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Maintenance for mid point of my cars life


Jake14
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I've had my car for almost 6 years and 154, 000 km (almost 100k miles) and I hope to have it roughly the same amount of time again although maybe with fewer miles. It's a 2014 SFE Fiesta with the 1.0 ecoboost.

The front struts are just beginning to feel a bit less controlled so I'm thinking of replacing them now as it seems inevitable sooner or later. What other components, especially at the front end, are guaranteed to wear out in the next 6 years of use and will help restore the feel and handling? 

I figure I may as well refresh everything now, in one go, rather than stretching lifespans to the max only to eventually put brand new parts onto a slowly dying car. The front rotors shows years of use and the pads are warn enough to merit doing so I'll tackle both of them but what else is likely to show signs of slop and eventual failure; am I likely to make 12 years on the same bearings, tie rods etc?

 

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I bought my 2007 fiesta when it had 1,600 miles on. I used it until 146,000 miles, my brother then used it until 164,000 miles and then left it sitting in his garden as it needs a new ABS unit to pass MOT (road worthiness) test.

During all that time the only parts replaced were- rear silencer, tyres(lots), front brake pads (twice), timing belt & tensioner,air filter (once), fuel filter (once) lots of oil and filter changes. At 164,000 miles everything else still seems fine other than the ABS unit problem and the front brake discs are looking a bit thin , but the garage did say that everything was fine for MOT other than the ABS problem. I drove it myself and jacked it up and checked everything myself and nothing seemed to have any detectable wear at all (other than the front discs I mentioned)

So you might not need any bearings / ball joints etc for a long long time yet, if ever.

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Along with the normal service items for that mileage and the items you’ve mentioned, I would inspect for replacement: tie rods, wheel bearings, CV joints, lower control arm bushes, top hats and bearings, rear trailing arm bushes (not sure correct name), all coolant hoses especially the fittings to the coolant tank

I would replace: Front ARB bushes, accessory drive belt, rear lower spring isolator pads, coolant expansion tank and pressure cap, 

Obviously if you’ve recently replaced any of the above they wouldn’t need to be replaced again  

 

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isetta - That sounds quite encouraging. I replaced my pads pretty early on as the factory pads on my car seemed like garbage and were noisy with a tendency to snatch. If I get the same life out the next set of pads they maybe my last. My engine uses a timing chain and it isn't due for replacement for a good while yet; it might be the one item I'll try to push my luck on.

ThaiFiesta - Thanks this is exactly the type of list I was hoping for.

I really haven't had to do any real maintenance on the vehicle yet; I changed plugs this past winter as it wasn't starting great in the cold (like a big flat spot between idle and ~1500rpm) but the old plugs looked great so I suspect maybe it is my intake valves which have got dirty. I really think that and brake pads are the only maintenance I've done except a synthetic oil & filter change every 5000 miles and replacing my coolant this winter after I hit a deer and busted a hose which emptied the rad.

I hope the next 6 years are as trouble free and as fun to drive after which I suspect salt and Canadian winters will be taking their toll on the bodywork.

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I've just remembered the first thing that actually failed on the car was the windscreen washer nozzles; it was probably only a couple of years old when the plastic went brittle and the hose came off. At the time I wasn't too impressed but it was only a few bucks for replacements and they have lasted fine since.

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