Buy a Fiesta ST, or be responsible with my $?

[MrBurgundy]

there's something about banging off the limiter in 5th and slamming into 6th gear at a blistering 55mph that a car simply cannot replicate

[varg]

Head gaskets were on the Focus RS models. The auto transmissions in the base Fiestas were trash.

The Fiesta ST drivetrain has been reliable the past decade per my research (I could be very wrong). I also didn't believe the hype at first, until I got to drive one. The one I drove was heavily modified though... so it could just be that car in particular that makes me want one. I was spinning wheels in 3rd gear at 50 mph... That shit was fun as hell.

I looked it up, it was only the Focus that had the manual transmission failures. I remembered it being one or the other because someone I worked with had one that went bad. I'd keep the element and stay cheap to redirect the money to the E30.

[DEV0 E30]

I'll come back to the thread, but I loved my Fiesta ST, I bought one that was like 1-ish years old, barely used back in 2015/2016. It was killed when a kid tried to beat a light, but it saved me.

One of the most fun cars I've ever owned. Unsure about them being higher mileage on the used market, but with good maintenance it would probably still be a decent buy.

[roguetoaster]

Get a cute bright green Mazda2 instead, swap it and surprise everyone.

[Northern]

My vote is that it's too similar to the e30.

I have too many cars, but I have an R56 Mini Cooper S that basically just sucks all the time away from the e30 so after 3 years of that, I'm preparing to sell it.
Fun/light car, makes enough power, upgraded turbo/downpipe/fmic/exhaust/suspension/wheels/tires. 6 speed/light car/turbo noises is a nice combo.

Being a 14-year old Half-British-Half-BMW product, it always needs something, so it became a pretty significant time sink that took away from other projects. I don't think a similar vintage, "tuner car" Ford is going to be much different in that respect.

I don't think you can swap the element for it, unless you just don't need reliable transportation. I think I've always had a single reliable-ish other car that I would more or less leave the fuck alone lol.

[JasonWilson48]

Alright you fuckers. I am showing restraint and not buying the fiesta. Honestly, it was fun... but it also doesn't speak to me like the E30 chassis does. I've never owned a car newer than 2009, and it did feel weird driving a car with apple carplay and backup camera. Don't think I ever want to own a car with those options. I need to get back to the basics, and the dreams I had in high school. My dream was to get another non-rusted E30 after my first one in high school(got a rusted POS '89 IX, that never passed inspection). And i did that, and am keeping it going. I want to daily the new build this Summer. I will sweat my ass off for it.

[DEV0 E30]

I mean I can kinda understand that. I had an FK8 (2019 Civic Type R), and while it was fun and most logical people would have just driven it into the ground and forgotten about E30s... I wanted another. I began my hunt for an E30 and decided to sell and break even on said FK8. With having your Honda Element daily/beater - finish your e30 first before life throws curveballs... as it always does and enjoy it. Worry about another thing down the line when you can comfortably afford it without questioning your decision. Time is the big thing, if you have something that takes time away from finishing a car project... it becomes so far down the list it almost doesn't exist, I know about that ha.