How is the FiST holding up over time?

[Zormecteon]

We may have to get some specific parts out of the UK. Great Britain is pretty good about having parts for all sorts of out of manufacture autos.

 

[Intuit]

Stock 2016 from new.
Don't recall mileage but it's <80k I think.
I usually drive it like I stole it (minus the wrecks, red light running and side-swiping other vehicles) and has been solid.
(chose to leave drivetrain stock)

No issues with interior.
Everything except license plate and high beam is LED.
Replaced stock rear (Spec-D) and front (Euro Projectors) lights..
Added 600RMS Alpine amp, harmon kardon 10" tube with dual voice coil Kicker sub wired for 2 ohm.
Added a push button and relay system for my accessories.
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/guide-amp-remote-turn-on-relay-12v-outlets.29095/

Switched to 215/45R17.
Water intrusion issue from new; self addressed; I have a thread on it.
Had to replace the CR2032 battery in the remote twice.
Few new car batteries; due to leakage I **ONLY** do sealed batteries not vented.
Replaced one blend door actuator with Dorman brand.
Replaced passenger side engine mount; caused a knock noise on clutch release.
Bought a new relay for the HVAC.
Replaced engine fan relay under recall. (no issues)
Regular anti-rust treatments.
Had to replace rear brake pads first; front maybe like a year or two later.
Resolved issue with a rear caliper slide mount locking up...
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/caliper-slide-mounts-the-permanent-fix.29023/
Added an aluminum angle bar to the rear shelf to keep from sagging.
Garbage bagged and lubed my spare tire to keep from dry-rotting.

All fluids (oil coolant brake) maintained.

 

[M-Sport fan]

We may have to get some specific parts out of the UK. Great Britain is pretty good about having parts for all sorts of out of manufacture autos.

They refuse to sell and ship me tires, why would (factory/OEM) hard parts be any different??

 

[tri-pedaler]

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.

+1 for water intrusion lately. Not much, but it is an annoyance - still working on tracking down the source.

Also, I had to replace my O2 sensors, but that is not atypical

 

[Intuit]

Water Instrusion therad...

https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/water-intrusion-issue-resolved.23553/post-435429

.

 

[Zormecteon]

They refuse to sell and ship me tires, why would (factory/OEM) hard parts be any different??

I had no problem getting tyres from LONGSTONE for my Sprite.

????

 

[Intuit]

They refuse to sell and ship me tires

The trick is to say and spell it like "tyre".

 

[M-Sport fan]

I had no problem getting tyres from LONGSTONE for my Sprite.

????

Yeah, vintage stuff they will send boatloads of over here!

But just TRY and get ANY of the modern/current tire vendors in the UK to sell and ship a set of Pilot Sport 5s in 215/40-17 (a size Michelin will most likely never decide to sell here, even when they bring in whatever other sizes they plan to in that tire model) to the states.

 

[SteveS]

Not sure why you're so excited about the PS5. My understanding of it from watching and reading tire reviews is that it's a rather mundane touring tire.

 

[J.andretti93]

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.

Haha, I resonate too much with everything you said my friend.

amazing car, any major breakdowns were self inflicted in one way or another. Overall, reliable little pepper 🔥

 

[M-Sport fan]

Not sure why you're so excited about the PS5. My understanding of it from watching and reading tire reviews is that it's a rather mundane touring tire.

Yeah, between some claiming that, just how narrow the tread width is going to be, even in a 215/40, and the impossibility of getting them, I am leaning towards the (very readily available here in that size, but not so much in the UK/Europe currently, ironically) Yok AD09, but just waiting for a sale/rebate before buying them.

 

[Capri to ST]

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.

I checked with Ford and they supposedly have a policy of providing OEM parts for at least 10 years after the date of manufacture of a car. You can see that as helpful or not helpful depending on how old your car is and how long you plan on keeping it. I hope to keep mine forever, so we'll just see how it goes.
I wouldn't let concern for future parts availability deter me from getting the car if that's what I wanted. It's just too speculative, it may be a big problem or it may not. Also, every other car is going to have similar issues, you might pick another one because you think it has better parts availability going forward, but it might not turn out to be the case.If you really want the car I would get it and just enjoy it and take the parts situation as it comes.
One valuable lesson my dad taught me is not to fight a hypothetical battle. I haven't always been the best in following that advice, but still think it's excellent advice.

 

[Dpro]

I checked with Ford and they supposedly have a policy of providing OEM parts for at least 10 years after the date of manufacture of a car. You can see that as helpful or not helpful depending on how old your car is and how long you plan on keeping it. I hope to keep mine forever, so we'll just see how it goes.
I wouldn't let concern for future parts availability deter me from getting the car if that's what I wanted. It's just too speculative, it may be a big problem or it may not. Also, every other car is going to have similar issues, you might pick another one because you think it has better parts availability going forward, but it might not turn out to be the case.If you really want the car I would get it and just enjoy it and take the parts situation as it comes.
One valuable lesson my dad taught me is not to fight a hypothetical battle. I haven't always been the best in following that advice, but still think it's excellent advice.

You may have checked with Ford and they might have told policy speak that was true in the past, but my car is not 10 years from date of manufacture and indeed during the rebuild process parts were no longer available . Also my friend ran into the issue of Ford no longer selling a new engine for the car. In the end I too normally would not have been phased by this. Though that was back when one could buy a good running car for 2k all day long. Given the amount of money one has to pay for cars these days something like this can be of concern. I can sit there and say $8500 is nothing but I am in a good position in life. To a lot of people spending 8-10k or more in a lump sum for a used car is substantial outlay for the sake of not being able to possibly get repair parts if needed. I am an optimist except we are talking about Ford here and they have repeatedly shown bad business decisions in the last 5 years. This is not Alan Mullalys One Ford this is Jim Farleys incompetence and yes it makes me vary wary of owning a Ford and advising others to buy.
YMMV

 

[Capri to ST]

You may have checked with Ford and they might have told policy speak that was true in the past, but my car is not 10 years from date of manufacture and indeed during the rebuild process parts were no longer available . Also my friend ran into the issue of Ford no longer selling a new engine for the car. In the end I too normally would not have been phased by this. Though that was back when one could buy a good running car for 2k all day long. Given the amount of money one has to pay for cars these days something like this can be of concern. I can sit there and say $8500 is nothing but I am in a good position in life. To a lot of people spending 8-10k or more in a lump sum for a used car is substantial outlay for the sake of not being able to possibly get repair parts if needed. I am an optimist except we are talking about Ford here and they have repeatedly shown bad business decisions in the last 5 years. This is not Alan Mullalys One Ford this is Jim Farleys incompetence and yes it makes me vary wary of owning a Ford and advising others to buy.
YMMV

You make some good points, and it looks like you're operating more from experience and I'm operating more from hope. I hope to keep the car forever, so it will be very disappointing if more parts become unavailable.
It is a valid concern, and I am concerned about it, but I'm just saying if I really wanted the car I would go ahead and get it.
I'm also fortunate enough to be in a good position in life so that I could buy another car if this one became undrivable.

 

[LilPartyBox]

If Ford's policy is 10 year, we have until 2029 when RockAuto and junkyards become our only parts sources...she's worth it But as Capri said, every car has the same problem. We can sit and speculate about the competency of Ford's management but it's much the same guesswork that goes into wondering if ANY car will have support for as long as we'd like. I still plan to keep mine until I can't fix her anymore. I also plan to start ordering spares to help mitigate this. But with an all electric future staring us in the face, might as well accept that support for every ICE car will evaporate sooner than ever before. So enjoy'em while ya got'em and f**k the rest! I wanna revisit VW's MK4s. And an R53 Mini. I still will...So go buy a FiST and swim in the joy of this lil pocket rocket for as long as you can!

 

[Dpro]

If Ford's policy is 10 year, we have until 2029 when RockAuto and junkyards become our only parts sources...she's worth it But as Capri said, every car has the same problem. We can sit and speculate about the competency of Ford's management but it's much the same guesswork that goes into wondering if ANY car will have support for as long as we'd like. I still plan to keep mine until I can't fix her anymore. I also plan to start ordering spares to help mitigate this. But with an all electric future staring us in the face, might as well accept that support for every ICE car will evaporate sooner than ever before. So enjoy'em while ya got'em and f**k the rest! I wanna revisit VW's MK4s. And an R53 Mini. I still will...So go buy a FiST and swim in the joy of this lil pocket rocket for as long as you can!

Ford’s policy is BS lol sorry but first hand experience here and I keep on trying to tell you disbelievers that. It’s not till 2029 it’s not even now. Some parts are already gone and more are going as you speculate. I am an optimist but this is reality. Ford has screwed us. Sorry but it’s real. I love my car and will keep driving it but I am not going to foolishly fool myself into thinking I can rely on Ford if major things break. For some stuff the final option will be junk yards for other stuff it will be nope can’t get it. Honestly not every car has the same problem either because some car companies don’t think like Ford and GM. I owned and drove Japanese cars all of my driving life parts disco’d nope, not unless the car was like 20 years and even then a lot of parts were still available Toyota for instance is not abandoning their cars . They are still making them and making parts .

 

[faust]

Bummer to hear that there have been parts availability issues. I will say that my endurance team hasn't had trouble getting parts for our '01 focus yet.