My new Ford Fiesta Trend Ecoboost is due to be delivered to my house tomorrow, so I've joined the Forum. Over the past 15 years I've had two Honda Civics and have been very happy with them - no problems at all. I'll be only doing 2,500 miles a year and am hoping this will keep the Fiesta battery charged. And I confess to being a little nervous about New Technology. I'll be venturing out first thing on Sunday morning to familiarise myself with the car.

(Just one niggle: the salesman's smoke & mirrors about DiamondBrite treatment, which I see is much discussed in this forum. I was told that it would be complimentary if I took out PCP, then it appeared at £398 on an interim invoice, I made it very clear that I didn't want to pay for it, when I signed the bumf on Monday the sales manager said it would be complimentary, but when I got home it was still charged on the amended invoice.)

I used to be a very keen cyclist and I see that there are some views expressed here about certain types of rider. I support cyclists who behave sensibly but am very critical of those who ride selfishly and believe they have all the rights and no responsibilities.

I live in Berkshire and drive short distances to carry out environmental tasks and to walk in the countryside. My favourite area is Wiltshire.

No doubt I shall ask questions that have been put several times before, but I promise to search the forum before posting.

I've just realised that this is an Invision forum. Great! I'm a senior member of the Great War Forum which also uses Invision, so I should be able to find my around.

28 minutes ago, Marlburian said:

the salesman's smoke & mirrors about DiamondBrite treatment, which I see is much discussed in this forum

Yes you couldn't pay me to have someone apply that to my car! It's just like Supagard, only used by dealers trying to upsell something high end and promises to last years and years.

In fact, it's the complete opposite of that. it's often applied wrong by monkeys who still use a chamois leather and a rubber squeegee to dry cars causing more harm than good.

Hello Terence,

HAPPY NEW CAR DAY

If you are only going to be doing 2500 miles per year your battery will be flat after two weeks.

You are going to have to keep the battery on a trickle charge or expect to have lots of issues. If you don't keep the battery topped up then expect things like the dreaded Stop/Start system not to work, the keyless entry to switch off, autohold to not be available.

@StephenFord will be able to recommend a suitable standby trickle charger.

 

17 minutes ago, unofix said:

@StephenFord will be able to recommend a suitable standby trickle charger.

 

I do prattle on a bit about it LOL OK, you should consider the Maypole 7423 charger, a feature rich charger for very little money. I've been using one for a few years now and have no hesitation in recommending it!

Hi welcome  👍

Hi Terence,

Only ever had paint/fabric treatment once - I was going to say it was done by monkeys but that would be insult to our primate cousins!

I think most of us will have invested in a "smart" charger of some sort during the lockdowns if we didn't have one already. I do around 5,000 miles a year these days but have certainly had the low battery warning several times and I always disable stop/start when I drive off. In fairness, I don't think the issue is exclusive to Ford: most manufacturers have "intelligent" charging systems (for environmental reasons) that are probably great under test conditions but rarely seem to achieve a full charge in the real world. 

There are loads of threads on the forum that mention issues relating to low battery charge. The search facility on here is not good unfortunately - I find it easier to use Google or similar search engine and include "Ford Owners Club" in the search term, and that usually does the trick.

Enjoy your Fiesta and the forum!

 

11 hours ago, Marlburian said:

... No doubt I shall ask questions that have been put several times before, but I promise to search the forum before posting.

I've just realised that this is an Invision forum. Great! I'm a senior member of the Great War Forum which also uses Invision, so I should be able to find my around.

 

9 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Hi Terence,

There are loads of threads on the forum that mention issues relating to low battery charge. The search facility on here is not good unfortunately - I find it easier to use Google or similar search engine and include "Ford Owners Club" in the search term, and that usually does the trick.

Thanks for the warm welcomes. Eric's search tip is exactly the one that I give new (and not so new) members on the Great War Forum, when Googling gives a number of links that can be copied into a thread. My "seniority" on that Forum is not so much due to prolific posting but to having been a member for 16 years, so I can(vaguely) recall old threads on a given topic.

Hi and welcome. Enjoy your new car. 

Hello Terence,

Enjoy your new car.

 

Welcome to the forum, enjoy your new car.