The Planner
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Wait until you get used to a reversing camera!
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How do people afford a car?
- Thread starter miklcct
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RailUK Forums
oh I had the same with reversing beepers 20 years ago.
gg1
Established Member
If by mileage you mean fuel consumption, cars with traditional torque converter automatic gearboxes were indeed far heavier on fuel but that isn't the case with the dual clutch or CVT gearboxes fitted to most automatic cars built the past 10-15 years where fuel consumption is pretty close to a manual version of the same car.
£ 2800 for those on a Fiesta sounds like an awful lot.
A cambelt & water pump should be about £ 350. So unless the head gasket failure caused some other problems or there was other work done on the car, I'd question the cost of your garage.
Head gaskets usually don't just fail - there are usually giveaway signs like the engine running hot or using coolant. Can I ask whether the car was being regularly i.e. at least once a year - being serviced ?
anthony263
Established Member
It was yes and a lot of the bill was VAT.
I have it mot's every January and a service around the same time. Its always had a minor issue of running hot and drinking coolant but the fault never been able to be found. Head gasket water pump both replaced. New O rings too. Biggest problem I had was finding somewhere who could get my car in before end of this month
Bit in bold - I'm not sure that's a "minor" issue.
Having run various cars - and running a couple of classics now - a car running hot and using coolant is a problem, not a minor problem and that needs to be got to the bottom of.
Simplistically the coolant system on a car is pressurised - so for it to be losing coolant that tells you there's a loss of pressure somewhere. There are some obvious places to start looking - hoses, particularly where there are connectors, the pressure cap on the coolant bottle and the water pump. But if it's none of those then the head-gasket would always be a candidate, that or a cracked cylinder head (which can happen due to overheating).
The 'O' rings - I assume you mean piston rings - are a direct consequence of it overheating. I'm surprised you weren't finding it was consuming more oil as well - that's usually a sign of head gasket failing.
To be honest, I'd be a bit reluctant to use any garage which had struggled to diagnose the Head Gasket as the likely cause of coolant loss and overheating.
a whopping 16.666%!
Unless we see the invoice we cannot tell if £2800 is reasonable. Coolant loss could be a cracked cylinder head, or a warped cylinder head. the £2800 may include a new head if the old one cannot be trued or welded.
I had a full top end rebuild on my Big Van engine for not much more than that earlier this year including drilling out a stuck glow plug and a stuck injector, and retapping and skimming the head, plus a set of recon injectors and replacement inlet manifold. Including cam belt etc on reassembly.
(The work was done by a good local independent in South Wales when at over 200k miles a glowplug fell to bits and was about to fall into the cylinder and trash the lot..... hopefully I'll get another 200k miles from it
). So for just Cambelt and waterpump it seems excessive, as that price would be heading for top end rebuild.......TPO
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You can get a whole reconditioned engine for less than £1000. It's a Fiesta not something exotic, seems an astonishing amount of money to pay out
birchesgreen
Established Member
Are the new parts made out of gold or something?
Ford have announced the Fiesta will come to an end after a four-decade production run which started in the mid 1970s
A potent of the shifting sands the car makers rest upon, in The UK, Year after year, he Fiesta featured at the very top of the car sales league table
.
A potent of the shifting sands the car makers rest upon, in The UK, Year after year, he Fiesta featured at the very top of the car sales league table
.
90019
Established Member
The parts may not be cheap, but that sort of job will have significant labour costs involved, potentially making up the bulk of the overall cost.
RailWonderer
Established Member
It hasn't for the last few years. Vauxhall, VW, Toyota and Kia offer plenty in the affordable segment, so Ford don't see the point in competing when the mark up for these cars is so low.
Ford are focusing on the Puma and Kuga which have a slightly higher mark up and would rather license the Mustang's image to Lego than sell the Fiesta (there is speculation they make more from the Lego deal).
johncrossley
Established Member
The Fiesta is now a big car. Ford no longer offer anything in the A-segment.
The Fiesta was never an 'A' segment car though - the only time Ford entered the A segment it was with the Ka.
And whilst the Fiesta has undoubtedly grown over the years, so have its major competitors - it's not significantly different to any of those:
Fiesta - Length 160", Width 70", Height 59"
Polo - Length 160", Width 69", Height 57"
Corsa - Length 160", Width 69.5", Height 56.5"
Fabia - Length 162", Width 70", Height 57.5"
Clio - Length 159", Width 71", Height 57".
Ford globally have been pulling out of the "regular" car styles - in USA Ford has no '3 box saloons' or 'estates / wagons' in their range at all now. The only "car" they list is the Mustang, it's all SUVs or Crossovers.
everything is big now. Compare cars that are 20-25 yrs old with todays behemoths.
The Ford Focus B-segment car is to be withdrawn in 2025
anthony263
Established Member
£460 of the bill for my fiesta was just VAT.
Anyway update. Had car back fixed worked lovely for 3 weeks. Was supposed to go to a wedding last weekend in Southend on sea so went yo check my cars oil abd coolant.opened the bonnet the coolant tanknwas filled with black oil.
Car taken back to fords who said the oil coolers had it. They not sure if the oil has wrecked the engine so advised against forking out for more work. As I can't get a early train to Cardiff then up to Taff's well on a Sunday I've had to find a car I can get on finance. Stupid fords turned me down saying I wouldn't be able to pay £145 per month for a 17 plate fiesta so I've bought.a peugeot 2008. Handy now with my daughter.
Anyway update. Had car back fixed worked lovely for 3 weeks. Was supposed to go to a wedding last weekend in Southend on sea so went yo check my cars oil abd coolant.opened the bonnet the coolant tanknwas filled with black oil.
Car taken back to fords who said the oil coolers had it. They not sure if the oil has wrecked the engine so advised against forking out for more work. As I can't get a early train to Cardiff then up to Taff's well on a Sunday I've had to find a car I can get on finance. Stupid fords turned me down saying I wouldn't be able to pay £145 per month for a 17 plate fiesta so I've bought.a peugeot 2008. Handy now with my daughter.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Though to be fair compact crossovers look remarkably like hatchbacks. The current Vauxhall Mokka for instance looks rather like a bodykitted Astra, it doesn't even ride much higher nor is the body much higher.
cactustwirly
Established Member
The Mokka is an Astra underneath.
Just jacked up and a lot more expensive.
Personally I'd rather spend the extra on a nicer car like a 1 series than an overpriced astra on stilts
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The 1 series isn't in the same segment. Its Vauxhall equivalent is the smaller Corsa. The 2 Series is the Astra.
The 1 and 2 series are the same (C segment). The 2 series is the coupe version of the same car.
The Corsa is B segment, which is the segment below.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
My Dad had a 1 series and it was definitely much smaller than an Astra. It is a supermini, not a family hatch.
The 1 and 2 series are generally considered to be C segment, the same as the Astra, Golf, Focus etc. Superminis are B segment.
It’s a “compact” family hatch, rather than a supermini.
Of course all classes of car are getting bigger over time. The Polo has been bigger than early generation Golfs for some time, for example.
A manager at work had a 1 series, ( company car scheme), of those who rode in it, they described the 1 series as very uncomfortable, the seats and interior are cramped and poor, probably
ok if you are slim and below average in height
I liked the old version. I had one as a courtesy car a few times when my then 3 series was in the garage. Sharp handling, rear wheel drive, decent range of engines.
It wasn’t the biggest, and the RWD did mean the transmission tunnel ate into the floor space in the back.
cactustwirly
Established Member
Other cars are available, such as a Audi A3 etc.
The extra refinement and comfort is much better than a cheap car on stilts.
I deliberately went for an older more prestige car. Than a younger cheaper car such as an Astra or Focus.
It's definitely worth it, especially on long distance journeys, it's the minor things such as the better seats, better sound proofing and build quality that make such a huge difference.
The extra refinement and comfort is much better than a cheap car on stilts.
I deliberately went for an older more prestige car. Than a younger cheaper car such as an Astra or Focus.
It's definitely worth it, especially on long distance journeys, it's the minor things such as the better seats, better sound proofing and build quality that make such a huge difference.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
But then it may well cost you more to keep it going. (Or you'll be lucky and it not!
)Within reason I would buy as new as possible. There really are no totally rubbish cars these days.
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