What's happening to me?

[Blue Oval84]

I'm sat browsing Autotrader on behalf of a friend who's looking to chop in her C2 Sensodrive for a car that works reliably, she quite likes Fiestas and is looking at the bottom end of the market.

I've started looking at these properly old little cars, such as:-

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

and find myself sat here thinking about how tempted I am to actually buy one myself.

I cut my automotive teeth with three Fiestas in a row, and suddenly a little simple old Fiesta with nothing to go wrong (I mean a 1.8 non-turbo D, it's gonna run through the Zombie Apocalypse right?) is looking damn attractive as it would allow me to continue to run my Z4 alongside as a fun car, with a Fiesta for the work trudge.

Must go back to the barge thread and remind myself that every few weeks my work trudge includes 300 miles of motorway...

[v8will]

Those old diesel Fiestas are awful and require very strict timing belt changes. Awful I say!

If you want a diesel chugger then something like a 306 will be the way to go or indeed the cleanest petrol Fezzer you can find.

[HustleRussell]

If I wanted a small, simple , cheap oil burner, I think I'd go Citroen ZX, Peugeot 205 or 105. Tough stuff.

[Fox-]

You have a 530i and a Z4. The ideal two car garage. Leave the Fiestas alone.

[Baryonyx]

A friend of mine used to have a Fiesta 1.8 D a few years ago. It was like a tractor off the line but seemed quite quick once up to speed. I suspect were I to try it today it would seem glacially slow. I wouldn't be getting excited about the thought of getting one of these.

[Digby]

It happend to me, too.It all started with an astra sport I got to keep the mileage down on my Audi.I took it to an entirely new level though and go through probably five or ten "snotters" every year.Even the cars I would class as best, never cost a great deal any longer.It's great fun and addictive.I almost constantly look at £500 bargains on retro rides etc and end up with anything that takes my fancy.The last two (still have) include a HiJet mini van and a Subaru Justy 4x4.

[Fox-]

Digby said:

It happend to me, too.It all started with an astra sport I got to keep the mileage down on my Audi.

You bought an Astra to keep the mileage down on a 1.8 A4?!

[r1ch]

Rust aside, i quite like those old Fiesta's. They feel quite well screwed together (worth noting i drive a 205 lol) - Apart from the fact that my mothers was 90% welded in the end before she scrapped it, was a good little car.

[nagsheadwarrior]

Digby said:

It happend to me, too.It all started with an astra sport I got to keep the mileage down on my Audi.I took it to an entirely new level though and go through probably five or ten "snotters" every year.Even the cars I would class as best, never cost a great deal any longer.It's great fun and addictive.I almost constantly look at £500 bargains on retro rides etc and end up with anything that takes my fancy.The last two (still have) include a HiJet mini van and a Subaru Justy 4x4.

Thats the spirit, I've permanently got two 1 or 2 keepers and another couple on rotation til I get bored, lifes too short for sticking with te same cars,turn and burn!

[Digby]

Fox- said:

Digby said:

It happend to me, too.It all started with an astra sport I got to keep the mileage down on my Audi.

You bought an Astra to keep the mileage down on a 1.8 A4?!

Hated leaving it at work aswell.The place was full of idiots and cement dust.I don't much like either!

[Digby]

nagsheadwarrior said:

Digby said:

It happend to me, too.It all started with an astra sport I got to keep the mileage down on my Audi.I took it to an entirely new level though and go through probably five or ten "snotters" every year.Even the cars I would class as best, never cost a great deal any longer.It's great fun and addictive.I almost constantly look at £500 bargains on retro rides etc and end up with anything that takes my fancy.The last two (still have) include a HiJet mini van and a Subaru Justy 4x4.

Thats the spirit, I've permanently got two 1 or 2 keepers and another couple on rotation til I get bored, lifes too short for sticking with te same cars,turn and burn!

I'm fortunate to have a best mate with a nice transporter, too.We often collect little "gems" and once bored, off they go on the back again to the knacker's yard.He gets to break them and sell bits, I get the scrap money back.Anything gets a look in if it's in budget (to be honest I have forgotten so many of them now).Modern motoring just bores the tits off me.It's all too easily obtainable and yawn-inducing for me now.

I have a friend who took some convincing to have a fun car as apposed to getting wood over two ton barges with cup holders, auto dip mirrors, sat nav and climate etc.He reluctantly went out and purchased a sub 3k Mk1 MX5 turbo and promptly fell in love.He's not a snottering Jedi just yet, but I think he has realised that even cars declared as horrid (many of mine), can offer up heaps of entertainment.The Hijet is a classic example.Everyone hates it and loves it in equal measure.You get behind the wheel and just laugh a lot.

You also get the added bonus of not having to give a stuff about them.Take the CR-V I have.At the weekend, we chucked a Scimitar V6 engine and gearbox in the boot with no concern for scratches or leaks encountered (well, I did put down some thin plastic but it didn't do a great deal).Saying that, If I land a snotter which has had a great life and has been really well cared for, I will lavish some attention on it.More often than not though, when you know something may be in the jaws of death in a few months time, stuff like bird poo etc can just stay where ever it lands

If you care what other people think, or hate the fact that your old school/college chums may spot you rolling in your £500 chuckle bus, then these pursuits are not for you, of course! That's good news for those of us who enjoy this stuff though, as there are more bargains to be had.I know modern motors have their place of course and I tend to try and keep something to see us through if everything else fails, but I have got to the point where I truly can't stand driving anything really modern.Someone I know has a new Mclaren mp4-12c for example, yet I would walk straight past it to jump in to a bike powered Hijet

Maybe I am too far gone?

[Blue Oval84]

Pleased to see I'm not the only one

I think I only have a particular hankering for some of these Fezzas because I learned to drive in them, and spent some considerable time dribbling over the Ford brochure (which I may still have!) for the Fiesta which showed the Zetec-S 1.6 model. Utterly un-insurable for a young driver at the time, but I wanted one so badly!

[2thumbs]

My daily is a 98 fiesta 1.25, £400 to buy, £200 to insure, over 40mpg all day long, It's just about the cheapest motoring you can get. I bought it originally as I have a renovation project going on & wanted a cheap banger to ferry stuff to the tip & load up at B&Q, but I have got quite fond of it & find myself looking after it. I've even polished it! It's duties will be over shortly but I am keeping it for sure.

Don't bother with the diesel version, they are slow, noisy, rattly & won't offer any savings over a small petrol engine.

[Mr Gear]

v8will said:

Those old diesel Fiestas are awful and require very strict timing belt changes. Awful I say!

I agree! I used to own a 1996 1.4 petrol, and it was excellent. However, there is 1996 diesel that I sometimes use at work, and it is beyond dreadful. They don't even feel like the same car.

If you want a fiesta, get a petrol Zetec. If you want a diesel... get something else!

[e8_pack]

I've had a few 1.8d fiestas, alien economy, never got less than 55mpg. Very heavy engine for a small car, especially as they didn't have power steering, which wasn't a problem for me as i'm powerfully built, but for the fairer sex it can be an issue.

Snapped a can belt on one of them and the other got knicked, the last one I sold on. enjoyed them all though.

[16v stretch]

I have to admit that when my 1.8 TDCi focus was written off, I was very tempted to try and shoehorn the engine into a little mk5.

I mean, the basic engine is the same! It's just begging for it! Would have been a hoot to blast about in.

[StottyZr]

v8will said:

If you want a diesel chugger then something like a 306 will be the way to go or indeed the cleanest petrol Fezzer you can find.

The 306 diesel defies the point of a diesel. Its not very good on fuel.

[v8will]

StottyZr said:

The 306 diesel defies the point of a diesel. Its not very good on fuel.

The one you had/tried must have been broken. I've owned both NA and turbo variations and they are stupidly easy to run. You will die of old age before reaching your destination in the NA one though.

[veryRS]

My daughter recently passed her test so we went out and bought her a pretty mint low mileage 51 plate Fezzer 1.3. The first time I got in it and drove it I was grinning from ear to ear and will now happily borrow her car for a spin to the shops or whatever. I had forgotten how much fun "basic" motoring is on a day to day basis.