Hey Guys,
Long time lurker first time poster having just made my account yesterday. Since I’ve been reading your threads and learning tons for years now I figured it was time to contribute with my ownership review of my 2015 Ford Fiesta ST with the 1.6 Ecoboost.
History: I bought this car as a cheap and fun commuter in January of 2016 with a 3 year lease and 76 miles on the clock from my local dealer. The car is fully loaded with the Recaro Seats, Sync 2 & Navigation, Sunroof and the grey wheels. The car stickered for around $26,000 (can’t remember the exact number) and my payment is right around $350.00 a month. The vehicle was purchased from Vista Ford in Woodland Hills, CA and was my first purchase from them which overall has been a positive experience however I won’t be buying another Ford product in the near future. At the time of this post the vehicle has just over 31,000 hard miles.
Purpose: My commute is about 30 miles round trip through windy roads. I wanted an inexpensive 5 door which ruled out a lot of options for me. I test drove the Focus and it was fine but the Fiesta was a better platform especially after adding some power adders. This vehicle gets driven hard and sees redline on a regular basis.
Pros:
• Engine: Throughout the Ownership 0 Issues with the engine or powertrain.
• Size: Super small, tons of fun. Comes in nice appealing colors and the body kit and aero just work in distinguishing it from a regular fiesta.
• Suspension: Torsion bar rear suspension is pretty surprising and has good lift off throttle oversteer that I have never experienced in a FWD car. Ride is so-so though.
• Features: For 26K this car has Nav, Sunroof, Recaros, Sync, Heated Seats, Keyless Go, Climate control, most of which is factory. Hard to go wrong especially at this price point. I compared it to a Mini and it would be 35K for the base “S” engine (Not JCW).
• 2-3 Gear: As long as you have the grip, you mash that go pedal in 2nd or 3rd and this thing takes off. We’re talking about (tight road) keeping up with performance cars double the price.
• Roomy: Subcompact with bulky seats, surprising amount of room. 4 adults just road to Vegas with gear cramped but not unbearable.
• Not a WRX/ Genesis/ BRZ/ Civic SI.
Cons:
• Tires: I get about 6,000 miles out of a front set if not rotated although Tires are very inexpensive. Probably has something to do with the mods though.
• Issues/ Warranty Work: See Below
• Recaros: Seating position with the headrests is almost unbearable. I’m 6’3 and leg length is good but the headrest angles my head forward that Im convinced its ruining my back.
• Sync 2: I refuse to ever own a car with this again. Slow, Unintuitive and felt out of date in 2015. It used to read me my text messages over audio but mysteriously has stopped.
• Wheels: I ordered the grey wheels and after 3 years they look rough. They have begun to chip and ding from normal use. Can’t wait to hear what Ford has to say upon its return.
Vehicle: So again, Fully loaded 2015 Fiesta St with 31,000 Miles.
I have a Full cat back exhaust from MAP Performance, Intercooler from Dead Hook Racing, MBRP Charge Side Boost Tube, Cobb Accessport V3 with Stage 3 Loaded and a Cobb Intake. No other modifications other than a Valentine 1 and some LED’s.
Warranty Work and other Issues:
So I have had several issues which I’d like to document below which have been the main hindrance to my ownership and the lower miles.
1. Tire Pressure Monitoring System: At around 5,000 miles or so the TPMS started flashing a message on the screen stating there was a complete system failure. Since this isn’t a system I rely on I didn’t get it fixed for about 10,000 miles or so and 1.5 sets of tires later. Ford said one of the sensors died (at 5k miles) so they replaced it and all is back to normal. Now at about 28,000 miles I am seeing that I have low tire pressure again so it very well could be broken again.
2. Blend Door Actuator: Big issue with Fiesta St’s. Basically the actuator which controls where the airflow goes in the HVAC system jams and breaks locking the flow in one set position. The worst part is that if you try and change it you get this loud Clicking/ banging from behind the dash continuously until the original setting was returned. This happened around 20,000 miles and I left it alone for about 2 months. Every time the car was shut off, it would begin the clicking for a minute or so apparently trying to close some vent. This was repaired under warranty.
3. Passenger side Window Switch: Randomly stopped working, Switch was broken. Fixed under warranty at same time around 20,000 miles.
4. Sync Freak Out: So sync began randomly re starting and would re set settings for no apparent reason. Asked the dealer to look into it with no remedy. It still randomly turns off sometime but seems to be ok.
5. Sunroof Leak: Still have this issue, have not taken it in to ford but any kind of moisture on the roof leaks into the cabin. I only found out about this after one particularly large rainstorm in So Cal and noticed all the windows were fogged from the inside. Found out the spare tire well was full of 3” of water.
6. Keyless Fob Battery: Just started displaying the message the battery is low on the remote fob so time to replace that after 3 years. Need to do this.
Random Ramblings:
Front bakes went at 23,000 miles. Rear brakes are almost due.
Always used Mobil 1 5w-20, never seen oil temps above 250F on the accessport and looking through the fill cap it appears like new under the valve covers. Run whatever filter I can find.
Ive had some pretty high coolant temps but never overheated. Ive read that other fiestas have overheating issues with factory radiator.
Car is always filthy (white) even after I wash it and park it overnight on my street.
Tripple digit speeds are easily obtainable and car draws 0 attention from Law Enforcement.
Tons of sideways grip no issues there.
Shifter is awesome, brakes are overly strong even with a single piston caliper at each corner.
Car has a “sport mode” however I’m convinced it does nothing.
Heated Seats have 1 mode On or Off but will roast your butt in 1 minute.
Plenty of storage and cup holders.
Valentine 1 hangs perfectly from the rear view mirror.
I think that’s about everything to say about my Fiesta ST hopefully some people find this review useful towards their eventual purchase of one.
Thanks for reading
Dave
Long time lurker first time poster having just made my account yesterday. Since I’ve been reading your threads and learning tons for years now I figured it was time to contribute with my ownership review of my 2015 Ford Fiesta ST with the 1.6 Ecoboost.
History: I bought this car as a cheap and fun commuter in January of 2016 with a 3 year lease and 76 miles on the clock from my local dealer. The car is fully loaded with the Recaro Seats, Sync 2 & Navigation, Sunroof and the grey wheels. The car stickered for around $26,000 (can’t remember the exact number) and my payment is right around $350.00 a month. The vehicle was purchased from Vista Ford in Woodland Hills, CA and was my first purchase from them which overall has been a positive experience however I won’t be buying another Ford product in the near future. At the time of this post the vehicle has just over 31,000 hard miles.
Purpose: My commute is about 30 miles round trip through windy roads. I wanted an inexpensive 5 door which ruled out a lot of options for me. I test drove the Focus and it was fine but the Fiesta was a better platform especially after adding some power adders. This vehicle gets driven hard and sees redline on a regular basis.
Pros:
• Engine: Throughout the Ownership 0 Issues with the engine or powertrain.
• Size: Super small, tons of fun. Comes in nice appealing colors and the body kit and aero just work in distinguishing it from a regular fiesta.
• Suspension: Torsion bar rear suspension is pretty surprising and has good lift off throttle oversteer that I have never experienced in a FWD car. Ride is so-so though.
• Features: For 26K this car has Nav, Sunroof, Recaros, Sync, Heated Seats, Keyless Go, Climate control, most of which is factory. Hard to go wrong especially at this price point. I compared it to a Mini and it would be 35K for the base “S” engine (Not JCW).
• 2-3 Gear: As long as you have the grip, you mash that go pedal in 2nd or 3rd and this thing takes off. We’re talking about (tight road) keeping up with performance cars double the price.
• Roomy: Subcompact with bulky seats, surprising amount of room. 4 adults just road to Vegas with gear cramped but not unbearable.
• Not a WRX/ Genesis/ BRZ/ Civic SI.
Cons:
• Tires: I get about 6,000 miles out of a front set if not rotated although Tires are very inexpensive. Probably has something to do with the mods though.
• Issues/ Warranty Work: See Below
• Recaros: Seating position with the headrests is almost unbearable. I’m 6’3 and leg length is good but the headrest angles my head forward that Im convinced its ruining my back.
• Sync 2: I refuse to ever own a car with this again. Slow, Unintuitive and felt out of date in 2015. It used to read me my text messages over audio but mysteriously has stopped.
• Wheels: I ordered the grey wheels and after 3 years they look rough. They have begun to chip and ding from normal use. Can’t wait to hear what Ford has to say upon its return.
Vehicle: So again, Fully loaded 2015 Fiesta St with 31,000 Miles.
I have a Full cat back exhaust from MAP Performance, Intercooler from Dead Hook Racing, MBRP Charge Side Boost Tube, Cobb Accessport V3 with Stage 3 Loaded and a Cobb Intake. No other modifications other than a Valentine 1 and some LED’s.
Warranty Work and other Issues:
So I have had several issues which I’d like to document below which have been the main hindrance to my ownership and the lower miles.
1. Tire Pressure Monitoring System: At around 5,000 miles or so the TPMS started flashing a message on the screen stating there was a complete system failure. Since this isn’t a system I rely on I didn’t get it fixed for about 10,000 miles or so and 1.5 sets of tires later. Ford said one of the sensors died (at 5k miles) so they replaced it and all is back to normal. Now at about 28,000 miles I am seeing that I have low tire pressure again so it very well could be broken again.
2. Blend Door Actuator: Big issue with Fiesta St’s. Basically the actuator which controls where the airflow goes in the HVAC system jams and breaks locking the flow in one set position. The worst part is that if you try and change it you get this loud Clicking/ banging from behind the dash continuously until the original setting was returned. This happened around 20,000 miles and I left it alone for about 2 months. Every time the car was shut off, it would begin the clicking for a minute or so apparently trying to close some vent. This was repaired under warranty.
3. Passenger side Window Switch: Randomly stopped working, Switch was broken. Fixed under warranty at same time around 20,000 miles.
4. Sync Freak Out: So sync began randomly re starting and would re set settings for no apparent reason. Asked the dealer to look into it with no remedy. It still randomly turns off sometime but seems to be ok.
5. Sunroof Leak: Still have this issue, have not taken it in to ford but any kind of moisture on the roof leaks into the cabin. I only found out about this after one particularly large rainstorm in So Cal and noticed all the windows were fogged from the inside. Found out the spare tire well was full of 3” of water.
6. Keyless Fob Battery: Just started displaying the message the battery is low on the remote fob so time to replace that after 3 years. Need to do this.
Random Ramblings:
Front bakes went at 23,000 miles. Rear brakes are almost due.
Always used Mobil 1 5w-20, never seen oil temps above 250F on the accessport and looking through the fill cap it appears like new under the valve covers. Run whatever filter I can find.
Ive had some pretty high coolant temps but never overheated. Ive read that other fiestas have overheating issues with factory radiator.
Car is always filthy (white) even after I wash it and park it overnight on my street.
Tripple digit speeds are easily obtainable and car draws 0 attention from Law Enforcement.
Tons of sideways grip no issues there.
Shifter is awesome, brakes are overly strong even with a single piston caliper at each corner.
Car has a “sport mode” however I’m convinced it does nothing.
Heated Seats have 1 mode On or Off but will roast your butt in 1 minute.
Plenty of storage and cup holders.
Valentine 1 hangs perfectly from the rear view mirror.
I think that’s about everything to say about my Fiesta ST hopefully some people find this review useful towards their eventual purchase of one.
Thanks for reading
Dave
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