How is the FiST holding up over time?

[rexdriver85]

Hey All, old time member here. Bought a FiST brand new back in 2015, sold it in 2019. Have regretted it ever since. It was so fun being apart of this community when the car was brand new and all the R&D from the aftermarket was going on and upgrades getting released on the regular. Toying with the idea of getting another one.

How have the cars been holding up over time? Can any original owners chime in? Any major issues that have arisen, or small ones as well?

Looks like the community is still pretty active and alive, so that's great! I see Ron @ whoosh is still here and still slinging parts for these things.

Hopefully this hasn't been discussed too recently, if so, just let me know and I'll search for it!

Thanks guys!

 

[dhminer]

Blend door actuators and purge valves. Neither is crazy fix, nor do they have any impact to drivability. Original owner with 85k miles all of it tuned and the last 15k with big turbo. Never had a mechanical problem that wasn’t self inflicted by installing something wrong - knock wood.

 

[Ford SVT & ST]

Hey All, old time member here. Bought a FiST brand new back in 2015, sold it in 2019. Have regretted it ever since. It was so fun being apart of this community when the car was brand new and all the R&D from the aftermarket was going on and upgrades getting released on the regular. Toying with the idea of getting another one.

How have the cars been holding up over time? Can any original owners chime in? Any major issues that have arisen, or small ones as well?

Looks like the community is still pretty active and alive, so that's great! I see Ron @ whoosh is still here and still slinging parts for these things.

Hopefully this hasn't been discussed too recently, if so, just let me know and I'll search for it!

Thanks guys!

I just bought a '19 and I absolutely love it and wish I had bought it when everything was booming with these little cars... But its a keeper and now will have to learn about turbos and fwd

 

[Capri to ST]

I'm the original owner of a '16 and it has been very trouble-free. The only two things that have needed to be done outside of regular maintenance are the replacement of the screen system for Sync 3, which was covered by warranty, and replacement of one blend door actuator, which was after the warranty expired.
The cars have been very reliable, and have had few issues outside the ones mentioned by @dhminer above. One forum member reported over 185,000 trouble free miles as of a couple years ago, which was obviously very encouraging. The engines were used virtually stock for the Formula Ford racing series , and I always felt like if they could hold up to the demands of racing that they would tend to be reliable on the street.

 

[Dpro]

Original owner of an 18 here and it got totaled . Insurance gave me 21,300 for it which is more than I bought it for new😂 I rebuilt it for $8500 I will buy other cars but I kind of don’t see a reason for selling it. Its got a s280 turbo on it and MeisterR coils, Wavtrac LSD plus a few other goodies it’s now my I drive and do not care car. .If it got totaled again I would probably just move on only due to Ford discontinuing parts for it otherwise it’s a keeper. Plus there is a GRC looming on the horizon for me. 😁

 

[green_henry]

Original owner of a '17 and other than the blend door actuators, it has been trouble-free. Battery lasted 7 years. And it's a blast on the track, so no complaints!

 

[M-Sport fan]

Blend door actuators, top of unibody paint cancer/rust out in that section across the far back of the roof in the hatch area recess that allows the hatch to sit flush when closed (i.e.; in between the hatch hinges), and possible slave cylinder on it's way out are the only maladies so far in 7.5 years of ownership.

Maybe once in every 20 fill ups does the EVAP solenoid/purge valve problem ever rear it's ugly head, and then it might just be the speed of the station pump at fault.

The slave cylinder could very well be MY fault for not being able to flush out the almost 8 year old, factory brake fluid.
(IF I could find a decent, trustworthy shop, or even dealer, in my area, this would have already been done, long ago, as I cannot do this myself where I live currently.)

It could be fine once that is done, since there are no visible leaks, and it only acts up in the very warm to hot summer temps when the (now, I'm sure) very moisture laden fluid would tend to boil/aerate the most.

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Owned mine since 42k miles, now at 124k and almost 4 years of ownership. Biggest issue I’ve had was a wiring issue that I misdiagnosed which made it difficult to track down. Blend doors and purge valve have definitely gone bad and I’m currently dealing with a check engine light that’s emissions related. The car only left me stranded once, when the alternator decided to die 4 hours away from home. (FYI, no auto parts stores carry our alternator in store, they have to order them, at least in my experience). Other than that, my car has been very reliable. I definitely don’t baby it either.

 

[Cneu]

I've had my '15 ST for over a year and put over 50k on it. The only real problem I've had was a really bad heat issue in death valley last year(110F ambient) which lead to a coolant bypass solenoid failing and I had to swap it out in the Lone Pine Napa parking lot in the heat. Fun time. I also have an annoying door seal leak and a hatch leak, but they're pretty minor. I do have the center blend actuator slipping and the parts to fix it, but idk how urgent that is.

 

[madhatter]

OE owner of a '14 here. no issues at 131k miles except the blend door. Been tuned for about 3 years now, cobb RMM and green filter are the only other mods. Best car I've ever owned TBH and probably won't ever part with it. I've driven it across country 2x, car camping the whole way both times. Fits a ton of camping gear, gets great mileage, and always puts a smile on my face.

 

[gtx3076]

'14, 162k miles.

Need to have the timing belt changed. Overall, no major issues worth mentioning. If I could do it again I would get a car with less miles, I bought it with 100k.

 

[LilPartyBox]

Owned my '16 since new and i can echo most of the issues already mentioned. Blend door actuator, purge valve is still the original but she sputters a bit after a fill up, my slave cylinder went, the paint isn't great, and I'm dealing with the dreaded swimming pool under my spare tire.

It has been a SOLID car that i plan to keep for as long as i can get parts for her.

 

[M-Sport fan]

It has been a SOLID car that i plan to keep for as long as i can get parts for her.

...or TIRES to put under her...

I was just informed by Tire Rack that Nitto has discontinued their Neo Gen in the 215/40-17 size. I did not ask about the OEM 205/40-17 size at all, and they seem to be still making the popular 205/45-16 and 205/50-16 sizes.

Other tire manufacturers seem to be following suit, as they expect us all to be stuffing 19" and 20" donk wheels under these cars with 25/30 profile rubber bands in the near future!

 

[rallytaff]

My 2014 has been totally reliable. Passenger side blend door actuator replaced twice in 107,000 miles, recall for door locks and that's it. One control module replaced.

 

[Zormecteon]

Purchased new Jan 2104. 80,000+ miles. Blend door actuators. Slave cylinder issue(s) All good now.. Oh wait, still haven't fixed passenger blend door.

 

[rexdriver85]

Thanks for all the replies! It's good to hear the car is holding up without any real major known issues, and the small issues are pretty damn small.

One thing I'm not too keen on, @Dpro mentioned Ford discontinuing parts. What is the consensus on this? Do we think FoMoCo will stop selling OEM parts for the FiST? I do all my own work and if Ford is going to stop supporting this car and we are stuck with aftermarket only that isn't going to be good.

 

[Dpro]

Thanks for all the replies! It's good to hear the car is holding up without any real major known issues, and the small issues are pretty damn small.

One thing I'm not too keen on, @Dpro mentioned Ford discontinuing parts. What is the consensus on this? Do we think FoMoCo will stop selling OEM parts for the FiST? I do all my own work and if Ford is going to stop supporting this car and we are stuck with aftermarket only that isn't going to be good.

Ford has stopped selling some of the oem parts already that is why since I rebuilt mine I consider it disposable. Its a drive it till it dies and don’t look back situation at this point. Seen this happen with other cars it gets hard to own a car that you can not get certain parts for . Granted for larger parts there will always be junkyards but like engines are no longer being sold by Ford for our cars. Some engine components have been discontinued . Same with trans certain gears are no longer available.
Does that mean one cannot own one now . No it means proceed knowing that in a few more years things will get worse.
That is why another car for a daily is on list to acquire in the next year here. When I was younger I would drive old cars as dailies because they were cheap. Though the funny thing was I usually could always go the dealership and buy new replacment parts of course they were Japanese cars. They also did not stop selling cars like Ford did. Just handwriting on the wall here.

 

[rexdriver85]

Ford has stopped selling some of the oem parts already that is why since I rebuilt mine I consider it disposable. Its a drive it till it dies and don’t look back situation at this point. Seen this happen with other cars it gets hard to own a car that you can not get certain parts for . Granted for larger parts there will always be junkyards but like engines are no longer being sold by Ford for our cars. Some engine components have been discontinued . Same with trans certain gears are no longer available.
Does that mean one cannot own one now . No it means proceed knowing that in a few more years things will get worse.
That is why another car for a daily is on list to acquire in the next year here. When I was younger I would drive old cars as dailies because they were cheap. Though the funny thing was I usually could always go the dealership and buy new replacment parts of course they were Japanese cars. They also did not stop selling cars like Ford did. Just handwriting on the wall here.

Totally get it man, not to happy to hear this honestly. Takes the wind out of my sails about owning another one. I have an old Honda Element I use for adventuring and hauling stuff, literally just got a bunch of OEM steering and suspensions parts for it right from Honda. It's really too bad Ford is starting to stop support for the car this early on. But I suppose it's a direct result of them dropping all passenger cars except the Mustang.

 

[Dpro]

Totally get it man, not to happy to hear this honestly. Takes the wind out of my sails about owning another one. I have an old Honda Element I use for adventuring and hauling stuff, literally just got a bunch of OEM steering and suspensions parts for it right from Honda. It's really too bad Ford is starting to stop support for the car this early on. But I suppose it's a direct result of them dropping all passenger cars except the Mustang.

Ford under Farley has made major missteps in a myopic single ended way trying to focus on the boondoggle of going all in on EV’s. It was a bad decision . In the course of that someone in corporate figured we are not selling. the cars why make the parts. It’s funny because it totally puts a bad taste in mouth for the company . Yet I was helping a friend look at a Maverick this afternoon because it’s the only small hybrid cross pickup on the market and it fits what he needs. I mean I like the vehicle but I don’t like the company even though they did announce they are backtracking on the whole EV thing. The damage is kinda already done though. I own a car that is just over 5 years old and parts have already been disco’d for it. It makes it hard for me to really want to purchase another Ford.

 

[ogminlo]

MY16 with 100k miles since the fall of 2015; two blend door actuators have died, I had the thermostat replaced under warranty early on as part of a recall (IIRC), the clutch failed prematurely at 11k and was replaced under warranty, and I had a fuel flow sensor issue around 75k that seemed like an evap issue but it wasn’t, and my local shop diagnosed and fixed it. Other than that, trouble free.

I hope to get another 100k out of her if she’s up to it.