Ford Fiesta Mk7 1.6 (Petrol Or Diesel)

[kierandyte]

Hi guys, 
I know there are a couple topics on picking the right 1.6 but they are a few years old now, i am therefore just wondering what variant is still worth the buy 10ish years down the road, looking at cars between (2009-2011).

Any response would be nice, if i do purchase the diesel what should i look out for before mapping etc? 

Also is a mapped diesel faster than the standard petrol? 

[orangecurry]

I can't answer directly, but if you have a choice, why would anyone want to buy a diesel?

Emissions and pollution are significantly worse - the Welsh are even dropping their speed limits due to extra pollution caused by accelerating diesel engines, and city centres will be increasing or introducing charges for their use - a 2010 1.6 Diesel for example is not ULEZ compliant according to https://tfl.gov.uk but a 2009 1.6 petrol is.

So-called dieselgate wasn't made-up - diesels are worse for the environment, and if you don't care then think about the resale value of a diesel vs a petrol in the years to come.  

[TomsFocus]

Diesels are not 'worse for the environment' at all.  They produce far less CO2 than petrols for a start.

They use less fuel, which works out as a large cost saving if you do higher mileage.  And the tax is much cheaper as well.  They also give an easier drive due to the extra torque low down.  And yes, a mapped diesel will feel faster in gear than a petrol...but not from a standing start.

They do produce more NOx than conventional petrols, hence not being ULEZ compliant until Euro 6.  But that is not an 'overall' indicator of being worse for the environment.  All ICE cars are damaging the environment, as will EV's, albeit in different ways.

 

The main question here is how many miles you do, and if they're mostly town or motorway?  Also worth noting 10 year old cars will all be needing cambelts, and likely to need clutches, if not already done.  Diesel may also need injectors and EGR...petrol may need coil pack & leads.

[iantt]

Choice as said will depend on mileage / journey lengths you intend to do/ 

[isetta]

I love my fiesta diesel.  You ask if faster.  But what does faster mean.   The actual top speed is irrelevant due to speed limits and traffic.  What I like about the diesel is the torque. Compare the torque figures of the engines. It has plenty of torque to maintain speed on hills and not have to change down and still can accelerate on hills easily to overtake.  I expect a diesel will be easier to find than a 1.6 petrol. Timing belt much easier to do on the diesel than the petrol. But if it has a dpf you need to be doing the right sort of journeys for dpf regen to work properly

[kierandyte]

Cheers everyone for the responses, this will be a first car for myself. Im currently leaning toward the petrol due to ulez but they are hard to find in the current car market 😔. 

[orangecurry]

Do you have other criteria other than 2009-2011 and 1.6, as there are 109? on AT at the moment?

[kierandyte]

No can be newer but i like the mk7 shape, just something cheap like £3500 max and within a 40ish mile radius of Epsom. 

[orangecurry]

I meant more criteria such as number of doors, trim level, must be under x miles, can't stand blue... the usual 😉

[kierandyte]

Ah my bad 🤣  i dont mind anything at all its a first car, i know these engines are pretty strong so miles arent a worry but would be nice if the cambelt is done 😉 

[orangecurry]

Now why can't everyone be like that? 👍

[TomsFocus]

Even though it's your first car, I'd still have a think about what you might want from the car.  I made a mistake buying a very basic first car as I kept being told 'everyone bumps their first'...  Never did, and was stuck with manual locks & windows and tiny brakes with no ABS for the first 9 months of driving.  Changed it for a better spec one as soon as I could afford to!  Would have been cheaper in the long run if I'd just bought the better specced one to start with...

So a few things to think about - do you need to use the back seats regularly which might make a 5dr more practical?  Do you need mobile phone connectivity?  Do you prefer the sporty looks of the Zetec S, or the comfort options (auto light & wipers etc) of the Titanium?  

[DaveT70]

On 3/6/2022 at 11:20 AM, orangecurry said:

I can't answer directly, but if you have a choice, why would anyone want to buy a diesel?

Emissions and pollution are significantly worse - the Welsh are even dropping their speed limits due to extra pollution caused by accelerating diesel engines, and city centres will be increasing or introducing charges for their use - a 2010 1.6 Diesel for example is not ULEZ compliant according to https://tfl.gov.uk but a 2009 1.6 petrol is.

So-called dieselgate wasn't made-up - diesels are worse for the environment, and if you don't care then think about the resale value of a diesel vs a petrol in the years to come.  

The diesel is cleaner and better on fuel than the petrol

[orangecurry]

45 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

The diesel is cleaner and better on fuel than the petrol

No and yes - HTH :)

[kierandyte]

8 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Even though it's your first car, I'd still have a think about what you might want from the car.  I made a mistake buying a very basic first car as I kept being told 'everyone bumps their first'...  Never did, and was stuck with manual locks & windows and tiny brakes with no ABS for the first 9 months of driving.  Changed it for a better spec one as soon as I could afford to!  Would have been cheaper in the long run if I'd just bought the better specced one to start with...

So a few things to think about - do you need to use the back seats regularly which might make a 5dr more practical?  Do you need mobile phone connectivity?  Do you prefer the sporty looks of the Zetec S, or the comfort options (auto light & wipers etc) of the Titanium?  

Probably a 5dr would be more practical, really dont care about the spec im buying one for that 1.6 engine 😉 but bluetooth i suppose would be nice

[isetta]

5 door is more practical and better in narrow parking spaces.  3 door cars have longer doors than 5 door equivalents. This means the doors are more inconvenient as  they take up more width next to car when opening to the same angle to get out. As space gets more precious and car park spaces get narrower this becomes more of an issue.  I haven’t checked but I expect most 1.6 petrol are three door zetec s.

[TomsFocus]

Also just thought...as it's a first car, probably worth checking if you can actually insure a 1.6 engine.  And if there's much difference in price between the petrol and diesel.

[kierandyte]

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Also just thought...as it's a first car, probably worth checking if you can actually insure a 1.6 engine.  And if there's much difference in price between the petrol and diesel.

I sure can comes out around £1200 for both fuel types. 

[kierandyte]

Ah another question i had was, does this engine or car in general have anything i should look out for when buying one? in addition to that how much should i be paying? if the car was 2010 and on like 100k miles (or is that too much miles? lol) 

[TomsFocus]

12 hours ago, kierandyte said:

Ah another question i had was, does this engine or car in general have anything i should look out for when buying one? in addition to that how much should i be paying? if the car was 2010 and on like 100k miles (or is that too much miles? lol) 

Petrol or diesel lol?

There are 2 different 1.6 diesels around that time.  The older 16v is well known for carbon deposits in the oil ways that then wreck the turbo.  EGR is also a common fault on them.  The later 8v is well known for weak injectors.

100k on the petrol is likely to be fine, but I would expect the clutch to be getting weak by that mileage.  Cambelt will be overdue on both engines in years if not replaced by now.

Used car prices are mad at the moment, it's hard to say how much you should be paying...but sadly more than 3 or 4 years ago!

[kierandyte]

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Petrol or diesel lol?

There are 2 different 1.6 diesels around that time.  The older 16v is well known for carbon deposits in the oil ways that then wreck the turbo.  EGR is also a common fault on them.  The later 8v is well known for weak injectors.

100k on the petrol is likely to be fine, but I would expect the clutch to be getting weak by that mileage.  Cambelt will be overdue on both engines in years if not replaced by now.

Used car prices are mad at the moment, it's hard to say how much you should be paying...but sadly more than 3 or 4 years ago!

Im looking at the petrol varient due to the low emission zone, ive heard they eat through coil packs? Any car I get will be getting the cambelt done so that should be good! Now to find one for a reasonable price. Is 3k fair for one? (2010 100k miles petrol) 

[TomsFocus]

1 minute ago, kierandyte said:

Im looking at the petrol varient due to the low emission zone, ive heard they eat through coil packs? Any car I get will be getting the cambelt done so that should be good! Now to find one for a reasonable price. Is 3k fair for one? (2010 100k miles petrol) 

Coil packs are fairly common but at least they're easy to change.  Though part of the problem is people buying cheap aftermarket ones...it's one of very few parts that really need to be high quality replacements.

Just checked Autotrader and it looks like £3-4k is about the going rate for them in your area.

[orangecurry]

OP I sent you a PM with a link to one on Autotrader that's near to you - worth a look just so you have something to compare against.