Hello ladies and gentlemen!

 

Just a quick hello to greet you all, and to ease myself into the community. I'm completely new to Ford ownership, having just taken delivery of a 2018 Fiesta ST-Line (140PS, 3-door) in Shadow Black. I must say, I really do love it. The leap in quality and comfort is lightyears from my previous car (indeed, my only previous car - I learned to drive very late!), which was a 2002 Toyota Yaris T-Sport. So whilst I'm used to nippy little go-cart style handling, the level of poise and power the ST-Line possesses (plus the lack of noise thanks to an excellent cabin and a sixth gear!), has made my driving experience really enjoyable, rather than just functional. I approve!

 

Although the world of Ford is new to me personally, Ford has been a part of my family for 3 generations, starting with my late grandfather who worked at the Dagenham plant for 30 years. Since then, Ford cars have always been the choice of my grandfather, father, and brother. I didn't think I'd get to own a car from new for at least another couple of trade-ups, but thanks to the Ford Privilege discount and the dealership being able to knock the usual amount off the list price, I went ahead with a good finance deal, and here I am!

 

Although I'm blown away by the overall quality, I must say that I haven't had the smoothest of starts, mostly thanks to a couple of very minor issues with the main dealer:

 

Firstly, I was assured by the dealer that the car would be sent down by trailer to avoid having anyone else drive the thing, but when I queried the 150 miles already on the clock, it transpired that it had already been driven from another dealership to the one it was just trailored from. Although I was told that up to 500 miles is considered acceptable delivery mileage (my brother's 2018 Focus had just 4 miles on it when delivered last month!), it would have been nice to know in advance, especially as my new logbook reported 0 miles at registration, and I was the first registrant.

 

Secondly, thanks to it being a rainy grey day when I collected the car, it was hard to inspect the bodywork when taking delivery. Once things brightened up a few days later, I noticed a host of small surface scratches here and there - a couple on the wing mirrors, some on the side panels, as well as on the internal sills. I had to return the machine in order to get them rectified, but I was assured it was all taken care of when I collected it - once again in the blasted rain! Although I think they did get the majority of the nicks in the paint, it should be noted that they left the finish in a shocking state - unbuffed, smeared wax all over, huge crusts of wax residue dried in the seams around the fuel filler cap, plus a nice hard-to-remove wax stain on the rear black plastic lip near the exhaust. Given the standard of presentation work up to that point, I didn't fancy taking the thing back again, so dealt with it as best I could myself. I'm treating her to a professional detailing valet and re-wax in a few weeks' time, so hopefully no other bodywork issues will be revealed!

 

Finally, at the start of my third week with the car, she refused to start - even after trying the usual emergency procedures. Fortunately AA cover was included with the purchase, so about an hour after I called them, they were able to get to me at home and fix the problem. Apparently it was the second brand new Fiesta the guy had seen this week with the same problem - a corroded coating on the electrical switches/plugs in the engine fuse box that just needed cleaning off. I was two hours late to work, and not very impressed given I'd had 4 years of my 16 year old Yaris starting first time, every time!

 

Everything has been fine since then, though, and I am still very happy to have joined the Ford party. I'm also very pleased to have found a good community to be a part of here!

 

So, that's my ownership story so far. Have any of you experienced similar? Let me know!

 

~ James

Hi Welcome

Thanks, Dezwez!