class_A

Poll time ladies and gents! After 2 1/2 years, I am replacing my first car, the beast that is a 1.6 Mk3 Cav

Due to city centre postcode and no garage, I have opted for the insurance friendly 1.25 Mk5 Fiesta! At least I can start to appreciate handling, if not speed.

Anyway, as the budget is stretched, I need some guidance on what to spend my cash on first...

1) ICE. Had a Sony MD unit in the Cav, but am now an iPodder so looking for something with Aux-In. Always wanted an Alpine HU, CDA9812RB is my current selection.

2) Security/remote locking. Festa has CL but not remote. Adding a Cat 1 alarm would reduce insurance premium, add RCL (always good to have another toy!) and increase peace of mind.

3) Swissol Starter Kit. As I have no garage, extra protection from the elements would be beneficial. Previously used AutoGlym (as has my dad) but have been impressed by Swissol results and reputation.

4) Save for maintenance. As its a Ford, it will need to be Fixed Or Repaired Daily

ChrisChennell

Request for extra option on the poll : Burn it.

Seriously, why waste money on a fiasco????? you couldve got a much much better car with your money. Your best option now is to sell it and try getting something thats not entirely crap...

rik1471

Oooooooo, Harsh.
















- but fair

misty

Well there's nothing like a bit of sound advice!!.............................And that was nothing like sound advice!!!!
dave

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

If you live in a 'bad' postcode area, security should be the first option, but check that it will actually reduce your premium before doing it!

RichWalk

If ur in a bad area, get loads of go faster stickers and dress like a Chav- less likely the ******* will break into it!

class_A

Well despite some harsh replies, I'll bravely continue the thread! To be expected I suppose on a performance car BBS. One day I'll have a car worthy....

Anyway, security seems to be the popular choice, so does anyone got a recommendation of a good alarm around £300, or should I head over to the security forum? I thought I'd ask here first as Security seems Scooby specific.

Obviously no need for anything like a Clifford, so just basic doors/boot/bonnet with ultrasonics and a trigger out for the central locking. I realise I will probably need a motor for the drivers door lock.

TIA,
Alex

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Dare I say it??

Have a look in Max Power, Fast Car, etc as you can normally get Thatcham Catergory 1 alarms for around the £300 mark. Whatever alarm you get make sure it's a Cat 1 (Thatcham Caterory 1) and you get an installation certificate with it!

It will need to be a Cat 1 alarm for it reduce your premium and most insurance companies will insist on seeing the installation certificate.

I can't stress enough to check with the insurance people that it will actually reduce your premium! It would be a waste of £300 if it gave you no discount at all!

For example, I know a guy in Surrey, who can fit you a Cat 1 alarm for £300, but it would be extra to get central locking fitted on top of this.

You can get a central locking kit off ebay for about £20 (but make sure it has the Ford adapters) The alarm fitter can get this to work with your alarm, giving you remote central locking!

class_A

Andy,

I'm up on the Thatcham approvals and the car already has c.locking, it will just need interfacing.

I will check with the insurer re: discounts. TBH, it's probably worth it for the peace of mind anyway, and will act as a deterrent if I add any decent ICE to the car at a later date.

Cheers!
Alex

def

Why?
Why post that on a scooby site.

Look rally heros ive got the lowest of the low arnt i great!!!!

ChrisChennell

I still say burn it

but at least if its not being nicked you should have reliable economical transport from it....

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Sorry Alex, I didn't mean to patronise!

owbow

hmmm i seem to remember a 1981 Fiesta making it all the way to the Ring (albeit with a little work) and surprising some of the Scoobies.....!



Owain

R1916v

"Just bought a Festa, what to do 1st?"

Sell it?

Only kidding, my first car was a Fiesta, go kart it was, sold it for 100 pounds in the end

As said, check max power etc as they always have ads for stuff like that.

owbow

set of Bilsteins, brakes and go take the p*** on a trackday, preferably somewhere twisty and dry!

owain

Danny B

This is a windup right?

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

ive just bought a fiesta for missus of e-bay for £100!!!

its silver.

thats it.

jamo

DJNafey

Class A,

Like you say, a good alarm is worth it for the piece of mind, even if it doesn't bring down the insurance premium. When I bought my first car, I piled it up with ICE the day I got it, I then took it to work (night shifts) and some ba***rd ripped it all back out 6 hours after I'd finished fitting it That was a Wednesday night and I had already planned to sort out an alarm the following Saturday. Lesson learned: Fit your alarm before your ICE !

Went and got a cheap Phillips alarm fitted. Kept going off all the time ... to the point where it wasn't worth switching it on. So what's the point of that? How many cars in your area have got an alarm that you completely ignore because you suspect that it's another false alarm?

After getting paranoid about the new ICE, I blew £400 on a Clifford. Best £400 I ever spent. No trouble (apart from a little adjustment) in 6 years. Got a Clifford fitted to my Scooby as well a couple of days after I bought it - won't make the same mistake(s) twice !

Ignore all these tossers dissing your car. We've all got to start somewhere. Good luck with it mate

wrxmania

"Just bought a Festa, what to do 1st?"

Mmmmm:

(1) Drive it then
(2) Turn left / right into your local scrapyard then
(3) Say "how much to take this?".

Only kidding - all the best with it - reputation is worse than the car by a long way - good Yamaha engineered engine,

Brian.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Enjoy it, they handle really well, theres a lot of bollocks talked on here, they are a good car. I have a Mondeo (new shape) at the mo and have just bought a Fiat Coupe Turbo and to be honest the Mondeo does 90% of everything better than the Fiat, Ford make cracking cars nowadays but a lot on here get them as company cars and as such dont appreciate them. You have bought a Fiesta and true it isnt a performance car in the mould of the Scoob but we all have to start somewhere, a lot on here cant afford the cars they buy but buy them anyway and end up hugely in debt so they can run a fast car, run the Fiesta, save up, build up ncd, save money and you get there eventually.

As for the original question, get a decent alarm if you live "urban", just keep it polished with Autoglym and use their wash and wax stuff, the glass cleaner is excellent too, no need for fancy wonder formulas, just twenty quid on Autoglym and polish it two or three times a year.

Maintenance, just keep it serviced, check the oil (get the correct viscosity as I think that engine is sensitive to it), Fords are generally pretty reliable but put some research into finding parts suppliers/breakers before the event, get a few phone numbers, find a Ford web forum and ask a few questions, get the workshop manual.

class_A

Ta for the positive replies; I knew I was asking for it by asking these Qs on SN, but to be honest its the busiest and friendliest car forum I've found and I've been here a little while (although mostly in DIY and Computer Related). Some of the dedicated Fiesta forums are a little too "chev" for me I'm afraid.

The choice of car was mainly determined by insurance. I'm not made of money and my missus is limited to what she can drive for medical reasons. She wants to learn to drive soon - hence the choice of a small, common town car.

I know for the cash I could have had an MR2, S13 200SX, import MY92 WRX, Celica or some other exotica but it just isn't practical from a running cost point-of-view. I have rent to pay as I'm not fortunate enough to be able to live with either of my parents.

Cheers to Andy, Jacko and DJNafey for the tips. I'm off back to geekland now
Alex

Redkop

I had a 1.25 Fiesta Zetec Ghia as a runaround for 2 years. It was a good little car, nippy and great on fuel. First thing I did tho was change the 14" alloy wheels to 15's - was the only fault I had with the car - it 'rolled' round bends giving a seasick feeling I was going to change the springs but never got round to it. I regularly did long journies in it and it never let me down........ so ignore the dissers and enjoy it.

SiDHEaD

Nowt wrong with a good ol Fiesta! I used to have an MY01 Zetec-S before my scoob, and I'm currently looking to buy either a Zetec or hopefully a Zetec-S soon for commuting!

By the way, try the www.zetecs.com they know a lot about Fiestas - or there's the FFOC - they have a website somewhere.

Andy

BOB.T

I've been held up by scoobs in my Fiesta

It's a car, just enjoy it

MarkCSC

Should have kept the Cav, put some Konis on it. Nothing is faster than a Koni Equiped Cavalier

Sorry old joke

class_A

Konis do indeed make Cav's unbeatable in the "twisties" I shall try zetecs.com and FFOC. PumaPeople also seems fairly Festa friendly, and many of the threads re: interior/ICE, brakes and wheels are applicable due to the close DNA.

The plan is to palm the Fiesta off on the missus when she learns to drive and to treat myself to a CTR or something when I graduate and find a nicer neighborhood! If I had a garage, I'd be trying my hand at rebuilding a Mini or something for trackdays.

Cheers guys.

f1

don't newer Fiestas have vacuum or something with the central locking and as such cost more to get made remote ?
I haven't got a Scooby simple reason, can't really warrant it at this moment in time, have thought long and hard about buying one though. Will get one later in the year, for now I'm happy with run of the mill town cars.We all have to start somewhere at least you are getting it insured as apposed to buying a car and 'risking' being a named driver etc. (ooooops gone off topic a bit, best go now then )

jonmorris

The 1.25 Zetec/Ghia is a great car. The missus has one and I drive it loads.

Guess what; it's not as fast as a Scooby/Evo/RS/Cossie.. but so what? It's a fantastic runaround that is so chuckable you can drive it like you're on a track (or go-kart track) and have loads of fun. The speed isn't going to be that high, but you'll still stay ahead of the "normal" cars on the road because it's got such a good chassis and can be kept "on the boil" all the time. The decent gearing plays a good part in making it seem faster than it is (0-60 is painfully slow, but it doesn't matter).

I wish Ford had developed more engines with Yamaha - the E/SE range are amazingly nippy considering their size. I remember when they came out and people said "get the 1.25, not the 1.3" and I couldn't understand why you would get a smaller engine for more performance. Now I do - although I'm not sure it's so good in the new, new Fiesta because of the extra weight. It must struggle a bit there.