Hey everyone, new first time buyer here in Tempe, give me your opinions

[Chops]

Hey, Chops here, I have been looking for an ST ever since I drove the focus ST and thought it was a heavy PIG!!! Everyone feel free to chime in, I would love your feedback and opinions. I have two solid options, option a. used 2014 ST, tux blk, sunroof, cloth seats (Arizona is hotter than the surface of the sun, in case you didn't know), red brakes and gun grey wheels. Car has 20k, not a huge fan of the dealer but I got em up to 4.5K for my trade in at least. Price is roughly $16,800 before taxes.

Or I can obviously just fire on a new one, what does everyone think? I plan to do some minor mods as well and I've herd some stuff doesn't work on the 16' yet. Also whats everyones favorite color after owning, I cant decide. I like the blue, the white, the black and the orange!

Oh and whats up to everyone in Arizona, if there are any of you...

 

[Xtreme545]

You could probably get out the door with a leftover 15 for not a lot more cash and plus it would be brand new, I'm a fan of the blue, but I own one. You may wanna option for the Recaros or you may regret it later too. Good luck

 

[Zormecteon]

Black shows more dirt than white, if that's important. Black shines up better tho. Blue won't draw as much unwanted attention for the constabulary as the Orange. White will disappear in traffic. Do you want to be noticed or slip under the radar, not just of the police but of the general public? Blue will shine up nicely, Orange will glow. The black one with the sunroof and cloth seats is likely one of the very first ones off the production line. When I was waiting for one to come in to ANY local dealer for a test drive, all the dealers that offered me a drive had a black one with sunroof, cloth seats, red brakes and navigation. It was likely used as a demo before it was sold. check the serial number to verify build date. Do you want one that someone else may have abused, or do you want to be the one to do that first? How many thousand dollars is that worth to you?

 

[Sil3nt611]

I don't like leather because Texas is hot in the summer as well and leather gets cold in the winter, but these are partial leather so they have cloth in the right places that it doesn't bother me like I thought it would. I think the Recaros are worth it. That's up to you.

I have always liked orange and I said my next car would be orange so that's what I got. With the orange being a tri-coat color it looks absolutely amazing in the sun and you got plenty of sun in Arizona. Black would be a bad idea for that same reason...it's gonna soak up that sun and make the interior crazy hot. You can get whatever color you want or can find, I just wouldn't recommend black for Arizona.

I opted not to get a used one because I wanted to start out with a car no one had the chance to mess up since I plan to keep my car for 10+ years. It felt great driving off the lot with a car with 15 miles on it. But I did pay a lot more for it being brand new and special order. As Xtreme said, you can probably still find a '15 sitting on the lot that is new old stock. May have a couple hundred miles in test drive and transport, but is otherwise brand new. For modding purposes the '16 has a different intake. I believe that's it as far as that goes. '16 has the Sync 3 system where the '14-'15 had the My Ford Touch. People that have used both say Sync 3 is better, but for me personally having only used MFT a little bit and having used the Sync 3 for 6 months, the improvements said to be made on the Sync 3 over the MFT system don't seem all that incredible unless the MFT system was REALLY just that horrible. Other differences is that the silver wheels were standard and grey wheels were upgrade for '14-'15 and for '16 the grey wheels are standard and black wheels are upgrade. The only other change I can think of is the exterior color selection. Red and green were dropped, grey was added, the blue got darker, and the white changed to a tri-coat premium.

I'd be willing to pass up a good deal if the dealer was bad. I drove an hour and a half to a dealer I liked to special order my car when I could have done that anywhere.

 

[Chops]

That's a good idea, Ill keep an eye out, thanks. So far I've only seen a few in town, best deal on a new one is the Orange color which I do like...

I like your breakdown of the colors, white is nice in AZ and I like to fly under the radar a little bit. Blue color is great too, I'm leaning away from the black, price was good but I kinda want a new one.

Then I saw this...

http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/...-ST-SoCal-(Santa-Clarita)?p=145612#post145612

 

[Chops]

What is everyone's opinion of the seats? I was not a fan of the Recaros, in the FoST, I am not a big fan of leather either and I felt a bit too chubby for them, lol. I'm not HUGE or anything, 6'2" 215lbs, the cloth seats in the FiST felt great, I need them to be comfortable on long trips as well as fun driving. Do you guys like the Recaros in the FiST?

 

[Zormecteon]

Wouldn't be without the Recaros. I always wanted to have a car worthy of putting a set into, and what do you know, the car I got was able to be ordered with them in it. Some think they aren't worht the price, but go out a price a pair independently. I didn't think i would use the heated seat button but I like it more than I thought.

 

[miguel.in.az]

Opt for the recaros, the bolsters loosen up as you put miles on it. I test drove a car without recaros and another car with recaros. Those seats make such a difference when you're really hitting the corners hard. I wouldn't have bought one without the recaros honestly

I was in the same boat as you debating new vs used when I was looking. I ended up going new because these cars seem to hold their value really well and for a few thousand more I got a brand new 2016 with no miles and/or possible abuse with a full factory warranty and free maintenance too.

 

[hydrix]

in 5'8" 145 lbs. If i weighed any more i think these recaro seats would be too much, but you'd have to sit in them and see what you think.

im also in AZ. DONT GET BLACK! obviously for the heat, also the dust, i see black ones around here and they look good for 10 minutes after you wash it, and then comes the wind and its all over.

I have an orange one, and it always looks clean and easy to maintain. white looks awesome with some black wheels, go for a white one.

 

[Sil3nt611]

The Recaros do loosen up over time. If you buy that used white one you'll have it pre-loosened for you. I currently have 7200 miles on mine and I let my brother drive the car yesterday so it's the first time in quite awhile I've sat in the passenger seat. Can definitely say it is much tighter since the passenger seat in my car doesn't get sat in much. I don't like moving around a lot when I'm driving and the seat definitely holds you in place. I drove my mom's Focus for probably the first time since I got the Fiesta last week. She has the SE, so standard cloth seats. Felt like I was sitting on a bench seat in comparison since it has zero side bolstering. I'm 5'9" and 180lbs. I feel I fit perfectly. For long drives I have to pull my wallet out of my back pocket, but for daily driving I don't notice it. I've made plenty of long drives in the seats and it's much better than the seats in my old car for back comfort. Ultimately that will be your decision on the comfort of your own body with the seats. Getting the windows tinted with some good heat rejection film will go a long way towards keeping the heat out of the car and your leather pieces won't get quite as hot. But like I said, it is partial leather and the pieces that would be directly touching you are mostly cloth.

White, orange, or silver will probably be your best colors for not attracting heat in AZ. Dark colors are hard to keep clean in general anywhere. My dark blue car looked spectacular with it's metal flake in the sun, and then I drove somewhere and it was dirty by the time I got somewhere... I detailed my orange Fiesta Sunday and it still looks excellent today even though up close a little bit of dust has accumulated.

The white used 2015 ST with the mods is a good deal if you are wanting those types of mods.