Offtheroad Fiesta Dilema

[beatngu]

Mother has a 1.25 Zetec 2002 which has ran out of tax, MOT and the clutch went in the past week. She's got a new car now but unsure of what to do with the Fiesta.

The clutch really threw a spanner in the works but now I can only imagine it's worth less than a couple of hundred.

What would you do? Spend £~250 on new clutch and sell to a wider audience or sell as is to a slimmmer Audience who will need a tow/trailer etc?

I'm in need of a car so also considering fixing it up and driving but the lack of service and MOT could prove costly (advisories, the lot).

Oh, and she has 130k on the clock (the car not my mum).

Cheers

[jkh112]

If the clutch has recently gone then I presume it is just slipping rather the anything more catastrophic. If so it should still be driveable the short distance to the nearest mot centre. Get an mot done and then you can make a decision over whether or not to put a new clutch in.
If you need a car and a fiesta would suit then this could be a cheap car if it needs no major expenditure for the mot. If you cannot change the clutch yourself then get a quote from a local garage and also someone like Mr Clutch to see how much this would cost.
If the clutch cost and/or mot repairs out weigh the value of the car then you could just sell as is, or for a more hassle free option scrap it.
I do not understand what you mean by the lack of service. At this age I would not expect a cheap fiesta to have a service history and likewise it can be serviced cheaply yourself or at a local garage, it does not need a ford main dealer.

Edited by jkh112 on Thursday 6th March 18:22

[lockester]

Not sure on the rules but make sure you SORN the car otherwise she will get letters from the DVLA re the Car Tax.

[New POD]

It's worth £1500 to £2K with an MOT and a new clutch. You should therefore scrap it.

[beatngu]

jkh112 said:

If the clutch has recently gone then I presume it is just slipping rather the anything more catastrophic. If so it should still be driveable the short distance to the nearest mot centre. Get an mot done and then you can make a decision over whether or not to put a new clutch in.
If you need a car and a fiesta would suit then this could be a cheap car if it needs no major expenditure for the mot. If you cannot change the clutch yourself then get a quote from a local garage and also someone like Mr Clutch to see how much this would cost.
If the clutch cost and/or mot repairs out weigh the value of the car then you could just sell as is, or for a more hassle free option scrap it.
I do not understand what you mean by the lack of service. At this age I would not expect a cheap fiesta to have a service history and likewise it can be serviced cheaply yourself or at a local garage, it does not need a ford main dealer.

Edited by jkh112 on Thursday 6th March 18:22

I think it's more severe really, went from driving fine to slipping very badly. I tested it down the road and had to reverse back up the hill as there was no power to get me back, ha.
This was my car originally and they're great little cars but the MOT advisories make me think that sooner rather than later it'll need a lot of work done.

lockester said:

Not sure on the rules but make sure you SORN the car otherwise she will get letters from the DVLA re the Car Tax.

Will do.

What do ya reckon? ~£200 as is?

Edited by beatngu on Thursday 6th March 22:24

[JimmyConwayNW]

New POD said:

It's worth £1500 to £2K with an MOT and a new clutch. You should therefore scrap it.

Really?

I strongly doubt an old shape 1.25 fiesta on 130k is worth that much.

I would have thought a trader would put it at £595/650

[beatngu]

Needed to also ask why the abrupt failure of the clutch? Doesn't it usually start to bite higher and higher until failure. This clutch just completely failed without warning.

Still undecided on what to do.

[Riknos]

Sounds like it's barely worth above scrap, so depends whether you want to spend the money on fixing it to have a car that is better the devil you know and all that, but you will be paying market rate at best for the car, it's not worth that much fixed up sub £1k easily.

[beatngu]

Riknos said:

Sounds like it's barely worth above scrap, so depends whether you want to spend the money on fixing it to have a car that is better the devil you know and all that, but you will be paying market rate at best for the car, it's not worth that much fixed up sub £1k easily.

Cheers. The nail in the coffin is the tax has just ran out and it needs an MOT with over a dozen advisories. Had this not been the case it would have been a no brainer.

[Mr2Mike]

beatngu said:

Needed to also ask why the abrupt failure of the clutch? Doesn't it usually start to bite higher and higher until failure. This clutch just completely failed without warning.

Still undecided on what to do.

Has it failed in a way that there is no drive to the wheels at all, or can you just not disengage the clutch to e.g. get it into gear? Does the pedal just fall to the floor, or does it feel like it's doing something?

[beatngu]

Mr2Mike said:

Has it failed in a way that there is no drive to the wheels at all, or can you just not disengage the clutch to e.g. get it into gear? Does the pedal just fall to the floor, or does it feel like it's doing something?

It went from driving perfectly fine to having a very high biting point where the revs would climb to the red line before it began to set off and gave power to the wheels. Pedal feels like normal. Slightest touch of the throttle and the revs would shoot.

I tried the '5th gear test' where you're stationary, engage 5th gear and the clutch out and it didn't stall.

Trying to work out if it's more serious than just the clutch