Finally bought/financed my first car!

[spedy7]

Hey everyone! Been wanting an ST for some time now ever since a buddy I was stationed with bought a brand new 2015 Focus ST. Was dead set on buying a Focus, and the Ford dealer I work at had one 2017 for $22k with 17k miles. Unfortunately that got sold before I could even make a decision. Noticed we had a 2018 Fiesta with the same Shadow Black with gray wheels - with 3500 miles on it! They let me have it for the weekend and instantly fell in love with it - even my dad loves it (and he's the average "older cars are better" kinda guy, but a Ford guy none the less). There was a couple minor problems thanks to the prior owner - the wiring for a sub was left in the back (our recoditioning techs are kinda lazy) which caused a few pinched wires in the driver door harness making the left turn signal intermittant and the driver window not going down fully. That all got fixed/removed.

So after some paperwork, I now own an almost new Fiesta ST! Got it for $18,600 (stickered $21k), plus free oil changes for life (so happy about that too)! Almost bought a F-150 with the huge rebates they were putting on 2018's, but all I could afford would be a 3.3. A couple questions I have though:
1. Has anyone had success in adding navigation? We can do it since it is all factory parts, but it gets very expensive.
2. General durability?
3. Must-do furture upgrades? Nothing crazy!
4. Where can I find a set of stock black wheels?

May take it up the mountain today just to drive it some. So refreshing to drive a reliable car for once that is mine (coming from a '66 Stang and '85 RX-7), and it's not a base model!

 

[triplegriff]

Congrats and welcome!!! [emoji322][emoji322][emoji322]

Definitely check out Whoosh when the mod bug hits hard! A Rear Motor Mount is a definite must, and from there the sky is really the limit. Cobb APs and a custom time are great for getting a little more power out of our cars.

Best of luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dpro]

Welcome and congrats. Adding in the navigation can be done there are tutorials on the net. Its a matter of getting the nav screen module and then going into your bcm with Forscan and turning it on for your car.

You are in AZ so two things I would stress big time that you should do are some kind of intercooler upgrade and a possible aluminum radiator.
Both are what I call not just possible performance upgrades but preventive matinence upgrades.
Intercooler because stock one is inadequate for southwestern temps. Aluminum rad because the factory one is small and has plastic end tanks. Plastic end tanks can explode. Had it happen on a M3 with a factory plastice end tank rad.
Plus again we live in a hotter region than these cars were originally designed for so whatever you can do to keep all things cooler is a positive.

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[Flaco]

Welcome !

 

[JDG]

Hey everyone! Been wanting an ST for some time now ever since a buddy I was stationed with bought a brand new 2015 Focus ST. Was dead set on buying a Focus, and the Ford dealer I work at had one 2017 for $22k with 17k miles. Unfortunately that got sold before I could even make a decision. Noticed we had a 2018 Fiesta with the same Shadow Black with gray wheels - with 3500 miles on it! They let me have it for the weekend and instantly fell in love with it - even my dad loves it (and he's the average "older cars are better" kinda guy, but a Ford guy none the less). There was a couple minor problems thanks to the prior owner - the wiring for a sub was left in the back (our recoditioning techs are kinda lazy) which caused a few pinched wires in the driver door harness making the left turn signal intermittant and the driver window not going down fully. That all got fixed/removed.

So after some paperwork, I now own an almost new Fiesta ST! Got it for $18,600 (stickered $21k), plus free oil changes for life (so happy about that too)! Almost bought a F-150 with the huge rebates they were putting on 2018's, but all I could afford would be a 3.3. A couple questions I have though:
1. Has anyone had success in adding navigation? We can do it since it is all factory parts, but it gets very expensive.
2. General durability?
3. Must-do furture upgrades? Nothing crazy!
4. Where can I find a set of stock black wheels?

May take it up the mountain today just to drive it some. So refreshing to drive a reliable car for once that is mine (coming from a '66 Stang and '85 RX-7), and it's not a base model!

Welcome!

I think there are some threads about updating the head unit for navigation. Have a look around, there are tons of great threads. With Apple/Android Carplay though, you can use google maps right on the Sync touchscreen so navigation is honestly redundant (in my opinion), assuming you have a smartphone.

Reliability is good. There are some folks over 100K with just oil changes and spark plugs. I am at 60k now (began modifying at 2k miles) with just oil changes every 7.5k, transmission fluid changes every 30k, and spark plugs every 20k. There are some items that fail to be aware of like the blend door actuator but otherwise these things are pretty tough for being made in Mexico.

Must do modifications right out of the gate are a Rear Motor Mount, as triplegriff mentioned (although I think the newer fiestas got a stiffer unit from Ford). A Cobb Accessport with a Stage 1 tune really wakes the car up, but may void your engine warranty, so something to consider.

If you are willing to go with aftermarket wheels, I highly recommend downsizing to 16" wheels to get some more sidewall and less unsprung weight. Given you are in Arizona, the Firestone Indy 500 205/50R16 tire is an excellent, long life summer tire, that is very inexpensive. With the stock suspension, a good 16x7 (16x7.5 or 16x8 works well too) wheel, and the tires I mentioned, the car is incredible on a back road.

Enjoy!

 

[John9851]

Welcome !!!!!!!

 

[spedy7]

Welcome!

I think there are some threads about updating the head unit for navigation. Have a look around, there are tons of great threads. With Apple/Android Carplay though, you can use google maps right on the Sync touchscreen so navigation is honestly redundant (in my opinion), assuming you have a smartphone.

Reliability is good. There are some folks over 100K with just oil changes and spark plugs. I am at 60k now (began modifying at 2k miles) with just oil changes every 7.5k, transmission fluid changes every 30k, and spark plugs every 20k. There are some items that fail to be aware of like the blend door actuator but otherwise these things are pretty tough for being made in Mexico.

Must do modifications right out of the gate are a Rear Motor Mount, as triplegriff mentioned (although I think the newer fiestas got a stiffer unit from Ford). A Cobb Accessport with a Stage 1 tune really wakes the car up, but may void your engine warranty, so something to consider.

If you are willing to go with aftermarket wheels, I highly recommend downsizing to 16" wheels to get some more sidewall and less unsprung weight. Given you are in Arizona, the Firestone Indy 500 205/50R16 tire is an excellent, long life summer tire, that is very inexpensive. With the stock suspension, a good 16x7 (16x7.5 or 16x8 works well too) wheel, and the tires I mentioned, the car is incredible on a back road.

Enjoy!

Didn’t know this had CarPlay, messed with it the other day and found Google and Apple maps so I guess nav would be redundant, but useful if you have no cell service (unless The car has a GPS antenna?). So the main issue with the mounts are just general weakness? I may upgrade that and the intercooler at some point too. Just want to drive it stock for now. Definitely not going to tune it until the powertrain warranty ends.