Used test: Ford Focus ST vs Honda Civic Type R: costs

Buying and owning

Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security

New, the Ford Focus ST was the pricier car by £500, but bought here at a year old it’s the cheaper by £2500. As far as buying it now goes, that sounds like a good deal but bear in mind that this points to the ST’s heavier depreciation compared with the Honda Civic Type R, which if it were to carry on over the years of your ownership, could end up adding to your overall running costs when it comes time to sell it. 

The Type R is likely to be more expensive to run day to day, though. It’s cheaper to fuel, going by our test figure of 34.8mpg, versus 32.1mpg for the ST, which equates to an advantage of around £500 over three years of average mileage use. But the Type R is more expensive to service, costing £2860 over three years to the ST’s £1388, and it’s more expensive to insure at £3006 to £2658 over the same period, too. 

Both cars come with lots of standard kit, including keyless entry, adaptive cruise control, alloy wheels (19in on the ST and 20in on the Type R) and privacy glass. The ST goes further, adding power-folding door mirrors, a heated windscreen, heated front seats and climate control (vs the Type R’s manual air-con).

Our contenders are equal on a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating and for safety kit, which includes standard automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and lane-keeping assistance. 

In our most recent reliability survey, the Focus finished in 13th place in the family car class, while the Civic was 15th. Ford as a brand finished in 18th place out of 31 manufacturers, while Honda came higher in eighth place.

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