Mk4 Fiesta - what to look for please

[dollywobbler]

Hi folks

 

My lil' sister is looking to purchase her first car. Sadly, she lived bloomin' miles away in Devoncestershire, but I'm trying my best to give sound advice. She has a Shiter's budget, so at least I feel slightly well qualified.

 

The Mk4 Fiesta seems ideal for her needs, and I understand the 1.25 engine is a nice ol' motor. So, what to look for?

 

Timing belt seems a good start. Apparently every 100k or ten years, so I guess most have never been changed. At the price of a new engine (£99 on Ebay), changing the belt seems a waste of time and money if you can live with a possible need for breakdown cover.

 

Rust - usual rear arches and sills seem common. Anywhere else?

 

Any other foibles to watch for? Do they all have PAS? 

 

Ta muchly

 

Edit - I forgot how ugly they are. Almost charming.

[chaseracer]

Don't know much about these, but my mate Alison has had a T-reg (1.4??) for ten years which is still going strong.

[panhard65]

I have got a renault 5 campus less than 50k miles 11 months mot and a years tax from today. I use it as a courtesy car. I could be made to part with it but it would be around 700 based on the devon somerset border. I would probably guarantee it as well as it has been an excellent little car for the 2 years I have had it. No where near as much street cred as the fiesta but the female customers tend to like it even without pas and leccy windows

[Lankytim]

Rust, everywhere.

 

Apart from that, quite nice motors.

[cort16]

Be wary that the zetec models have a big insurance premium over the 1.3 so check first. The 1.25 is a much nicer engine but the 1.3 is tough even though it was first built in 1775. Other than that its just rust rust rust. Good little cars though.

[Lord Sterling]

Lovely little things to drive but as others have said, check for rust or badly gobbed up areas, particularly around the sills/arches/petrol cap area/bottoms of bootlid and I guess wherever else there is metal. Also check the cambelt has at least been done.

[CortinaDave]

The heater controls are weak and stick on hot and the trim on the low spec models like the encore is pretty cheap and nasty. Otherwise great little cars, very entertaining to drive

[dollywobbler]

Thanks folks. All details will be passed on, including the Renner Sank.

[garycox]

Not all have PAS, a friend had an R reg 1.25 LX with manual everything.

 

Still easy to drive though obviously.

[greengartside]

I'm about to weigh my old Fiesta in - N-reg with 103k on the clock. I would have kept it if it wasn't for the horrific rot on the rear arches and sills, so definitely as other people have said, check thoroughly for rot and/or wob in these places. Mine had the 1.25 Zetec lump fitted. Ran fantastic though.

[hairnet]

if its a early base itll be pas free and windy up windaz

 

1.3 no belt just watch for excess rattle and hg

 

all other engines belts so check for that

 

apart from grot theyre ace - sills arches inner arches

 

mk5 are as cheap now and bodies are more resistant to rust - ours just clocked 100k and only had rub some surface rust on a back arch once ever

[sierraman]

I've got one.

 

Rust is your biggest worry, thought If the rear arches  and the sills near the trailing arms are good you should be home and dry

 

For some  god unknown reason the Idle control valve clogs up constantly, though a clean out with carb cleaner usually does it

 

As its a Ford the void bushes on the bottom arms perish or pop out of the arm

 

The 1.25 doesn't suffer lack of maintenance well, though this is easy enough to assess

 

Rear trailing arm bushes go, this is a pig to do as well

 

Don't expect miracles from the brakes, like the local council they expect a weeks notice prior any action, that's just the way they are,

 

To be fair given the age anything could be wrong, but drop on a decent one and they can be run for pennies - ours has getting on for 120K but soldiers on like some sort of battle hardened viking

[Ghosty]

Do NOT under any circumstances get a 1.25 auto. The autoboxes are a major weak point.

The body is joined to the chassis/floorpans around the rear arches like any late '90s Ford, so make sure there's no rust there. Other than the above, and questionable interiour colours and iffy seats, they're not bad cars - the mother had a Diamond White 1.25 Zetec-LX auto for about 8 years and really liked it, but it went through a £500+ (don't quote me on that) gearbox every 20k or so, when the third died she got a Polo.

[Micrashed]

Look for one with a boot.

That is all.

[Vince70]

As previously mentioned rust rust and more rust is the main concern.

 

The Zetec is a peach of an engine and is the one to get, but the Kent engine ( or whatever it was called that week) isn't too bad and is tough as old nails but will have a nice tappety sound but is chain rather than belt.

 

My sister in-law just had to have hers welded up with one new sill and some patches on the other and both wheel arches welded and a bit more welding here and there for the mot and it cost £220 with the dreaded and hers was in a bad way we thought it would be scrap but it was repairable.

 

It's very hard to come across a rust free example underneath unless someone has dropped the car in a big bucket of waxoil when it was new.

 

A lot of Fords from that era are terrible rust buckets fiesta, Puma, and Ka being the worst of the bunch from that era.

[dollywobbler]

Do NOT under any circumstances get a 1.25 auto. The autoboxes are a major weak point.

The body is joined to the chassis/floorpans around the rear arches like any late '90s Ford, so make sure there's no rust there. Other than the above, and questionable interiour colours and iffy seats, they're not bad cars - the mother had a Diamond White 1.25 Zetec-LX auto for about 8 years and really liked it, but it went through a £500+ (don't quote me on that) gearbox every 20k or so, when the third died she got a Polo.

 

I doubt the body is joined to the chassis anywhere given that it's a monocoque! That area will get close scrutiny anyway - thanks. And she'll be avoiding autos anyway. Ta.

[Cavcraft]

Rust, especially sills, rear quarters/rear arches. The driver's seat seems quite 'thin' on a lot of the models so the bolster wears through alarmingly quickly. Rattle quickly if oil low or neglected, Zetec ones are quite nippy (even in smaller capacity) and good on fuel too.

 

If you got in one blindfold within about 1.2 seconds you'd know what car you were in. Fords of that era just have that smell and feel, hard to put your finger on it really.

Anyhow imho, it's the interiors which can be a little drab but obviously that's not going to stop the car running or being reliable and they're a cheap, competent little car. Keep the rust at bay (and buy one with as long an MOT as possible) and it's pretty difficult to go wrong, really.

[Joey spud]

A couple of things i've seen when out and about.

 

Coil packs fail but are cheap anyway.

 

The in tank fuel pumps get 'tight' when worn and blow their fuse but go again with another fuse fitted,to change the pump the tank is meant to be removed but i see a fair few now where the floor pan under the rear seat base has been crudely cut and peeled back instead to get to it.

 

The heater control valves (in the scuttle) are made of a plastic that gets brittle and then snaps where a coolant pipe connects with obvious results.

On the push rod engine this sudden loss of coolant doesn't seem to bother them but on the 1.25 it can cause H.G damage.

 

A lack of oil or dirty oil,both engines can do a big end bearing when the oil gets low.

 

Ah just remembered,rear wheel bearings colapse (probably only after months of ignoring the increasing loud humming noise behind your left ear though)...

[garycox]

I just remembered that my brother's first car was an S reg 1.4 Ghia X. That was quite a nice thing, pretty nippy and quite pleasant inside.

 

Not sure what 'Ghia X' actually got you though. It had electric windows, but only in the front, a sunroof, but only a pop up one, and slightly better seats, but they were only normal fabric. It did have a CD player, front fogs, unconvincing plastic wood and those 4 spoke alloys though.

[Faker]

1.3 Valencia ( injected cross flow unit) is bomb proof, but noisy. It is also traditionally a cable clutch system. The zetec engined cars are a hydraulic clutch system. The clutch in the zetec is a weaker item than the Valencia unit, and the slave cylinder is a common failing too. It is a hydraulic thrust bearing unit located within the bell housing and is costly to replace. It is recommended that the slave unit is changed when the clutch is replaced, or visa versa, clutch changed when slave cylinder fails. Make enquiries as to when it was changed last, and make sure it has a good strong clutch on a test drive. Valencia units are a piece of piss to sort.