Written by Richard Kilpatrick Published: 18 January 2023 Updated: 19 January 2023

The Ford Fiesta ST is a genuine delight to drive, at a time when the new car market seems to be torn between dull, identikit SUVs or ludicrously-fast electric cars that want to drive for you. Better yet, it remained part of the facelifted range – only for sales to end in 2023. Is an approved-used Ford the solution to getting the Fiesta ST you want?

Reports by Richard Kilpatrick

Have you been looking for a new car recently, maybe looking for something a bit interesting for your money? Ford’s Fiesta ST blends family-friendly supermini space with genuinely quick performance and secure handling for less than £30,000.

Except… that was ‘just over £20,000’ when the Fiesta ST’s third evolution launched. In the same five-year period a basic Fiesta has gone from just over £12,000, to almost £19,000. If you’ve been saving and planning budgets for a new car over the past year or so, will buying a low mileage used car fit the bill and fit your bills?

Report 1: Cost of buying a pre-owned Ford Fiesta ST

Want to avoid a hidden hot-hatch history, can’t wait for delivery? Approved-used jumps the queue

Having fun has gradually become rather expensive, but there are few cars as affordable – or as rewarding – as the Fiesta ST. Its blend of performance attitude and daily-driver dependability isn’t suddenly going to get cheaper, either. It won’t have escaped your attention that personal car lease or PCP deals rarely offer a huge selection of vehicles under £300 per month, let alone upmarket/fancy ones, and used cars have suffered the same pressure.

Why? Covid’s impact on pattern of replacing lease and PCP cars, followed by supply chain problems during 2021 and 2022, has turned the motor industry’s pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap high volume approach upside-down.

Those problems mean that excess stock and discounting of cars under 12 months old (such as our 2022 Ford Fiesta ST-3) is nowhere near pre-Brexit and Covid levels, but there are enough out there to make it worth talking to your local dealer – and being flexible with your choices.

Ford’s long history of giving the consumer what they want goes beyond ‘making cars’. Pioneering schemes such as Options personal leasing shaped the whole industry – but Ford’s approved-used programme has not achieved the same visibility as, say, Volvo Selekt or Vauxhall’s Network Q (now part of Spoticar).

That’s partly because Ford’s retailers have been selling used cars to a huge variety of customers for decades, and many are established, local firms. Repeat sales and reputations built on looking after customers mean many benefits of an approved-used scheme were simply considered old-fashioned ‘trust and expertise’.

Sales and habits have changed, and Ford now offers used cars prominently on its own and dealer websites, with a clean, easy to use layout and powerful search engine. You can read more about Ford’s warranty package in our guide to approved-used schemes, but I’ll be visiting a Ford dealer or two to see how they’d approach sales and support as well as looking at the online process.

The Ford Fiesta ST Mk 8.5 – a true limited edition

Introduced in 2017, the Ford Fiesta Mk8 is an accomplished small car, and in high-performance ST form won awards and hearts in equal measure. Most seventh-generation Fiesta STs you find will be pre-facelift; the September 2021 update is unofficially referred to as Mk8.5*, and that distinction is important for ST buyers and future collectors.

Ford dropped the three-door model around April 2022, and announced the end of the Fiesta name entirely in October 2022 with Fiesta production ending in June 2023. The Ford Puma has taken a lot of the Fiesta’s market, and an electric, or cheaper version makes more sense than making two competing bodystyles.

As a uniquely charming, easy to live with yet satisfyingly old-school hot-hatch, the Fiesta ST is worth grabbing while you can new or used. It’s not unreasonably expensive, and you may find delivery mileage examples go for more than list price later this year.

Buying a pre-owned Fiesta ST Mk8.5 three door to cherish makes sense for long-term investment, but the real reason to buy one of these now is to enjoy it before years of wear and tear have left their mark.

How much do you save buying a used Ford Fiesta ST?

For years, the conventional wisdom to save money when buying a new car has been to avoid the waiting list, and don’t order a bespoke spec – instead, look through the network’s ex-demo, pre-registered stock.

This Fiesta ST-3 costs £28,695 new, including options of Mean Green metallic paint and Ford Sync 3 navigation, but excluding the opening panoramic sunroof (which is no longer available). As a Ford approved-used car less than two years old, it qualifies for the better Ford Direct programme; overall prices range from £24,000 to £29,000 for comparable models – the highest being a 72-plate ex-demo car with less than 500 miles, and if you compromise slightly on specification an 8,000 mile one year old ST-2 three-door is £20,699. That’s quite a significant saving, without minimising the core qualities of the Fiesta ST.

Look for a nearly-new or used Fiesta ST in the wider market, and you may find a late 2021 ST-2 with higher miles for less than £20,000, but bear in mind these cars had a lower list price when sold new and have a lower spec, so the saving is purely in ‘how much you pay for the car’; if anything, it illustrates what a great investment a Fiesta ST can be for low-depreciation fun.

Monthly costs compared: new vs. used Fiesta ST?

Brand-new Ford Fiesta ST-3 on Ford Options finance: £350 to £495 per month, 36 months

Ford promotions vary, but at the time of writing (January 2023) the Fiesta ST-3 doesn’t qualify for deposit contributions or 0% APR. It’s a simple deal (and the car has just a simple options selection, too), and if you don’t have a deposit or finance-clear car to trade in it will cost £495 per month with a £13,000 final payment after three years.

If you’ve got £5,000 to put in that brings the monthly cost down to just under £350 per month; both deals have a 3.9% APR and are based on 9,000 miles per year.

One year old Ford Fiesta ST-3 on Ford dealer finance: around £375 per month, 48 months

Why buy used, if you plan on using finance? It’s been my own experience during 30 years of running new and used cars that, with PCP or lease deals, a new car is usually for a monthly budget – in direct contradiction of the received wisdom that a new car loses thousands for leaving a showroom.

However, this is a typical example from Evans Halshaw, based on 12.9% APR interest. Speak to a Ford dealer and if they can match the rates on a new car, you may find the monthly payments are the same, but the balloon payment to keep the car is lower.

On paper, the pre-registered option only makes more sense than buying new if you are paying cash or can get competitive finance. However, it may also be the only way you can get a car immediately, and in the case of the Ford Fiesta ST this facelift model is in the final months of production.

For Fast Ford fans, this really is your last chance to buy.

Report 2: Living with a second hand Ford Fiesta ST

Buyers’ remorse, or best choice ever? We do six months’ mileage in six weeks…

It’s the most extreme expression of Fiesta, and time for my first confession: I thought the novelty of the lively engine and firm suspension would wear off quite quickly. With the prefacelift ST and it’s narrow, sharp-bolstered sears that may have been a valid concern, but facelift models have ‘Ford Performance’ seats. So, from mid-January to mid-March the Fiesta has become a home-from-home (while moving home, in fact). Even when tired, in grim, slow, snowy or rain-soaked congested roads, the Fiesta ST has been ‘a good fit’, if not cosseting or isolating.

To get an idea of how comfortable I’ve found it, I’ll often just get home, park and stay sat in the car to check phone messages, catch up on Twitter and relax.

Nothing went wrong between 5,000 and almost 9,000 miles – the merest, tiniest frustration being the interior lights being inclined to stay off when opening the doors which seemed unrelated to the switch setting.

Fuel economy has been a consistent 38mpg, whether driving hard on quiet, undisturbed B-roads or running short errands, though on slow motorway days a diligent driver could get it close to 50mpg (if the allure of the sports exhaust tone could be resisted). It has become a familiar, delightful companion; a trick that I’ve found a consistent achievement with Fords of all sizes and eras.

That loyalty has been rewarded with, frankly, being made to work harder than any small car should. It’s been loaded to the roof with household items for a 4-hour round trip move, tackled Derbyshire roads in blizzards with remarkable ability, even as the tyres approach a level of wear you’d consider replacement at, and it has, finally, politely, requested its first service, just as 8,500 miles clicked by.

Ford dealer support: a 21st-century service

* Ford’s pattern of facelifts and marketing, plus enthusiast’s own names, can get confusing. Check out the history of the Ford Fiesta to see how the platform evolved, but to see how the Fiesta ST’s final evolution compares with previous fast Fiestas here’s a quick recap (times adjusted to 0-62mph).

• 1976 Fiesta Mk1, XR2 from 1981. 1.6-litre Kent OHV. 83hp, 106mph, 9.7s
• 1983 Fiesta Mk2, XR2 from 1984, 1.6-litre CVH OHC. 96hp, 112mph, 9.9s
• 1989 Fiesta Mk3, includes XR2i, RS1800 and RS Turbo models.
  RS Turbo’s 133hp, 133mph and 8.1s create the first truly quick Fiesta.
• 1994 Fiesta Mk3.5, 1.4Si and structural improvements.
• 1995 Fiesta Mk4, full facelift Mk3. Fiesta-based Puma replaces hot hatch
• 1999 Fiesta Mk5, Zetec S from 2001, 1.6-litre 16v, 102hp, 120mph and 10.0s
• 2002 Fiesta Mk6, Fiesta ST from 2004, 2.0-litre DOHC. 150hp, 129mph and 7.9s
• 2008 Fiesta Mk7,  ST from 2012, 1.6-litre turbo, 182-200hp, 139mph and 6.7s
• 2017 Fiesta Mk8, ST from 2018 1.5-litre turbo. 200hp, 143mph and 6.5s
• 2021 Fiesta Mk8.5, ST-3 from 2022, 1.5-litre turbo, 200hp, LSD, 143mph and 6.5s