car. These cheap cars will dwindle away and what will be around in the future are the ones that are not going to be parted with on the cheap. World wide the FiST is the super star of small, fun, high performance cars and what we have in the USA is a finite number of them. I use mine for long road trips so my '16 has low 40's for mileage. It has been babied and 3.5K oil changes, rust free and only one very small paint chip. My daughters '19 is also immaculate with zero mods and documented maintenance. The FiST cannot be replaced with anything new here in the USA. New FiST buyers of two types will be happy, those looking for a cheap modded cars for fun and those looking to own and preserve a future classic. If my daughter ever sells I will buy it as I know it's history. The FiST will live on........but the general public will still know zip about it and car nuts will cherish it for what it is.

 

[Mikey456]

My question would be when someone buys a used FiST in the future how can they distinguish between a “modded car” and a “non-modded” when owners can flip them back and forth virtually undetectably with the Accessport and other reversible mods? I guess that was my primary reason for purchasing a new one.


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[Capri to ST]

My question would be when someone buys a used FiST in the future how can they distinguish between a “modded car” and a “non-modded” when owners can flip them back and forth virtually undetectably with the Accessport and other reversible mods? I guess that was my primary reason for purchasing a new one.

My understanding is that a dealer can tell how many times the car has been started since the ECU was modified. Since a tune by its nature modifies the ECU, this can give you a good idea that the car was previously tuned. If I was going to buy a used one and the owner told me it hadn't been tuned, I would take it to a dealer for a pre-purchase check and ask them if they in fact can do this.
This of course wouldn't tell you about mechanical modifications, but there may be other ways to detect those.
I bought my new and ordered it from the factory, because I wanted one that hadn't even been test driven.

 

[jmrtsus]

Looking at the various fasteners can detect hardware changes often. Buying any used car is a gamble especially for people that do no work on cars as they usually cannot detect the look of a nut or bolt having been removed.

 

[Capri to ST]

As I thought about this I remembered seeing a document that somebody posted on here that Ford could use to deny warranty claims based on modifications. For the ECU, they would look at how many starts since it was modified as I described above. For mechanical modifications, they would look for unusual strain on parts of the drivetrain.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Except if you saw our roads here They are horrible and have not been repaved in like 20 years minimum except random blocks. Ya you would trip its like they figure since we do not have inclement weather we do not need to pave. l
Sucks and you feel it lol.

Well we DO have inclement weather here (frost heaves, CRATERS and all!), and they still do not repave anything either.

ANOTHER reason to forgo the 'requisite' lowering everyone seems compelled to do with these cars, in this area at least.
But as long as the wheel travel/ground clearance is still there, a 'rougher' suspension does not bother me at all.

 

[Dpro]

My understanding is that a dealer can tell how many times the car has been started since the ECU was modified. Since a tune by its nature modifies the ECU, this can give you a good idea that the car was previously tuned. If I was going to buy a used one and the owner told me it hadn't been tuned, I would take it to a dealer for a pre-purchase check and ask them if they in fact can do this.
This of course wouldn't tell you about mechanical modifications, but there may be other ways to detect those.
I bought my new and ordered it from the factory, because I wanted one that hadn't even been test driven.

I think few buyers would go to this extent to find out. I will also say I have heard not they they can count how many times the car has been started since a Flash but only that it was reflashed at some time in prior history. Also merely disconnecting a battery will set up that flag in our ECU’s. So yes they can tell something happened. I do not think they can tell its been aka modified 100% percent.


Also most people that buy used cars do not step foot near dealers for service unless their is some kind of warranty still in place. Warranty being mileage dependent as well as years. A lot of the used vehicles are going to start falling out of warranty mileage wise as not all of us drive our cars only part time. A lot use them daily and commute with them and that tends to put on more than the average of 15k a year mileage.

 

[Capri to ST]

I found the Ford service bulletin I was talking about above in which Ford tells technicians how to do detective work to discover evidence of modifications and possibly use that to deny warranty claims. It does refer to an ignition counter.
I decided to post it in a new thread because I thought it was important enough to deserve its own thread and that it would be something that would be helpful for people. I initially put it in the maintenance and warranty section, but it looks like the moderator moved it to the general Fiesta ST discussions as a more appropriate forum
Here is a link to it-
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threa...s-related-to-performance-modifications.25044/