New car purchase

[Bobr]

I was on the point of returning it to the dealers when it occurred to me to check the tyre pressures.

[runamonk]

Oh man that would have sucked. 

[Bobr]

I couldn't believe it Ron.   I checked them with two different gauges before I was sure.   Thought the first gauge had gone wrong.

[Bobr]

I'm really impressed.   Just had my first fill up since the one when I bought the car and it's returned 41 mpg.   That includes a lot of in town driving and for an auto box I'm very happy with that.   Just done a comparison with the old Fiesta and, date for date, it's roughly the same consumption.   Really didn't expect that from an auto box.

[runamonk]

Well if it's the powershift it's basicially just a manual transmission with a different stick and tcm that controls it all. It's pretty interesting. So it's pretty good on the mpg, I think you lose some of that mpg with the torque converter version because it's a little less efficient I guess.

Right after I got mine I noticed a shudder/clunky/jerky shifting, it was really annoying at slow speeds.  My normal mechanic doesn't touch automatics so I had to take it to the dealer and they confirmed it was the same issue as below. At this point I was crapping my pants but I had them contact my warranty company and they agreed straight away to cover it all, it was 1500 and change and it took them roughly two days to do it. 

Check out this video, this guy shows everything. It's a good watch.

 

 

 

[Bobr]

Thanks Ron.   That certainly is interesting.   Not something you would want to even consider doing yourself.   I'm pleased to say that, on my car, gear changes are as smooth as silk.

[runamonk]

I love mine too. I'm really impressed with this little car. 🙂

[Zico]

5 hours ago, Bobr said:

I'm really impressed.   Just had my first fill up since the one when I bought the car and it's returned 41 mpg.   That includes a lot of in town driving and for an auto box I'm very happy with that.   Just done a comparison with the old Fiesta and, date for date, it's roughly the same consumption.   Really didn't expect that from an auto box.

Worth remembering you had a short stint driving with under inflated tyres which wouldn't have helped the MPG. Might be worth chucking a tank of V-Power or similar premium fuel into it to clear out anything that built up under the previous owner's use.

[Bobr]

39 minutes ago, Zico said:

Worth remembering you had a short stint driving with under inflated tyres which wouldn't have helped the MPG. Might be worth chucking a tank of V-Power or similar premium fuel into it to clear out anything that built up under the previous owner's use.

I'd forgotten about the under inflated tyres.   That would certainly have made a difference.   Might be a good idea about the premium fuel too.   I'll try it next time I fill up.   Thanks for the suggestion.

[Bobr]

I'd like to publicly thank @Zico (Yaz) who has very kindly sent me a touch up set in Race Red that he had spare.   Wouldn't even let me pay for the postage.   I'm very much obliged to you Yaz.

[Zico]

@Bobr it would be pretty silly of me to keep hold of a Race Red kit for a Spirit Blue car (more so that I got rid of the Race Red car more than 4 1/2 years ago ).

Glad to have passed it on, hopefully you won't need to use it anytime soon!!

[Bobr]

Somewhat surprised to find that there doesn't appear to be a steering lock on this car.

[tef89]

2 hours ago, Bobr said:

Somewhat surprised to find that there doesn't appear to be a steering lock on this car.

Hi Bob, so do you mean it doesn't lock when the car is turned off ? 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

I think it may depend on whether or not you have keyless start?

On my Mk 8 (button starter) you don't feel a mechanical "click", it just locks with the ignition off. You sometimes feel a "kick" if you are holding the wheel when it unlocks as you press the button to start. My Mk 7 Titanium with button start was the same.

[tef89]

32 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I think it may depend on whether or not you have keyless start?

On my Mk 8 (button starter) you don't feel a mechanical "click", it just locks with the ignition off. You sometimes feel a "kick" if you are holding the wheel when it unlocks as you press the button to stsrt. My Mk 7 Titanium with button start was the same.

That's a good point Roger.  I have the push button start and never really notice it lock / unlock.

I know when I had an instrument cluster failure and had to 'fix' it with a battery pull, afterwards I got the steering column lock malfunction error (fixed with a BCU disconnect).

[TomsFocus]

It's an electronic steering lock on keyless start cars as stated above.  Get in the car without the keyfob in the vicinity and it should be locked.

[Bobr]

Thanks for the replies guys.   I'll try your suggestion Tom @TomsFocus and report back.   It is keyless start with a push button and I've never had one before.   When I turn the engine off with the wheels straight ahead I can still move the steering wheel either way.   Couldn't do that in my last (2013) Fiesta.

[runamonk]

Mine doesn't automatically lock unless I turn the wheel to lock it. ( no keyless on mine )

[TomsFocus]

2 minutes ago, runamonk said:

Mine doesn't automatically lock unless I turn the wheel to lock it. ( no keyless on mine )

That's because yours is the conventional manual type that works with the ignition barrel.  

[runamonk]

Yep Yep Yep.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Get in the car without the keyfob in the vicinity and it should be locked.

Yes. Coincidentally I've just left mine unlocked in the drive for a few minutes while we unloaded some shopping. Just popped out without the key on me to check something and the steering was locked - but even when you get back in with the key on you it stays locked until you touch the starter button, then you can hear a slight"click" as it unlocks. 

NB There is a slight delay after leaving the car before the lock engages. I've not hung about to check, but probably the time it takes the courtesy/puddle lights to fade and go off.

 

[Bobr]

Tried opening the car then taking the keys back in the house and going back to the car and, sure enough, the steering was locked. Fetched the keys and the steering stayed locked until I started the engine.   Many thanks guys, I was a little worried there.   Amazing how it works though.

[Bobr]

Just filled up again and this car, despite being automatic, is returning exactly the same mpg as my last Fiesta which was exactly the same but manual.   Very impressed with this auto box, it goes through the gears much quicker than I could in the manual one.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, Bobr said:

Very impressed with this auto box, it goes through the gears much quicker than I could in the manual one.

Glad to see you're so happy with it Bob! Out of interest, had you owned/driven an automatic before - you don't seem to have had problems adapting to it?

[Bobr]

44 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Glad to see you're so happy with it Bob! Out of interest, had you owned/driven an automatic before - you don't seem to have had problems adapting to it?

I owned an automatic Volvo 240GLE about 35 years ago Roger.   Had it for three years.   I was a police driver though and we trained on both manual and automatic cars as we might have had to drive either on occasion.