Hello everyone,  I'm looking to buy a Fiesta Mk7.5 1.0 EcoBoost (manual) as a first car for my daughter to learn to drive (99 or 125bhp engine).  We looked at a couple and she's fairly set on wanting one with the 'S' or dress-up-kit - so that's either a Zetec S or maybe a Titanium or TX or even Zetec with that option - there are a couple of Titanium X's but that bumps the price up a bit.

I'm probably more bothered about mileage than age, but is there limit for mileage I should avoid.  One car I've spotted has 58k miles (64 plate) so high for the age but all of the MOTs are passes without any advisories.  The car isn't going to do a lot of mileage anyway maybe 4k a year so a highish mileage one mightn't be an issue.

As for optional extras I'd ideally like a car with rear parking sensors and power folding mirrors - which narrows down the list of candidate Zetec S cars.  I'm wanting these more for my benefit as I've been accustomed to park distance control on my last few cars.  I presume a car without a DAB radio could be upgraded to one with by changing the head unit?

What's the service intervals on this car? Every year or 12,500 miles?  Is mileage an issue so long as it's been regularly serviced.

Are there other things I should be asking sellers about for when considering a car.  Are there any fragile aspects of the car. By all accounts they're reliable and I'd hope relatively inexpensive to fix basic items.

What about warranties for a car, are they worthwhile? Can anyone recommend a company if you think these are worthwhile.

Is there any resources where I can find out what options were added to a particular car?  I've spotted a 5 door Zetec that has the dress-up-kit, city pack, in the right colour with sensible mileage but I read that by default the Zetec doesn't come with the perimeter alarm as standard.  The car is listed with having the perimeter alarm but how could I confirm this?

Thanks in advance - any and all guidance is much appreciated 

Hi Darren,

A few thoughts: 

Unless you really need a 5 door, may be better sticking with the Zetec S and get the benefit of the uprated suspension as well as the cosmetics - not a lot of cars around with dress up kits. 

Other than the usual used car points, if you have a good search back through the Fiesta forum, you will come across a couple of Fiesta ecoboost issues which have had a lot of coverage.

Firstly, low oil pressure which seems to appear around 60k miles on cars where regular oil changes have been neglected and/or the recommended oil grade has not been used. Theory is that the timing belt which runs in oil starts to break up and particles block the oil pump.

Second, they can  develop corrosion in the metal coolant pipes to the turbo.

The following link to the oil pressure issue also includes a link to the coolant pipes thread

On servicing, at only 4,000 miles a year you will be needing an annual service anyway. 

Not sure about alarms, but park sensors can easily be added. Ford dealers do X-vision sensors for about £300, for example.

To see what was on the car when left factory you can look at Ford Etis. If you register as independent operator for free you can see very detailed spec of car from reg no. 

There are lots of reports of the problems mentioned above, but there are lots of these cars around so percentage wise it might not be higher than other makes/ models.  Easy to inspect the metal coolant pipes on the turbo. But you can’t check if the oil strainer is on the verge of being blocked by rubber granules.

Thanks for the responses @isetta & @Eric Bloodaxe - that link about the low oil pressure does suggest that the engines are sensitive to being regularly maintained.  The dealer where I'd seen the Zetec S with 58k miles has confirmed it's only had 3 services - they'd do the 4th before it was sold - but acknowledged a service stamp might be missing. As it's a Sep-2014 car then it should have had 5 already and be due it's 6th in only 3-4 months time.  Given that, plus it's not local I'll give that a miss.

Thanks for the tip about the ETIS website to lookup details.  That could be handy to find cars with later versions of the engine too.

The Zetec with the body kit and city pack may be an option but it has the 17" 8-spoke alloy wheels (which I'd wanted) but looking at a 2015 price list, it indicates these weren't an optional extra and my concern is that if things aren't factory fitted options that might cause headaches finding insurance for a 17 year old.

I might just have to stump up my budget and buy a lower mileage/younger car - the last thing a want is mechanical hassles.  I've spotted a very tidy looking Titanium-X that has the 'S' body kit biting the bullet money wise may be the better bet in the long run.

A couple more questions.  

1. Other than the obvious 25bhp difference does the 99bhp engine feel particularly lacklustre compares to the 125bhp one? 
2. Is the ride on the sports suspension of the Zetec-S much stiffer than the standard suspension?  Marginally firmer is fine, but I don't want my fillings shaken out.

Thanks again for the guidance.

2 hours ago, Dazza993 said:

A couple more questions.  

1. Other than the obvious 25bhp difference does the 99bhp engine feel particularly lacklustre compares to the 125bhp one? 
2. Is the ride on the sports suspension of the Zetec-S much stiffer than the standard suspension?  Marginally firmer is fine, but I don't want my fillings shaken out.

As I always say, my personal opinion only, but:

1. No,the 100 is fine, particularly if doing mainly town driving. Not an option if looking at a Zetec S of course, and many people do reckon the 125 is a "sweet spot" in the range, but the advantage is chiefly over 4,000 rpm.

2. It's a reasonable compromise between ride and handling. I find my ST-Line (which is a similar set-up) absolutely fine (I haven't lost a filling yet😀), whereas I find a "full fat" ST simply too firm for the roads I have to drive on.

 

 

16 hours ago, Dazza993 said:

I might just have to stump up my budget and buy a lower mileage/younger car 

I forgot to add - towards the end of its run the Mk 7.5 Zetec S was rebranded ST-Line and a 5 door became available about the same time. So you could get a 5 door ST- L with the factory bodykit and sports suspension if you were stretching to a newer car anyway.

Hey, I've literally just this weekend bought the Zetec S as my second car.. it's pokey, very pokey, I'd say you may even be better off going for the 100 model instead being that it's for your 17 year old daughter..

This being said, even with my short time with the car, I've been immensely impressed with my ZS; it's fast, comfortable, solid, tight, absolutely fantastic.

30 minutes ago, Mynamesbrett said:

I'd say you may even be better off going for the 100 model instead being that it's for your 17 year old daughter.

Iirc, when the Mk 7.5 Zetec S became the ST-Line as I mentioned above, it became available with the 100ps, so that would be a way of getting the sporty look without too much "go", though it might be hard to find one. 

27 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Iirc, when the Mk 7.5 Zetec S became the ST-Line as I mentioned above, it became available with the 100ps, so that would be a way of getting the sporty look without too much "go", though it might be hard to find one. 

Oo, didn't know that, could be a good shout, budget depending. The sporty kit definitely is a game changer, I find it looks very 'flat' without it.