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Looking at a 2000 ish Fiesta - any one any advise?

Anglevan

By Anglevan
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Anglevan Rank: BL Wedge

Anglevan

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well thanks fellow shitters - I knew this would be the place to ask. I've pretty much thought this would be the best option as they are starting to get to shitter money. And i'm hoping I can get enough for the Mk2 pop to find somat. Will be looking for a minter though and happy to pay extra for the privilege of a one owner / low mileage / old dear runaround..

 

Next step is to clean the pop up / put a fresh ticket on it and up for sale it goes. MikeD - I have no idea price wise but the pop i'll be looking at a grand ish. The XR2 - I've no idea as it's only a 2 owner car / we've owned it 8 years. 42,000 genuine and never MOT welded - it has had an o/s wing at some point. Still has original brake pipes / hoses etc (and still mint) just fitted a new exhaust and battery and will be putting a fresh ticket on it. Does clean up well but not without issues. I'll post some pics up in a new thread when I get further into it..

Anglevan Rank: BL Wedge

Anglevan

Posted
  • Author
Posted

well thanks fellow shitters - I knew this would be the place to ask. I've pretty much thought this would be the best option as they are starting to get to shitter money. And i'm hoping I can get enough for the Mk2 pop to find somat. Will be looking for a minter though and happy to pay extra for the privilege of a one owner / low mileage / old dear runaround..

 

Next step is to clean the pop up / put a fresh ticket on it and up for sale it goes. MikeD - I have no idea price wise but the pop i'll be looking at a grand ish. The XR2 - I've no idea as it's only a 2 owner car / we've owned it 8 years. 42,000 genuine and never MOT welded - it has had an o/s wing at some point. Still has original brake pipes / hoses etc (and still mint) just fitted a new exhaust and battery and will be putting a fresh ticket on it. Does clean up well but not without issues. I'll post some pics up in a new thread when I get further into it..

Morgan84 Rank: Citroen Ami

Morgan84

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I have a very faithful mk4 Fiesta 1.25 'Chicane' which hasn't been ravaged by the tinworm, and is completely rattle and knock free ( new rear arm bushings, new front wishbones, roll bar links and bushings ) and is a very nice car to drive as a daily 'hack' or in my case incognito car ! The performance is very good, and fuels not too bad either.I like it so much it gets waxed monthly !. I find the seats in the 99-2002 cars less supportive,although the Chicane does have sports seats, so maybe its just me comparing that against standard models. I have found in my experience the later 99-2002 Fiesta's were worse for rear arch rot ( hard to believe I know ! )

 

Overall quite nice cars, but any 99-2002 Fiesta Zetec engine car you find will have PAS, but a Ghia will have the bonus of a quick clear windscreen which I'm not sure if the Freestyle had. Leave the 1.3 Endura alone - not as refined and lack the zap of a little Zetec

Morgan84 Rank: Citroen Ami

Morgan84

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I have a very faithful mk4 Fiesta 1.25 'Chicane' which hasn't been ravaged by the tinworm, and is completely rattle and knock free ( new rear arm bushings, new front wishbones, roll bar links and bushings ) and is a very nice car to drive as a daily 'hack' or in my case incognito car ! The performance is very good, and fuels not too bad either.I like it so much it gets waxed monthly !. I find the seats in the 99-2002 cars less supportive,although the Chicane does have sports seats, so maybe its just me comparing that against standard models. I have found in my experience the later 99-2002 Fiesta's were worse for rear arch rot ( hard to believe I know ! )

 

Overall quite nice cars, but any 99-2002 Fiesta Zetec engine car you find will have PAS, but a Ghia will have the bonus of a quick clear windscreen which I'm not sure if the Freestyle had. Leave the 1.3 Endura alone - not as refined and lack the zap of a little Zetec

Ben_L Rank: Austin Maxi

Ben_L

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Posted

The Pushrod really isn't THAT bad... Lol... It's a low revving, relaxed engine to drive... (5,500 rpm limiter IIRC)...

 

Some LX's had Quick Clear and AC in later years, early Ghia models were LX with wood... Then it got good with the headlight change over. Some Ghia models are 1.6 which means Traction Control and a 6CD changer (Which tends to have a Grenade Rate of a Renault Diesel)

Ben_L Rank: Austin Maxi

Ben_L

Posted
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The Pushrod really isn't THAT bad... Lol... It's a low revving, relaxed engine to drive... (5,500 rpm limiter IIRC)...

 

Some LX's had Quick Clear and AC in later years, early Ghia models were LX with wood... Then it got good with the headlight change over. Some Ghia models are 1.6 which means Traction Control and a 6CD changer (Which tends to have a Grenade Rate of a Renault Diesel)

face Rank: Renault 16

face

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Get a Mazda 121 version

 

Clever idea, exactly the same car but should cost less because despite the half-arsed badge engineering no-one knows what a 121 is.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-Mazda-121-ZXI-Blue-Long-MOT-82000-Miles-2-Owners-Ideal-First-Car-/290885831278?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43ba258a6e

 

Do they have the same Zetec engine?

 

I had one as a hire car back in the 90s. It was a 1.25 and I drove it from Cambridge to Inverness. Great little car.

face Rank: Renault 16

face

Posted
Posted
Get a Mazda 121 version

 

Clever idea, exactly the same car but should cost less because despite the half-arsed badge engineering no-one knows what a 121 is.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-Mazda-121-ZXI-Blue-Long-MOT-82000-Miles-2-Owners-Ideal-First-Car-/290885831278?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43ba258a6e

 

Do they have the same Zetec engine?

 

I had one as a hire car back in the 90s. It was a 1.25 and I drove it from Cambridge to Inverness. Great little car.

face Rank: Renault 16

face

Posted
Posted
Overall quite nice cars, but any 99-2002 Fiesta Zetec engine car you find will have PAS, but a Ghia will have the bonus of a quick clear windscreen which I'm not sure if the Freestyle had. Leave the 1.3 Endura alone - not as refined and lack the zap of a little Zetec

 

The 'Freestyle' did not have the quick-clear front screen.

 

My brother-in-law had a 1.3 and although it was OK, it wasn't a patch on the 1.25.

face Rank: Renault 16

face

Posted
Posted
Overall quite nice cars, but any 99-2002 Fiesta Zetec engine car you find will have PAS, but a Ghia will have the bonus of a quick clear windscreen which I'm not sure if the Freestyle had. Leave the 1.3 Endura alone - not as refined and lack the zap of a little Zetec

 

The 'Freestyle' did not have the quick-clear front screen.

 

My brother-in-law had a 1.3 and although it was OK, it wasn't a patch on the 1.25.

The Reverend Bluejeans Rank: Isuzu Florian

The Reverend Bluejeans

Posted
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Leave them all alone. The pre 2002 Fiesta is a festering piece of rot prone scrap that you will be welding up for every MOT. If you want a Fiesta, buy the later square one. Or a Corsa. Or a Yaris. Anything but one of these sorry shitheaps.Like the Ka and Puma, they're just rotten death traps.

Anglevan Rank: BL Wedge

Anglevan

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Leave them all alone. The pre 2002 Fiesta is a festering piece of rot prone scrap that you will be welding up for every MOT. If you want a Fiesta, buy the later square one. Or a Corsa. Or a Yaris. Anything but one of these sorry shitheaps.Like the Ka and Puma, they're just rotten death traps.

 

Interesting point of view and given that this is autoshite and most of the cars on here rot like there is no tomorrow i'm not really concerned. Also I actually quite like welding (did you click on the link for the Mk2 fiesta I plan to replace)

The later boxy fiesta is also not immune to rot and early ones were not undersealed on the sills properly leading to premature rot. It is possible to find 'loved' cars out there if your prepared to wait.

 

Also I note you have BMWs - they are not immune to rot as I worked for em in the late nineties and we were replacing roof skins / rear panels and wings within the 3 years warranty..

 

SO yes thanks for your comments but I still like the idea of one but i'm not going to jump into the first rot box I find and when I do find a nice one my compressor and wax gun will be put to good use.. All good fun :-)

Bren Rank: Talbot Tagora

Bren

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Posted

My other half's fiesta is in good condition with only a few rust bubbles starting to appear on the rear arches - go mad with the dinitrol and you should be ok.

 

One thing you should be aware of is the shitness of the brakes - my wife's car has discs front / drums rear, the last two MOT's have resulted in advisory notices on the rear brakes - to be fair they could do with new linings but I dont think they will add much "bite" - it must be a characteristic of the car.

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