My New Car mini Review. Fiesta.

Mic · 28 Jan 2006 at 23:22

So after some problems with the focus my mother and father decided it was time to get rid of it. Bought it new in 2004, just under 40'000 on the clock and was starting to to screw around with first and second gears.

The focus was too big for my mother and she wanted a smaller car, I didnt abject as soon I'll be getting my own car. So we decided to get a new Fiesta(i say new, but its the 2005 model as I hated the '06 lights).

Its a five door silver 1.25l Fiesta Steel. Which cost a bout a grand(sterling) to upgrade to with a trade in of the focus.

Looks:
Its not a bad looking car to be honest. Im quite partial to it, I have to say the wheels are definetly one of my favourite styles for a stock car.

Interior:
Im not exactly a small guy, im 6'1, 14.5 stone. But theres plenty of room. Sitting in the fiesta is fine except for one thing, there aint no place to rest my left foot. Which takes some getting used to. The ride height is a lot higher than the focus(which i would sit as low as possible in). Its the generic ford interior with plastic bits, but its solid and I like it. The doors close with a nice sensible thud too.

Engine:
I detest the word 'nippy' and I swore i would never describe any car as nippy. But up to 20mph the car is quite...nippy :/. After that its pretty gutless (Coming from a 1.4 focus) but still smooth. The gearbox and clutch are extremely nice to use, very nice and soft. Easy to move about and just generally better than the focus.

Ride:
Very smooth, comfy and you would swear you where in a much more expensive car for the ride it gives. Handling isnt exactly the best, but what can you expect, its a fiesta. Some understeer.The focus I could really push but Im not gonna even try it with this. Slower speeds its very repsonsive.

Boot space is fine and I can fit fine in the back seats, which is nice.

Enough rambling. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

rG-tom · 28 Jan 2006 at 23:41

i'm learning to drive in one of these and do have to say i agree with what youve said. I'm 6'4 and i have the seat as far back as possible and its comfortable, but i couldnt not be much taller and still drive it.

The no clutch rest does my head in as well as it's the first car ive driven without it. (it's only the fifth car ive ever driven tho so my opinion doesnt count for much i suppose)

Definitely a better motor than i expected

Tom.

VBDub · 29 Jan 2006 at 00:46

ive got a 1.4 and i really like it. Only bad point is that my clutch plates are slipping too much at the moment and making a screeching noise as you bring the clutch up.

apart from that though its a splendid little car.

in 2nd gear it feels quite nippy... not as nippy as when i get an evo mind

[TW]Fox · 29 Jan 2006 at 01:05

Am I the only person wondering why on earth you traded a car in becuase it had a gearbox problem when the problem would have been fixed free under warranty?

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 01:08

[TW]Fox said:
Am I the only person wondering why on earth you traded a car in becuase it had a gearbox problem when the problem would have been fixed free under warranty?

If you read my post, the focus was too big for my mother my to drive around in.

Kamerad · 29 Jan 2006 at 01:10

You had to pay more to downgrade your car? :eek:

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 01:13

Kamerad said:
You had to pay more to downgrade your car?

40,000 on the clock, 2 year old car, not exactly driven by one careful owner (im pretty sure the front suspensions gotta have some kind of problem now), keyed the whole lenght of the drivers side.

Spanky new fiesta, much nicer car. With a good deal on the trade in, in 2 years. Win win as i see it.

Dogbreath · 29 Jan 2006 at 01:47

-Mic- said:
If you read my post, the focus was too big for my mother my to drive around in.

Was it an eigteen wheeler 32ton Focus or something?

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 01:48

Dogbreath said:
Was it an eigteen wheeler 32ton Focus or something?

No, it was a 3 door hatch.
My mom has never even driven at night. So I can see why she might think its big.She much prefers the fiesta.

[TW]Fox · 29 Jan 2006 at 02:03

-Mic- said:
If you read my post, the focus was too big for my mother my to drive around in.

She SERIOUSLY needs to get some driving lessons then, the Focus is a small car and if she finds it 'too big' she needs to work on her spacial awareness, never even driven at night? Good lord, does she come home by 4pm every day?

I seriously find it SCARY that there are people with this little ability in control of vehicles on our roads.

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 02:14

[TW]Fox said:
She SERIOUSLY needs to get some driving lessons then, the Focus is a small car and if she finds it 'too big' she needs to work on her spacial awareness, never even driven at night? Good lord, does she come home by 4pm every day?

I seriously find it SCARY that there are people with this little ability in control of vehicles on our roads.

She finds the car too big for parking. Hell, i can see where she is coming from. I went to tesco's ealier and i could just swng into parking spaces without blinking an eyelid, quick reversing without worrying about anything.
FFS, you do know not everyone can handle a huge barge do you? Theres a reason for the super mini market being so big you know.

jamoor · 29 Jan 2006 at 02:33

-Mic- said:
She finds the car too big for parking. Hell, i can see where she is coming from. I went to tesco's ealier and i could just swng into parking spaces without blinking an eyelid, quick reversing without worrying about anything.
FFS, you do know not everyone can handle a huge barge do you? Theres a reason for the super mini market being so big you know.

I dont think thats his point, he may be trying to get at the fact that by the sounds of it she doesnt seem to have many skills in parking or driving at night and therefore what are the rest of her driving skills like?
I would assume they are dodgy, she needs to brush up.

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 02:37

jamoor said:
I dont think thats his point, he may be trying to get at the fact that by the sounds of it she doesnt seem to have many skills in parking or driving at night and therefore what are the rest of her driving skills like?
I would assume they are dodgy, she needs to brush up.

Not really.Shes been driving for 15 years, never had an accident. She has always driven very small boxy cars, the focus was much bigger and rounder, to the point she just didnt like it.
She doesnt seem to have many skills in parking? Why because she doesnt like parking a bigger car than she is used to?
Driving at night: She has never and will never drive at night, so I dont see the problem. Calling her skills dodgy because she doesnt like parking a car shes uncomfortable in and not driving at night is just stupid. Id take her driving skills over most of the people on here.

GT3 · 29 Jan 2006 at 02:54

I fail to see how driving a big car is scary or in some way difficult? And a Focus is hardly a massive car now is it. At first I thought my mums car would be hard to drive being a new Grand Scenic and coming from my Saxo it is quite a step up in size, but after I discovered it handled like a boat it wasn't exaclty difficult! And I've been driving less than a year.

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 03:02

Never said it was difficult for her to drive ffs. She just wasnt comfortable in it. Maybe it wasnt too big. She thought it was. And she much more comfortable in the fiesta.
So whatever really. Enough about my mother. Give this thread another two days and you will be wanting videos of her doing doghnuts to prove shes a good driver or some crap.

GT3 · 29 Jan 2006 at 03:09

Did you expect us all to reply with something like "Wow what a fantastic idea, paying extra to move down the Ford model range" or perhaps "Yes I agree, the Focus is such a large car, I can completely see where you are coming from swapping it for a Fiesta" or maybe "I'd love a car that was nippy from 0 to 20mph, thats so impressive"?

No, you will get realistic answers questioning you and your mothers sanity

But hey if you like it, thats all that matters right?

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 03:32

GT3 said:
Did you expect us all to reply with something like "Wow what a fantastic idea, paying extra to move down the Ford model range" or perhaps "Yes I agree, the Focus is such a large car, I can completely see where you are coming from swapping it for a Fiesta" or maybe "I'd love a car that was nippy from 0 to 20mph, thats so impressive"?

No, you will get realistic answers questioning you and your mothers sanity But hey if you like it, thats all that matters right?

Or perhaps people could have replied to the actual topic of the thread? Perhaps that would have been an idea? This thread was not about my mother, it was about the ford fiesta. Im sick and tired of people turning seemingly fine threads into nothing more than idiotic bickering.So from now on, i'll do the exact same.

And for the record, it doesnt matter if you move up or down the ford range in this instance. Its the money we would have gotten for the focus, which works out just right for the price of the fiesta. The car at best was worth under 15,000 euro in its condition. Maybe a lot less.

So can a Don please lock this thread ffs.

GT3 · 29 Jan 2006 at 03:46

But it's an open forum, you post a topic - we post our thoughts on the matter. And someone who has been driving 15 years who refuses to drive at night and feels uncomfortable driving a mid-sized hatchback isn't normal. If you didn't want us to talk about that, then why mention it? Also why is there a need for this thread to be locked?

Mic · 29 Jan 2006 at 03:50

GT3 said:
But it's an open forum, you post a topic - we post our thoughts on the matter. And someone who has been driving 15 years who refuses to drive at night and feels uncomfortable driving a mid-sized hatchback isn't normal. If you didn't want us to talk about that, then why mention it? Also why is there a need for this thread to be locked?

No im sorry, thats not how this forum works. I post a topic, we talk about the topic. I mentioned it because thats the reason we were changing the car. And whos to say whats normal these days?
Would you consider being up at 3 am posting on an internet forum? I wouldnt think most would call that normal.

I think this thread needs to be locked because the replys are off topic. And because I want it to be. If you feel the need to bitch and moan about my mothers driving characteristics, go ahead. Just dont do it in this thread.

[TW]Fox · 29 Jan 2006 at 10:16

-Mic- said:
She finds the car too big for parking. Hell, i can see where she is coming from. I went to tesco's ealier and i could just swng into parking spaces without blinking an eyelid, quick reversing without worrying about anything.
FFS, you do know not everyone can handle a huge barge do you? Theres a reason for the super mini market being so big you know.

Huge barge? We are talking about a 3 door Ford Focus - a *small* car. It's NOT big. Then you tell us she won't even drive in the dark :confused:

Now you want to stop the thread? What exactly did you want us all to do, post 3 pages on paying a load of cash to change from a 3 door Focus to a Fiesta was a damn fine idea?