FORD FOCUS RS MK2 BUYERS GUIDE! The things to look out for!

After having quite a few messages over the years asking for tips on what to look out for when buying one of these cars, I decided to make a video to help potential owners out. I hope some of you may find this useful!
Thanks for watching 😊

[@CarFocused]

Ah guys I forgot to mention the gearbox oil seal where the driveshaft goes into the gearbox. I had this issue too which was a simple fix. Any more you can think of? Drop them in the comments box for others to see!

[@markb68]

Great video and a useful guide as to what to look for if you’re lucky enough to be buying a mk2 RS. 👍🏻 Can’t believe it’s 4 years mate!

[@CarFocused]

Neither can I. Life bloody whizzes by!

[@andrewgabbott102]

Very informative well thought out video.

[@CarFocused]

Thank you 😊

[@stephenhankey9684]

Very informative!

[@CarFocused]

Glad you think so!

[@chrisball3337]

Good list. I'd suggest checking out corrosion on the revoknuckle because that's the potential for a whole world of pain if it's too far gone.

[@thatguydan5310]

Great video, recently bought a blue one which is cp3 mapped. Sometimes it has a rough idle when the car is hot or the weather is hot, think its the throttle body sticking slightly but other than that its a dream

[@CarFocused]

Great stuff. Hopefully your issue is fairly straightforward 👍🏻👍🏻

[@kevy2300]

Great video mate. Owned my RS for 11 years now & kept it standard. Just done 59k miles & love every minute of driving her at weekends. You've pretty much covered it all. One recent issue i had was an engine management light fault, Car was running rich & over revving on start up. The diagnostic machine reported an upstream lambda sensor fault. Replaced that & the fault reappeared. After scratching my head i booked in at Demon Perfomance. Pete Williams is a top guy & knows his stuff. He nailed it straight away, it was the symposer diaphram. He also diagnosed a fault i had last year. All the error codes pointed to the throttle body. He nailed it again, it was actually an issue with the clocks & the solder degrading. I would strongly advise anyone buying an RS, always consult a specialist when you have issues. Otherwise you could spend hundreds of pounds chasing error code faults. The diagnostic tools out there are too generic. Other than that the most enjoyable car I've ever owned & still to this day regularly get people giving me the thumbs up or wanting to chat with me at the petrol station 19:40

[@CarFocused]

Thanks for the comment mate, glad you’re still enjoying the car after all those years 😊 The issue with the clocks is a common one I think too, John Bevan who commented on here had the same issue too. Hoping it doesn’t happen to me 😂 Demon Pete is meant to be really good - love the restorations! Thanks for watching 😊

[@kevy2300]

One other thing of note, become familiar with the parts that are shared with the ST. Otherwise the main stealers wll hit you with the added & dreaded RS tax. I've started to buy random parts before they become totally obsolete.

[@CarFocused]

@@kevy2300 indeed. Prices are already silly now 😢

[@jimmyjt16]

Just a correction on the head light. The scorching effect is caused by people putting the bulb holder in the wrong way round. It doesn't actually scorch the lense, it melts the inside of the light. The scorching effect is just smoke residual and can be wiped off by cleaning the inside of the lense by reaching in with a cotton bug. I've just done mine.

[@CarFocused]

Oh really? I’d always assumed it was discolouration from the excess heat of the halogen bulbs! I’ve seen some real bad ones. Might have to try and give mine a little wipe 👍🏻

[@jimmyjt16]

@@CarFocused Mine was real bad on one side. I was amazed when it just wiped off. It's a little fiddly to get in there with the cotton buds, but can be done.

[@Richie_RS]

Great vid, this would be extremely useful especially to someone like me with not alot of experience or confidence when buying one of these puppies. Ive just bought one about amonth ago, i had no clue so i paid for a pre inspection service not awell known company but a smaller one who did a great job for me really worth it saved me a fortune. Off the top of my head alternator, battery, battery fixing, key not fitting somewhere, i think steering wheel alignment? and no proof of cam belt/waterpump.The dealership agreed to put all that right including cam belt plus all 4 discs and pads, new tyres all around mot and service. Not bad i thought really. Only issue was on the first day i had it i got an engine light come on. After alot of time and minor ball ache I got it sorted a few days ago. Cat had disintegrated or diy decat 🤪

[@CarFocused]

Thanks mate. Good call on the inspection! My standard cat shit itself too a couple of years back - car went into almost limp mode! Was a good excuse for a sports cat though 😎

[@Richie_RS]

@@CarFocused great excuse, your car sounds amazing! 😉

[@stephenbolt57]

Front abs cable stretching, dry solder joints on the instrument cluster and where the loom passes from the body to the tailgate, the rubber sock rubs on the body and if you have an earlier car the part where it rubs doesn't have the protective sticker

[@CarFocused]

Thanks 👍🏻👍🏻

[@stevengoemaere966]

Owned mine over 10 years, no issues othder than a replacement of a battery and 2 keys he didn’t recognized anmore. Loved watching your video and tips. Greetz from belgium

[@CarFocused]

Hey! Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it 😃

[@garymorris801]

very good gazza

[@CarFocused]

Thanks mate 😊

[@jamiemclaughlin9710]

we had this conversation a few weeks back about daily driving haha i knew i wasnt the only one asking. Great vid

[@CarFocused]

Thank you mate 😊

[@stephenstyles4938]

❤😊 nice gary

[@JL-us7wb]

My dream car

[@JL-us7wb]

Picking up my first ST tomorrow new puma. Taken 33 years but finally got one. Hopefully get an RS one day!

[@shaunlovesey4689]

Just one question on this one... you mention eBay a few times, just wondered if you can still get parts from a Ford dealer as they must still have to service some mk2 Focus's be it RS or not.....interesting to hear about some of the design faults on the car which I found annoying as well when I ran mine ....but mainly due to the RS being derived from a family car built to a cost budget ...so can be explained...look forward to the next one...👍

[@CarFocused]

Hi mate - yes you can still pop into your local Ford dealer and order parts, however it’s usually a bit more expensive. The Ford store on eBay along with some others on there are good and it’s just more convenient tbh 😊

[@chrisryanst]

Some good pin points but one you missed, take the oil filler cap off if the inside of it is a milky coloured substance then walk away from it, also with the engine on tickover over you can hear a funny noise then again remove the oil cap if the noise stops then again walk away

[@CarFocused]

Thanks Chris. Was just trying to narrow it down to the little niggles affecting the RS. I was going to talk about the Oil Filter housing too but they rectified it on the later cars with a slightly revised item - they actually have slightly different part numbers. I’m sure there’s more I’ve missed though 😂

[@David-rv9kj]

white sludge under oil cap doesnt mean anything, it will build up if you only start it up for short periods of time often, mine have had white sludge and now it doesnt, its not dangerous,

[@chrisryanst]

@@David-rv9kj What about the noise issue?

[@David-rv9kj]

@@chrisryanst i dont know anything about that, never had any issues like it, mine has 106k miles only problems are slight rust in fenders and changed rear subframe thats it

[@stevenhoughton1406]

I'd love a Focus RS but car theft in my city Birmingham is out of control. I had my Stealth Grey 2016 ST3 robbed of my drive not long ago. And one of my neighbours had his Ford Mustang robbed a couple of weeks ago. Beautiful car but I'd be a bag of nerves owning one

[@CarFocused]

That’s a shame mate 😢 If I’m ever looking for a new car I always ignore the ones from Birmingham as I never quite trust they’re straight 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@amanmatharoo5010]

Yh I’d never get a car from certain places like in bham or Luton or ilford etc so dodgy

[@markpayne4067]

You need Pandora car alarm. Have a blue tooth tag and the car won't start without it. If you get car jacked the car will shutdown within two minutes.

[@Truthteller886]

Great video bro he’s a question, I’m trying to connect my phone via blue tooth top,ay music through it, I heard there’s some kinda download you can do via a usb to update the stereo system? Any ideas? Also my usb point when I connect my phone always charges and disconnects constantly..again any ideas on fixes 🤝🤝🤝🍺

[@CarFocused]

Yes Bluetooth audio requires an audio update with software - I have no idea how to do it but there is a guide on the focusrsoc forum I believe! My USB works fine and my iPhone comes up as ‘iPod’ on the screen and I play my music that way.

[@johnbevan7157]

I’ve had the reverse switch issue and the dry joints on the circuit board on the instrument cluster. The dry joints can cause weird and wonderful issues 🙂

[@CarFocused]

Something I’m not looking forward to if it happens 😂

[@johnbevan7157]

@@CarFocused to be honest I was gutted but I was lucky to find a decent garage who was able to find the issue and get it sorted and it wasn’t that expensive. I ended up replacing my radiator for a pro alloy item when I had the engine forged. Another issue which was discovered at the time was my air conditioner radiator was leaking so that had to be replaced.

[@CarFocused]

@@johnbevan7157 I was quite lucky to get a new rad for around £180 from Ford on eBay - seems to be discontinued on there now though. Would have loved a Pro one but the warrant company weren’t keen 😂 It’s funny how these things break even when they sit in the garage doing nothing most of the time haha.

[@johnbevan7157]

@@CarFocused yeah gotta love self harming cars 😂

[@CarFocused]

@@johnbevan7157 😂😂

[@Ford84]

How the hell has it been 4 years already!? The reveal video feels like it dropped last month! 😂

[@CarFocused]

Mental isn’t it!! Time flies!

[@scottpearson7369]

Recently see your video regarding fjrs thanks for that took my mk3 to Fred and yeah a few issues that the main dealer ignored…. I see you’ve had both mk3 and mk2 now what’s the pros and cons of both? I have a mk3 but the mk2 is a itch I need to scratch just wary or going to a older model etc.

[@CarFocused]

I made a video on this mate I’ll try and find it….

[@CarFocused]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3-6c3-Xr7SErq8

[@scottpearson7369]

@@CarFocused thanks I’ll watch it tonight 👍🏻

[@philatkinson1983]

Do you have the ford part numbers handy for those rest glass trims?

[@CarFocused]

1539802 is the NS, can’t remember the OS but it’s just one number different to the NS.

[@life101ization]

It’s the same in Ireland.. I sold my car this year and dealer gave me 600 euro back + my new car so my 2nd had car was worth just as much as the new car and it’s a Kia sportage😅

[@Ryanismint82]

Could you do one of these for the cupra ?

[@CarFocused]

I’m not 100% clued up the Cupra to do a buyers guide, if it breaks I just take it in under warranty 😂🙈

[@CAMORAITALIA]

👍👍

[@TimeTraveller3256]

Is this the particular model where they had the serious misfire from ford fitting incorrect head gasket ?

[@bigboost2641]

No that’s the Mk3 RS 2016 on.

[@lastexile1187]

You can apply all of these to the mk2 STs as well, all except for the spoiler rattling issue. Same engine issues, pinch weld issues, same rear bumper/arch rust bubbling, same issue with droplinks and reversing camera (albeit on specced up STs and RS' only), same issues with headlamps and crud catching under the rear lamps, bolster wear on ST seats, handbrake levers, gearknobs and steering wheels. I will point out that you forgot about the ABS cable stretching issues on RS', also thats one thing the ST doesnt suffer.

[@CarFocused]

Ah bugger yes - this actually happened to my RS too! Made worse by lowering the car I believe?

[@lastexile1187]

@@CarFocused no idea. I heard it was more down to usage; cars doing lots of tight turns possibly in carparks etc? Fitting a whiteline anti lift kit probably doesnt help them either

[@davekennedy6315]

These mk Focus are a great car but they nearly all seem to leak water inside. Often the boot will be damp, spare wheel well full of water, rear passenger footwells also damp. This is a general Focus thing it appears as my Ghia has leaks, my parents estate also so maybe another consideration.

[@CarFocused]

It’s usually via the spoiler / tail lights I think. All need to be removed and be sealed up properly. Rear washer jet can also leak into the boot too. Luckily mine only gets wet when it gets washed haha.

[@therealtruth8386]

i think mine will need looking at the rad issues you talk about I've felt the sponge at the bottom of the rad its wet and there is what looks like coolant puddles at the bottom in 3 areas left hand side right hand side and middle does this sound like a rad issue?

[@CarFocused]

Certainly does mate 😢

[@therealtruth8386]

@CarFocused Fantastic luckily I've got warranty with the car and they have already agreed to fix anything that needs doing I take it car is still drivable? But to take it easy? And make sure the coolent doesn't drop to low? I drove it back 3 hours, and it seemed fine that's when I noticed that the coolent was really lol you must of drove your one on this issue? Or was you told about it?

[@CarFocused]

@@therealtruth8386 very similar situation to me - but once I found it was leaking I didn’t drive it until I took it back to the garage as I didn’t want to risk losing all the coolant and causing damage. I guess it’s a risk you have to weigh up yourself really….

[@therealtruth8386]

@CarFocused Thanks for your reply. I appreciated your info on this issue.

[@garethmilner7573]

Does the seat lower on the drivers side

[@CarFocused]

No, you have to buy a lowering kit but this will make it permanently lower.

[@keithstapleton7805]

How’s about a guide for build specs?

[@CarFocused]

That’s been done already by a lad I follow called James - I don’t think a general guide like this has though, not that I could see? It killed an hour on this rainy day anyway 😂

[@markpalmer9844]

How much should I pay for one in good condition?

[@CarFocused]

Between 25k - 30k I’d say. But the market is coming down at the moment, so who knows really!

[@jaketaylor5470]

Hope u remove them flies asap of the front bumper as they have been known to damage clear cote even if not left outside in the sun to bake.

[@CarFocused]

They get left on for ages mate never leave a mark when I wash it. The Cupra on the other hand is a different story! Bird shit immediately eats into the lacquer 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@MegaReddevil71]

The volvo 5 cylinder engine does have its faults barum engines do a post about this engine and its faults

[@joostonline5146]

Final thing to check: Make sure its Ultimate Green

[@CarFocused]

Colour match is a nightmare - better of with white at this time of rusty arches 😂😁

[@rockwellthivierge9193]

"Promosm"

[@CarFocused]

What am I promoting?lol

[@pauljohnson9326]

I do love my focus's although i will never own an st let alone an rs 😂😂 i find upkeep very expensive and as you say parts are stupid prices.....rs tax !!! Im currently on my 3rd focus which is a 1ltr titanium x and its my favourite by far with a nice kick . I know its weak to most ppl especially rs owners but i love them .

[@CarFocused]

Nothing wrong with that mate - enjoy it 😊