First car: 2001 MK5 Ford Fiesta 1.3

[GTiFrank]

Fantastic car, I had a purple 1.25 MK IV and loved every minuet, the chassis and the steering were superb. Owned it from 17-20yo taught me a lot about car control, no abs, no tcs, no power steering, great driving position. I had an indicated 115mph (down hill) out of it. The 73bhp engine mated to terrible 155/80/13 Enduro tyres meant it could burnout for britain! Could churp the tyres flat shifting form 2nd-3rd . Any considering how i drove it, was reasonably reliable, engine bulletproof, suspension, handbrake, bushes and clutch are not! (although I'd Imagine the driver could be partially to blame here

[Gooly]

GTiFrank said:

Could churp the tyres flat shifting form 2nd-3rd .

Mine does this haha , my mum wasnt as impressed as I was!

[Gooly]

Went out on my own today, great fun to be able to drive without having someone at my ear! Went well other than me getting slightly overconfident with the fez's (frankly awful) turning circle and scraping my mum's accord whilst parking up. Unpainted plastic bumper trims saved the day and all that was left was a mark which i buffed out, hopefully she wont notice...

[vit4]

Regarding the clutch if it's that low mileage one-owner type, I wouldn't be surprised if they were the sort to do parking manoeuvers at 5000 rpm I know of a few people with old but low mileage cars (including our Escort when we got it on 30,000) where the clutches have been shagged out.

[iggysport]

Rubbish engine, can't believe how many relatively modern looking fords used it.

Good looking car though, not that many young drivers have fiestas from what i have seen, most of them are in corsa/saxo/clio/106.

Nearly bought a Fiesta 1.25 as my first car but ended up buying a 1.3 Kia Rio for the sake of being different... Needless to say i regret that

[0a]

Gooly said:

Went out on my own today, great fun to be able to drive without having someone at my ear! Went well other than me getting slightly overconfident with the fez's (frankly awful) turning circle and scraping my mum's accord whilst parking up. Unpainted plastic bumper trims saved the day and all that was left was a mark which i buffed out, hopefully she wont notice...

Good to hear that chap. Do be careful and don't get overconfident. It's an excellent first car.

I purchased a similar car for my sister as her first car and the bint wrote it off at 75k through a lack of care regarding servicing and oil (she's several hundred miles away; I purchase tyres as a Christmas present to give you an indication).

I was pretty annoyed as when I drove it it was a great car; it needed nothing, handled well and had 100k in it given the age/durability of the engine.

I suspect they may be sensitive to regular oil changes.

[David87]

A splendid choice. I had a Fiesta 1.25 Zetec as my first runabout (in the days when a 17-year-old could reasonably insure one!) and it was a brilliant little car. I do hope you enjoy yours.

[P I Staker]

Gooly said:

Admiral. Single car policy in my name with my two provisional sisters as named drivers.

Thanks, ill give them a go.

[al1991]

Gooly said:

however after some calm time with the car I have noticed that the clutch seems to be on it's last legs, which is worrying considering it's "only done 44k miles". The biting point seems to be in the last 1/4 of travel.

Mine was the same, really high biting point.

It's lasted 3 years, 0 problems.

Mine had 36K when we got it.

[Gooly]

Thank you, that's reassuring to know. I've heard people say ford clutches in general are unusual in how they feel and the like, but I haven't really noticed much else other than that.

Anyway, had a bit of free time so I learnt how to do most things, finally worked out the central locking from the inside (Very simple and intuitive, just push the door handles in), found out that the standard speakers are actually quite good, and also looked through some random bits n bobs left behind by the previous owner, including a tape (Haven't listened to it yet), a few pens, old tax disks, numerous large bolts, and a metal screw pull.

Haven't worked out how to access the spare tire yet (hopefully I won't need to but I'd rather work out where it is now than on a rainy cold roadside), it doesn't seem to be under the boot floor? I pulled the carpet up and all there was was just a solid metal underpan.

Lots of grass, hay, and bits of mud and wood in there as well, previous owner must have been quite green fingered (or a murderer); I may be stereotyping but that probably means he/she was of the older variety and hopefully didn't rag the fez too much, haha

[smugglersvin]

I just got rid of a Endura engined Fiesta Van, and must say it did drive well, as for the spare wheel just look under the back of car and you will find the spare wheel underneath, you undo the cradle by turning a screw in the boot floor and the cradle will drop down with the spare wheel.
Well I think that's how it works.
At least with the old Endura you wont have to worry about a cam belt as its chain driven and it feels like it has a little more torque than the zetec.

[Mastodon2]

Gooly said:

Went out on my own today, great fun to be able to drive without having someone at my ear! Went well other than me getting slightly overconfident with the fez's (frankly awful) turning circle and scraping my mum's accord whilst parking up. Unpainted plastic bumper trims saved the day and all that was left was a mark which i buffed out, hopefully she wont notice...

I think you are getting carried away with yourself - I had an Fiesta Flight 1.3L and the turning circle on that was very tight, it put's the cars I've owned since to shame. Narrow body, skinny little tyres, it's built to turn tightly. Perhaps if you told your mother you had hit her car she would give you a bking and leave it at that, what will she think if you give her reason to believe you are not to be trusted when she finds her scraped up Accord?

Other than that, enjoy it. I thought mine was a great car, slow as hell but it took some stick and made it across some of Northumberland's twistiest routes in good time, it was mint in the snow too.

[Gooly]

Went for a morning drive on my own, the smile this thing puts on my face is unreal.

Also, I wanna buy a cassete-->3.5mm jack adapter, looking at this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-CPA9-AE-Car-cassette-... . Lots of a good reviews but a few very bad ones as well, has anyone got any experience with these?

Also, yeah the turning circle thing was more my fault than anyones really, I do need practise with parallel parking.

[KingNothing]

My first car was an S Reg Mk.4 1.3 Finesse, great little car, should have kept it, got a hankering for a track car now, and it would have made a good starting block for 1.7 conversion rather than getting rid of it for 100.

And I used a cassette thing like that on mine until I bought a decent FM transmitter, did the job

[bilsland]

The only reason to buy a 1st car is the learn how to:

A) scuff wheels
B) get keyed
C) scuff other cars (and apologise nicely)
D) trash the clutch, head gasket
E) learn how much motoring can cost!

Get it all out if your system and you'll never forget your first car! But be careful...

Buy the casette player thing from Halfords - it's absolutely fine. If the sound quality is clicky just walk back in and swap for another one!

[Gooly]

Took the car to college today and also went out with mates afterwards, probably drove about 35 miles total. New roads and unknown areas, got lost a couple of times but it was a good drive. Cost of petrol is hitting me hard though :/

[Gooly]

Haven't updated this in a while. Since monday, I've:

Bought a cassete tape adapter (Sony one, works great) and discoved the standard speakers are quite good.
Discovered power understeer on FWD cars in the wet
Realised just how bad the MPG is on the ol' Endura block (don't want to think about how much I've spent on petrol).
Found out just how bad it is to drive in Central London on a friday night.
Learnt that you should always check how much the parking costs before you park there. £18 for three hours!!! That's Central London for you I guess... luckily my mates chipped in, otherwise I'd be trapped there (pay as you leave type affair)
Realised just how much four people in the car affects performance when you have 50ish BHP on tap.
Developed a hatred for MLMs and 45MPH cruisers which will no doubt stay with me for life.
Realised that I either need to improve my map reading skills, get internet on my phone contract or buy a tomtom. Getting lost is costing me alot of petrol.
Taught myself how to double clutch downshift, it'll hopefully partly make up for the abuse I give my clutch when pulling away sometimes...
Attempted to do a burnout in front of a girl on a dry day (didn't *really* think that through to be honest). Realised that 175 section continentals > handbrake; car bolted off with barely a chirp of the tires... Laughed it off, crying inside... (was in an empty place, no damage done or anything)

Two problems so far (other than my general immense stupidity) which will require attention at some point;

The front left suspension is squeaking and I *think* the car is pulling to the left slightly worn bushing possibly? I know that Fords of this era have had known problems with front suspension components. Hopefully it won't be expensive...

I was going down a long, empty, wide, barriered two lane main road at a reasonable pace when I spotted a speed camera just a tad too late (30MPH limit) I decked the brakes (didn't realise these don't have ABS , and yes I did make sure there was nobody behind me before I slowed down) and got the speed down to 20 by the end of the white markings indicating the camera range. Hoping the "average" time over the camera range was sub 35MPH, or just that the camera wasn't active. Will be holding my breath for the next two-three weeks, hopefully a ticket won't come... if I did get clocked speeding, will I be able to take a speed awareness course instead of points or something similar?

Edit: Well I found out that you can look up a car's MOT history online. When I bought this Fiesta it came with a full wad of MOT passes, but the seller had neglected to give me the fails...

So we start with:
Approximate date of first use:
21/11/2001

All fine and dandy.

Two passed MOTs, and then this;

Date of test:
22/09/2007

Certificate issue refused (Fail)

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate

Nearside Rear Shock absorber has negligible damping effect (2.7.5)

Advisory Notice issued

Offside Rear Shock absorber has a slightly reduced damping effect (2.7.5)

Nearside Front Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Offside Front Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)


Then this:

Date of test:
02/10/2008

Certificate issue refused (Fail)

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate

Front Anti-roll bar rubber mounting deteriorated resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Parking brake lever has no reserve travel (3.1.6b)

Front Boths sides Tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (4.1.E.1)

Offside Rear Stop lamp not working (1.2.1b)

Advisory Notice issued

R Tyres geting low


Then this:

Date of test:
06/09/2010

Certificate issue refused (Fail)

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate

Nearside Rear Tyre has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (4.1.D.1a)

Advisory Notice issued

Offside Front inner Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Nearside Front inner Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Nearside Front outer edge Road wheel with a slightly distorted bead rim (4.2.A.1a)

Offside rear tyre perished outerside wall


Then this:

Date of test:
29/09/2011

Certificate issue refused (Fail)

Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate

Offside Front Coil spring incomplete (2.4.C.1a)

Windscreen has damage to an area in excess of a 10mm circle within zone 'A' (8.3.1a)

Parking brake efficiency below requirements (3.7.A.10)

No Advisory Notice issued

The car had an MOT till October, that's not the issue; the issue is that it's evidently had problems with the front suspension over the years, and it's probably gonna throw something at me at some point in the future. Plus, looking over the fails and advisorys, the previous owners obviously hadn't taken much care of the car at all; front tires below legal limit, rear tired deflated, cut tires, broken handbrake, broken taillights...


Kicking myself for not checking this before I bought the car, wasn't even aware that you could check MOT history online.

Edited by Gooly on Saturday 24th March 21:06