Fiesta Mk5 - Common Faults To Watch For?

[jon6]

About to go shopping for a budget fiesta, more specifically a 1.25 petrol Fiesta Mk5. There's plenty about at varying price brackets. I was just wondering what common faults should I watch out for and what I'd be looking at to put them right (bargaining power).

[jmbrown91]

Firstly Welcome to the Forum.

They're pretty solid cars, I haven't had many faults with them, only general wear and tear (although I do have a mk4 they're pretty similar anyway)

When are you thinking of buying? My mk4 1.25 zetec petrol will be for sale in August time

[jon6]

Firstly Welcome to the Forum.

They're pretty solid cars, I haven't had many faults with them, only general wear and tear (although I do have a mk4 they're pretty similar anyway)

When are you thinking of buying? My mk4 1.25 zetec petrol will be for sale in August time

LOL. I'm thinking next weekend or one after. Way before august. Looking for something to putt about in and get to job interviews, so need to keep overall spend low. I have a budget of £1k but have an extra £200 to put towards a service/tyres/brakes if they're needed so I'm not surprised. For that, want something with 10 months MOT, but with as little problem-wise as possible.

I had a Mk5 from new about ten years back and it was a great little car. I part ex'd it for a Mondeo that robbed me blind! Big mistake!

[jmbrown91]

LOL. I'm thinking next weekend or one after. Way before august. Looking for something to putt about in and get to job interviews, so need to keep overall spend low. I have a budget of £1k but have an extra £200 to put towards a service/tyres/brakes if they're needed so I'm not surprised. For that, want something with 10 months MOT, but with as little problem-wise as possible.

I had a Mk5 from new about ten years back and it was a great little car. I part ex'd it for a Mondeo that robbed me blind! Big mistake!

:P Oh well, worth a try haha...If only I was selling it now..I've just had mine serviced, Tax'd, new brakes and new tyres lol..could have been yours for well under £1k :P

Yeah I can imagine that burnt a nice hole in your pocket!

[jon6]

:P Oh well, worth a try haha...If only I was selling it now..I've just had mine serviced, Tax'd, new brakes and new tyres lol..could have been yours for well under £1k :P

Yeah I can imagine that burnt a nice hole in your pocket!

Aye, we'd be talking seriously then hahaha! Ah well, no worries.

Yep - intake manifold, coil pack every ten months, constant electrical issues. I bought it in 2006 and owned it for four years (2.0 petrol Zetec Estate on a Y plate). I called it quits when the head required replacing along with a few other MOT failures. It never ever passed an MOT without requiring repairs. That and I was sick of having to get into it from the boot (the central locking failed totally for the third time). Over its tenure with me, I'd spent £13,500 on it (including the £5500 buy price) after looking at all the old invoices.

I honestly lose sleep at night thinking about that lol. Easily the biggest heap of scrap I ever put a tax disk on!

[jmbrown91]

Woah..I dont blame you for giving up on that one! you'd be much better off with a mk5 fiesta :)

[jon6]

Woah..I dont blame you for giving up on that one! you'd be much better off with a mk5 fiesta :)

Aye. It was great for shifting band gear about, but sadly they're just junk!

Yep, definitely after something more fiesta shaped. Cheap and cheerful, can do most things myself and if it dies horribly, I haven't got enough into it to lose sleep over.

[jmbrown91]

Yeah..well I'm in a band and my mk4 has had my drums, whole PA systems, 3 guitars and 2 people in B)

Its like a tardis haha

[jon6]

Apparently - not all of these Mk5s came with Power Steering. What age should I be looking at to get that? X plate minimum?

[jmbrown91]

My S reg has got power steering :) must be a bit hit and miss as to which one has it and which one hasnt

[orcomma]

my P-reg flight (mk4) has power steering as standard. Parkers can help with standard equipment at time of production - clicky

mine is a 1.25 and the only thing I can fault (and it is quite common) is the Idle Control Valve. Signs include tendency to rev itself when the clutch is pressed (disengaged) - up to about 2k-3k. Its a £30 part though, and a half hour job to replace. Also the coilpacks are known to go on the 1.25s but again a dead easy fix. The timing belts are only due every 100,000 miles IIRC but its usually the tensioners that go first, and IIRC it's a big job to fit a new one as it involves removing engine mounts. I could be wrong though?

[jon6]

Anyone ever used these breakdown warranties? Any good?

http://www.rac.co.uk/uk-breakdown/warranty.html

[arbgarry]

Check underneath the door rubbers when you open the front doors, my Y reg 1.25 had a recall back in 2001 for rust there,

other than that i had no problems with mine, bought in 2000 and sold in 2004 with 70k on the clock

[jon6]

OK got a few lined up to check out this weekend.

Question... one is £1150 at 70k miles and the other is £750 at 120k miles. Both similar in terms of spec, age and recent MOTs (<2 months ago). Should I go for the cheaper car with more miles, or the more expensive car with less miles? This would affect how much I could spend on repairs if needed - working to a budget here.