Esther the Fiesta - the adventure starts here.

[greengartside]

Hey gang, thought I’d do a thread on my newest acquisition, a 2006 Fiesta 1.25 Zetec Climate in Panther Black. Grab yourself a cup of tea or whatever you like and sit comfortably, this is a long story.

 

I was looking for another car after making the decision my Mk7 Fiesta was a) boring as hell and 100% reliable and b) I was fed up with paying monthly for a car that I only realistically do around 40 miles a week in. It would be better for it to go to someone who would actually get some use out of it.

 

So the hunt was on for something else. I first went to have a look at a 2002 Mk6 Fiesta Ghia 1.4 which was fairly priced but in Peterborough, about an hour and a half away. There was something about it that I didn’t like so I walked away. I then viewed an Astra G 1.6 petrol which was pretty sheddy, and another 1.25 Fiesta which coolant bottle contents represented the consistency of chocolate milk...

 

..I was about to give up when for some reason I went on motors.co.uk - a site where I really haven’t looked and I spotted a Mk6 1.25 Fiesta in Orange which was at a dealer in Ipswich, about an hour from me. I phoned the guy and asked about it and he said ‘I’ve got that one, but there’s a Black Fiesta identical to that one if you want to see that too?’.

I jumped in the car and arrived in Ipswich. As I drove in, I saw the Black Fiesta first and I knew that was the better one of the two. A short test drive and a bit of negotiation on price ensued as the passenger window didn’t work, as either did the A/C. It had been given a full service and a new timing belt kit with water pump etc. 

I did pay strong money at £1450 but if I’d bought one at £1000 then I should have had to do a service and belt it up, which is about £500 right there, so it kinda works out about right whichever way you look at it. It ticked all the boxes for me, original dealer plates and window sticker, Ford service history and a stack of previous receipts from past work done although the Keycode card which came with the car didn’t have the correct code on it. Happily I was able to find the correct code within minutes on Google. All in all a very honest car with a few fixable faults. Very much a halfway house. I never actually looked at the Orange one properly!

It was at this point I named her Esther the Fiesta.

Here she is with my Mk7.

I picked it up on the Saturday (I viewed it on the Monday) and drove back from Ipswich with no issues at all. The first thing I did was throw a Vanilla air freshener in it and fit the gear knob and rubber gaiter from the scrapped Mk6 Fiesta that was in my local scrapyard a couple of years back that I grew really attached to.

 

It came out of this car..

Someone had spilled a load of coffee or something underneath the gear lever so that was cleaned up first. The Fiesta badge on the back had the ‘STA’ missing, so a quick raid of the parts stash in my shed revealed some replacements and these were reunited with the tailgate with a drop of glue.

I then fitted some rubber rear mats to replace the odd carpet mat, one side was missing, too. Now it has a full compliment of rubber mats.

A quick trip to the breakers and I managed to bag a few bits. The heated front screen switch had been replaced with a blank button for some reason - I’m 1000% sure it was there on the test drive so I think the seller has been swapping and changing bits to other cars which is a bit naughty. I also got a Mondeo Ghia interior light with the map reading lights which was a direct plug and play swap. I fitted the heated screen button and it worked straight away, although I do think the screen itself is knackered as it’s not doing a lot to be fair.

I also bagged a steering wheel radio control stalk as these models didn’t have them, again a direct plug and play. I also added an AUX input which sits next to the cigar lighter. All I had to do was separate the wires from the main loom of the donor car and plug the salvaged loom into the back of my stereo. Worked first time and the remote stalk works too. I also took the leather steering wheel from the same car and fitted it on mine, using my airbag.

 

The donor car.

 

Other things I’ve done are to replace a broken glovebox clip, fit a set of mudflaps, changed a couple of wrongly-rated fuses in the glovebox 🙄🙄, replace missing trim clips and screws, replace the broken rubber string on the fuel cap, replaced the missing spare wheel screw holder thingy and I also replaced the Ford badge on the front grill which was badly faded.

I’ve still got a few jobs to do to it, the headlamps and tracking are both out of alignment, I’ve got a pollen filter on order so I’ll fit that when it arrives and the main ignition key has had the problem in the past of the key turning inside the plastic body so the garage “fixed” it by putting a drill bit through the middle of it, which is lovely if you reach for your keys in your pocket and manage to scrape your finger across said sharp drill bit. I also think the exhaust is blowing a bit too so I’ll have to look into that, and I’ll be undersealing the chassis before winter.

I think I’ve found a car that I’ve properly bonded with, which is most unusual for me. A lot of the cars I’ve owned before have been kind of like, meh, that’ll do for a little while, whereas this one I am so determined to keep this going for as long as I possibly can. I really want this to be the car that we go on holiday with, do the Christmas shopping in, taking my daughter to high school in. It makes me sad to think that if I hadn’t bought it then the next owner may not have been so caring about the car and ran it into the ground. Either that or I’m a bit OCD. It’s gone to such a loving home and I am so unbelievably proud to be driving it, I feel like a king.

Today I checked all the levels, it doesn’t use a drop of oil or water which is excellent news. I then got some APC and cleaned all the door and boot shuts and the engine bay as well.

I am after a Dovercourt Ford key ring like this if anyone has one...

I’ll be adding more pictures and bits and bobs along the way, cheers all.

[Matty]

Really good cars, but I would say that 

[MJK 24]

I had one from 2014 to 2017.  Had been in the family since new and had only 33k on when I got it.  Superb to drive.  Would corner at any speed.  Decent on petrol and very well made.  In my opinion, a nicer drive than the Mk7 entirely due to the steering.

If I could criticise it, I’d say the front seats were only averagely comfortable over long distances and the radio reception on MW was diabolical.

Looking at the reg, I’d say it’s quite likely yours was owned by Ford UK when new.

[greengartside]

On 11/15/2020 at 8:57 PM, MJK 24 said:

Looking at the reg, I’d say it’s quite likely yours was owned by Ford UK when new.

I’m not actually sure, unfortunately there’s no way of finding out now because GDPR shiteness. It was service stamped at Dovercourt in Colchester when it was on fairly low mileage and that’s all I really know to be fair.

In other news, my new pollen filter arrived from eBay this afternoon and I went to put it in. A fairly easy job all told, the one that came out was a genuine Ford item which suggests it hasn’t been changed since Gordon Brown was PM.

I refitted the new one, it was a bit flimsier than the genuine one so needed a bit of manipulation and persuasion to go back in. I then took the opportunity to clean the area behind it and the inside of the side panel which I took off too. Job jobbed. 
 

[sierraman]

As you say it is strong money but on the other hand if it provides you with a few years trouble free motoring then it’s been a cheap car. You could have spent £800 on one and had to spend same again to get one as good. It certainly looks tidy, it definitely doesn’t look like a banger. 

 

[MJK 24]

Does the service book show where the PDI was done?

[greengartside]

3 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

Does the service book show where the PDI was done?

Nope, it’s blank unfortunately. Like I say it’s a pity that you can’t send off for a V888 any more unless it’s a really good reason.

[MJK 24]

5 hours ago, greengartside said:

Nope, it’s blank unfortunately. Like I say it’s a pity that you can’t send off for a V888 any more unless it’s a really good reason.

I’d be pretty certain it’s been a company car, or a privilege car for a family member who worked at either Warley or Dunton.

[Eyersey1234]

Good cars. As mentioned in my thread I had a 56 reg 1.25 Style from 2006 to 2018 which did 173k. 

[Cord Fourteener]

My mum had one, a 1 point something diesel.

I drove it a good few times, seemed ok. I didn't get to test it properly though, as my mum was usually in it.

Though she is a bit of an impatient driver herself!

 

[tul66]

I had one as a hire car in France a few years ago and TBH I was pretty impressed with it and I don't like Fords.

[Eyersey1234]

8 hours ago, Tim_E said:

My mum had one, a 1 point something diesel.

I drove it a good few times, seemed ok. I didn't get to test it properly though, as my mum was usually in it.

Though she is a bit of an impatient driver herself!

 

Your mums would have been either a 1.4tdci or 1.6tdci 

[Cord Fourteener]

Just now, Eyersey1234 said:

Your mums would have been either a 1.4tdci or 1.6tdci 

I think it was a 1.4tdci.

I distinctly remember being pleasantly surprised as how much shove it had compared to our 206 1.9n/a diesel!