2009 Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec - We’ve got it again!
Discussion
My wife purchased this car brand new in 2009 (you can read about it here if you like), but in 2012 we sold it to my Dad as we wanted a bigger car, and one with more doors. He has owned it ever since, looked after it and had it serviced every year. It is now on 67,000 miles and it’s back with us for the winter!
My Dad has two cars, but as he’s older now my mum and dad don’t really go out independently to the point that they need a car each, so they have little use for two, and with this one being a smaller manual car it barely gets used. With no suitable runabout car for me for the winter I was looking at getting a shed of some description and he asked if I wanted to use this instead, to keep it all running well.
Happy to do so and it’s been great so far. It’s such an easy car to drive, capable and comfy but also nippy and sprightly and the big bonus that it comfortably fits into all parking spaces without a problem; very liberating!
I’ve purchased some new carpet mats for it from Ford, but a couple of things need fixing (window washers and hazard light button not working), it is booked in with my mechanic on Tuesday to have a look.
It’s nice to have it back, the little pink thing that it is:
Pics from when we purchased it all those years ago!
My Dad has two cars, but as he’s older now my mum and dad don’t really go out independently to the point that they need a car each, so they have little use for two, and with this one being a smaller manual car it barely gets used. With no suitable runabout car for me for the winter I was looking at getting a shed of some description and he asked if I wanted to use this instead, to keep it all running well.
Happy to do so and it’s been great so far. It’s such an easy car to drive, capable and comfy but also nippy and sprightly and the big bonus that it comfortably fits into all parking spaces without a problem; very liberating!
I’ve purchased some new carpet mats for it from Ford, but a couple of things need fixing (window washers and hazard light button not working), it is booked in with my mechanic on Tuesday to have a look.
It’s nice to have it back, the little pink thing that it is:
Pics from when we purchased it all those years ago!
These are great cars. They drive so nicely, and the styling is holding up well.
My mother-in-law bought one new in 2014 and ran it for 8 years until she gave up driving. The only thing it ever needed outside of servicing and tyres was a battery about 6 years in. Utterly reliable.
Unusual 2 tone dash in yours as well. Looks good.
My mother-in-law bought one new in 2014 and ran it for 8 years until she gave up driving. The only thing it ever needed outside of servicing and tyres was a battery about 6 years in. Utterly reliable.
Unusual 2 tone dash in yours as well. Looks good.
Limpet said:
These are great cars. They drive so nicely, and the styling is holding up well.
My mother-in-law bought one new in 2014 and ran it for 8 years until she gave up driving. The only thing it ever needed outside of servicing and tyres was a battery about 6 years in. Utterly reliable.
Unusual 2 tone dash in yours as well. Looks good.
Thanks! I agree, it drives excellent, I really like it - and it’s so small it’s easy to park in any car park too.My mother-in-law bought one new in 2014 and ran it for 8 years until she gave up driving. The only thing it ever needed outside of servicing and tyres was a battery about 6 years in. Utterly reliable.
Unusual 2 tone dash in yours as well. Looks good.
The dash was optional for the pink car when we purchased it. We could have opted for the standard black, but wifey wanted the pink to match the exterior and life the mood inside a bit too.
I’ve had the windscreen washers fixed, which required a new pump so glad that’s all sorted for a very reasonable £42. I also had some new wipers fitted at the same time as they were skipping across the windscreen which seems to be a telltale sign that you need new ones. They are whisper quiet now.
My mechanic also noted that the reason the air con isn’t working is because there is a leak in the condenser, so that’ll explain that. I’d like to get it fixed, but I’d only be fixing it for the sake of it, as for what it gets used for it wouldn’t really be worth it. Maybe if we have a mega summer then I’ll consider it.
Cloudy147 said:
My mechanic also noted that the reason the air con isn’t working is because there is a leak in the condenser, so that’ll explain that. I’d like to get it fixed, but I’d only be fixing it for the sake of it, as for what it gets used for it wouldn’t really be worth it. Maybe if we have a mega summer then I’ll consider it.
I never had our Fiesta a/c condenser repaired. It was one of those "one day" jobs. We just opened the walindows on hot days, like people in ancient times.
I’ve been bezzing about in the Fiesta now for a couple of months, and really enjoying it.
It’s a small car but plenty of room and comfort inside. It fits in all parking spaces without having to worry. It’s nippy and will cruise on the motorway at 70mph easy peasy. The only downside (and was the main reason for selling the car in the first place all those years ago): It’s a 3-door. These look cool but practicality is rubbish for anyone having to scramble in and out of the back.
Only issue so far is the window washer pump stopped pumping, so I had that replaced by my trusty mechanic along with some new wiper blades.
I gave it a bath at the weekend as the weather was nice, still comes up good! Averaging 39.9mpg over my current custodianship to date.
Next up will be a service in a few weeks time.
It’s a small car but plenty of room and comfort inside. It fits in all parking spaces without having to worry. It’s nippy and will cruise on the motorway at 70mph easy peasy. The only downside (and was the main reason for selling the car in the first place all those years ago): It’s a 3-door. These look cool but practicality is rubbish for anyone having to scramble in and out of the back.
Only issue so far is the window washer pump stopped pumping, so I had that replaced by my trusty mechanic along with some new wiper blades.
I gave it a bath at the weekend as the weather was nice, still comes up good! Averaging 39.9mpg over my current custodianship to date.
Next up will be a service in a few weeks time.
Cloudy147 said:
I’ve been bezzing about in the Fiesta now for a couple of months, and really enjoying it.
It’s a small car but plenty of room and comfort inside. It fits in all parking spaces without having to worry. It’s nippy and will cruise on the motorway at 70mph easy peasy.
Great news.It’s a small car but plenty of room and comfort inside. It fits in all parking spaces without having to worry. It’s nippy and will cruise on the motorway at 70mph easy peasy.
I hope that it is also getting a bit of exuberant, twisty back roads, driving, as that is where they really shine.
These are great wee cars.. I’m sure this is the colour they used in the adverts for them when they were new and yours looks immaculate.
I remember when I was studying, I had a job working as a driver moving cars around between branches for a car hire company.
One of the jobs was to take something mundane and forgettable up to Aberdeen from Dundee.. and I was bringing back a new (at the time) MK7 Fiesta 1.6 ZetecS, but rather than taking the dual carriageway back, I chose to stick to back roads instead and it was a superb drive. Ford really knew how to make cars handle.
I remember when I was studying, I had a job working as a driver moving cars around between branches for a car hire company.
One of the jobs was to take something mundane and forgettable up to Aberdeen from Dundee.. and I was bringing back a new (at the time) MK7 Fiesta 1.6 ZetecS, but rather than taking the dual carriageway back, I chose to stick to back roads instead and it was a superb drive. Ford really knew how to make cars handle.
It's looking really smart, and while 3 doors then to look better than 5 door models getting in and out of the back can be a challenge when you're getting older like me!
My nephews ex had a 5 door one that colour and was always rubbing in her £30 a year Road Tax because it was a diesel. That came back to bite her though as she lives in a London Borough so it had to go as it wasn't ULEZ compliant.
It must work really well as a daily driver.
My nephews ex had a 5 door one that colour and was always rubbing in her £30 a year Road Tax because it was a diesel. That came back to bite her though as she lives in a London Borough so it had to go as it wasn't ULEZ compliant.
It must work really well as a daily driver.
My Mother kindly gave me a ‘12 plate 1.25 Zetec, I commuted from Skipton to Harrogate in it for a couple of years. I’ve had some of the best handling hot hatches in my 48 years, that Fiesta was a joy to drive. It proved to me you don’t need solid suspension to have fun making progress.
It’s been a year or so since the last post and the Fiesta is still going strong. We are approaching 74,000 miles now and the little car is still performing well. Since the last update it has had a service last year, and is now due another so I will get that booked in soon. It has also had two new tyres, but other than that just fuel, tax and insurance.
Such an easy car to own and so very straightforward to park and drive about, a perfect size for the UKs narrower roads, but also competent enough on a motorway too.
There is a 50 year celebration of the Fiesta this weekend at The Motorist cafe, so I’ve purchased an exhibitor ticket as the organiser was looking for non-sports models to be part of the display.
Motivation for a good clean and polish - probably the first polish in quite a few years I expect! My Dad always kept it clean, but I don’t think he polished it very often.
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A bit of polish, mid way through
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Restored the plastic colours, before and after.
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It came up really well and the shine is fabulous. It has highlighted a couple of repairs required on the exterior. On the passenger side there is what looks to be a little ding/dent mark which I think I can get pulled out by a dent master, and on the other side is a re-repair required for a car-park ding that occurred back when we first owned the car about 15 years ago. The lacquer has faded and it doesn’t look great, so I am going to get Chips Away out to restore that soon.
It came up really nice and shiny!
I thought I’d use the opportunity to post as its a good reason as any to show off my handy work.
Edited by Cloudy147 on Tuesday 12th May 18:56
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