First Car - Fiesta 1.3 1999

[43034]

Now the real learning begins! (well, if I pass my test on Thursday that is)

Im not sure if many people know, but for my first car I really was hoping for a classic. Looked at MGBs first but then moved on to(and settled on) Vauxhall Chevettes and Cortina Mk3s. Sadly, my dream wasn't too realistic, the cars are rare and hard to come by and my parents weren't too keen on the idea (when they're paying for some of the insurance, they do get an opinion )

So I started my search for modern cars, the choices were purely dictated by insurance, whatever was cheapest was what I would buy. However I realised that some of the cars with more expensive insurance were cheaper to buy and it made the overall package cheaper!

So here it is, a Mk4 Fiesta with 118k () on the clock. It's not perfect but for a first car, who cares! No plans to modify it (other than a PH sticker) and it has a Halfords Special gear knob on, so that will be removed for something nicer!

Should be picking it up tomorrow but for the mean time, here are some pictures from the ad:








Cheers!
43034

Edited by 43034 on Sunday 31st July 15:08

Edited by 43034 on Sunday 31st July 23:00

[Jimmy No Hands]

I had a burgundy one for my first car too, and it was brilliant. Never missed a beat. Nippy little thing too for what it was. Did my first road trip with a mate down to Wales in it and slept in it with the seats down.

Lovely little motor, hope it serves you as good as mine did.

[soad]

Looks alright, they're nippy enough.
Learned to drive in one of those too!

[Classic Grad 98]

If it makes you feel any better, the engine in that car is pretty classic! The design is a relic from the overhead valve crossflows etc... Tough though, arguably better longevity than the 1.25 twincam which they started putting in the later cars.
Not bad at all and the fiestas are a fun drive.

[Jw Vw]

Good runabout for a first car OP

[James Dean]

That's a mk4, not a mk3.

[vit4]

Great cars One of my friends has a similar one, except green. Only thing I don't like is how easily I smash my head in it (I'm 6'2).


Regarding the engine, it's pretty much the same as in my '89 Ford Escort. Not exactly a tower of power but absolutely faultless if looked after; certainly mine has never put a foot wrong. At higher mileages they burn a bit of oil IME so worth keeping an eye on that; aforementioned friend very nearly seized her engine although her's is on 132k and thrashed to buggery Know a few people with the engine in Escorts/Kas/Fiestas and can't think of one who has had an issue except the oil burning

[DJC]

43034 said:

So here it is, a Mk3 Fiesta with 118k () on the clock. It's not perfect but for a first car, who cares! No plans to modify it (other than a PH sticker) and it has a Halfords Special gear knob on, so that will be removed for something nicer!

Cheers!
43034

Looks clean, but isn't it a Mk4 ?

[43034]

Yes it is a Mk4 sorry folks, I had a tab open with Cortina Mk3s on it so 3 was on the brain!

Cheers for the comments though everyone - The annoying thing is, my brother is selling a perfect 1.25 Freestyle but I can't even think about getting it due to insurance (75bhp on it vice the 60 in 1.3 makes the premium increase by 1200 quid!!!).

[visual123]

I had one as my first car (albeit with more doors for more wes) and despite lacking power it was a hoot. Except in the wet, when Pirelli P6000s meant understeery mess. Still fun though I guess. Could be chucked around as much as you liked. Hope you enjoy it.

[AshBaldry]

Bought one of these for £140 before the snow hit,car got me through brilliantly! Sold it 6months afterwards,condemned MOT meant I had to weigh it in...for £140 result.

[Arthur Daley]

Not bad for a first car, 1.3 Endura effort sounds like a skeleton knocking one out in a filing cabinet though!

[james_gt3rs]

Good luck on your test and nice car!

[Mastodon2]

43034 said:

Yes it is a Mk4 sorry folks, I had a tab open with Cortina Mk3s on it so 3 was on the brain!

Cheers for the comments though everyone - The annoying thing is, my brother is selling a perfect 1.25 Freestyle but I can't even think about getting it due to insurance (75bhp on it vice the 60 in 1.3 makes the premium increase by 1200 quid!!!).

No need to feel bad, 12bhp is not much, even if you consider it as a percentage BHP bonus over your cars figure. 72bhp is still a miniscule figure!

Anyway, I had a Mk4 facelift with the same Endura 1.3L engine as my first car and it was great. Used a lot of petrol (the 1.8L 20 valve Turbo Cupra R that replaced it does not get much worse mpg!) and would not really go above the 35mpg mark day to day, but it always returned that whether you ragged it or drove it slowly.

Mine had a few niggles - cheap hoses splitting under the bonnet, a coolant junction rusted through and the car shat it's coolant out a week after I got it, a gasket in the intake manifold split, but other than that it was ok. The car was 8 years old with only 18,000 miles on it, so perhaps the time sitting around doing nothing didn't help it, even though it had been serviced annually and only doing about 3000 miles a year.

Mine rusted at the rear arches though, and I washed my car weekly, year round! These cars have a carpet undertray at the back instead of metal. It traps dirt, salt and a moisture, causing the rear arches to rot away quickly. You don't see the problem on the front sills for a reason!

They are unstoppable on in the snow too, the little biscuit tins wheels cut through the white stuff easily. I drove mine up hills that most other drivers didn't even attempt, with ease, and through over a foot of snow at times. The only thing was that it seemed to hold moisture inside (pooled on the rubber mats when I got in with wet shoes) which in the depths of winter would condense on every window of the car and freeze, probably because the car lacked much heat insulation! Never thought I'd be scraping the inside of my car windows, but there you go. These cars in terms of design are a bit of a relic in many ways, but they are cheap and tough, and not so good looking that if you prang it, and you could we kerb, prang and scrape it as a new driver, that you shouldn't have to get too upset!

[Perd Hapley]

It's good, I like the 'sad face' Fiestas.

A nice stopgap until you qualify for classic insurance and can start smoking around in a Cortina

[2thumbs]

Fantastic little cars these, I've bought & sold hundreds of the things over the years & the only major issue is rust.
One of my favorite cars

[43034]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone (especially Mastodon2 for the long post!).

I understand it isn't very PH but i'm pleased with it and as others have said, something I can kerb the steelies in () and not worry too much about it (although I will take care of it!).

I was speaking to my boss in work today (drives a Mk1 Escort and is building an Ultima GTR with a Chevvy V8, had a Manta with a rover V8 in too - if anyone cares) and he was convincing me to get a large brake kit for it. "If you can't beat them with speed, beat them with stopping power" were his words. Nice idea, not at all realistic though, sadly!

It comes with 12months MOT and 6 months tax which is nothing to grumble about!

Edited by 43034 on Monday 1st August 11:51

[Mastodon2]

43034 said:

Thanks for the nice comments everyone (especially Mastodon2 for the long post!).

I understand it isn't very PH but i'm pleased with it and as others have said, something I can kerb the steelies in () and not worry too much about it (although I will take care of it!).

I was speaking to my boss in work today (drives a Mk1 Escort and is building an Ultima GTR with a Chevvy V8, had a Manta with a rover V8 in too - if anyone cares) and he was convincing me to get a large brake kit for it. "If you can't beat them with spead, beat them with stopping power" were his words. Nice idea, not at all realistic though, sadly!

It comes with 12months MOT and 6 months tax which is nothing to grumble about!

Yeah I wouldn't bother fitting big brakes. You won't get anything great behind the 15" wheels anyway, and putting bigger wheels on it would make the car look stupid, ride worse (mine was already quite stiffly sprung for a little shopping car) and handle worse. The standard brakes are crap with their disc / drum set up and it doesn't take that much hard use to overheat them and start experiencing fade. You might be able beat faster cars with a combination of light-weight and stopping power, but when you consider that the average dull TDI hatchback will have twice as much BHP as you anyway, you will still get smoked if you try to hoon it in the Fiesta, and those brakes will start feeling like a pile of wasted money!

[al1991]

They're great!

They're not too slow, and handle nicely. If you ever have the misfortune to drive a Corsa from a similar era, the Fiesta beats it hands down. Gears that engage without soup stirring and reasonably feelsome steering.

Mine never got stuck in the snow, and you'd be amazed how many people and things you can fit in 'em!

Wouldn't recommend sex in it though, not comfortable

[snotrag]

Nearly all of my close friends had Mk3 1.1 or 1.3 Fiestas as first cars (I broke the mould and had an Escort, 16V no less!)

Nearly all of them had the obligatory RS Turbo bodykit and Alloys too.

They are perfect for a first car - parts are so cheap and easy to work on. Basically, if you've found one without too much rust, and it starts and drives, your sorted. The engines are properly old fashioned, but they just keep going and going.

The Mk4 adds a slightly more moder dash and bits and bobs. You can get the Ford 'RDS 5000' (iirc) double din CD players on ebay which fit straight in and will be a bit more useful than the casette version it no doubt has.

Also - the main thing these fiestas have going for them - no matter how rubbish you think they are - they are infinitely better than an equivalent Corsa/Nova.