75ps 1.1 is wetbelt. 

On 8/1/2023 at 12:25 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

... There still seem to be a fair number of new Fiestas available at the moment, so you could still possibly find one to suit - unlikely to be the case next December, though...

Just had a phone call from the dealer - not the salesman with whom I was in contact in the summer (see above). He told me that they had 15 Fiestas in stock in their branch, with hundreds available throughout the network, and Ford was offering big discounts (18% might have been very quickly mentioned). He did not deny that my suggestion that any deal might need to be completed by the end of November and he seemed to accept my observation that wet belts could be problematical; he would have to check whether the cars he had on offer had chains.

A quick look at the dealer's website showed only 12 new Fiestas listed across the dealership network.

161 new Fiestas nationwide (various models) listed on AutoTrader earlier this week.

18 hours ago, Marlburian said:

wet belts could be problematical; he would have to check whether the cars he had on offer had chains.

Of the models still on sale when the Fiesta was discontinued, only the 1.5 ST and the 1.0 MHEV versions have the chain cam drive rather than wet belt, as far as we know. The 75 and 100 versions seem to have been wet belt to the end. 

The MHEV was only available as a 125 at the end of production, the 155 already having been discontinued. (My local dealer did still have a 155 at the start of the year but it is long gone.)

I would advise checking carefully that any car you do consider has all the equipment you require - the specs were considerably reduced towards the end, as has been mentioned elsewhere.

I've certainly noticed a good few deletions when comparing my Mk 8.5 ST-3 to my 2018 Mk 8 ST Line X, some of which have been mentioned elsewhere and in some cases applied to late Mk 8s also:

Folding mirrors

Mirror heating

One touch window switches (now one touch to open only, and only on drivers door)

Illuminated cup holders

Sunglasses holder in roof console

B&O badges to speakers (where applicable)

Leather covering to handbrake on higher spec models

Owners manual etc. folder (now general on all models it seems)

Removable storage tray under armrest.

Centre speaker on dash 

Spare wheel option (on ST)

Acoustic windscreen

There may be more - I seem to keep noticing more stuff (or rather NOT noticing it) as time goes by.

Also:

Noticed the gap between the A pillar and wing now seems to be stuffed with a black bin liner which has also been mentioned in the Mk 4.5 Focus. I assume this is a soundproofing measure and it may be effective but certainly looks like a bodge!

 

7 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Of the models still on sale when the Fiesta was discontinued, only the 1.5 ST and the 1.0 MHEV versions have the chain cam drive rather than wet belt, as far as we know. The 75 and 100 versions seem to have been wet belt to the end. 

The MHEV was only available as a 125 at the end of production, the 155 already having been discontinued. (My local dealer did still have a 155 at the start of the year but it is long gone.)

I would advise checking carefully that any car you do consider has all the equipment you require - the specs were considerably reduced towards the end, as has been mentioned elsewhere.

I've certainly noticed a good few deletions when comparing my Mk 8.5 ST-3 to my 2018 Mk 8 ST Line X, some of which have been mentioned elsewhere and in some cases applied to late Mk 8s also:

Folding mirrors

Mirror heating

One touch window switches (now one touch to open only, and only on drivers door)

Illuminated cup holders

Sunglasses holder in roof console

B&O badges to speakers (where applicable)

Leather covering to handbrake on higher spec models

Owners manual etc. folder (now general on all models it seems)

Removable storage tray under armrest.

Centre speaker on dash 

Spare wheel option (on ST)

Acoustic windscreen

There may be more - I seem to keep noticing more stuff (or rather NOT noticing it) as time goes by.

Also:

Noticed the gap between the A pillar and wing now seems to be stuffed with a black bin liner which has also been mentioned in the Mk 4.5 Focus. I assume this is a soundproofing measure and it may be effective but certainly looks like a bodge!

 

The first thing I noticed after I bought the mk4 Ford Focus was the bin liner in the front wing.

 

2 hours ago, Nimrodmk8 said:

The first thing I noticed after I bought the mk4 Ford Focus was the bin liner in the front wing.

 

A guy on another forum removed them from his Fiesta out of curiosity and posted pics. Literally appeared to be black bin liners sealed up with what looked like gaffa tape, presumably containing some sort of sound deadening material. He gave everything inside the inner wing/door pillar area a blast of rustproofer before putting them back.

 

16 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

A guy on another forum removed them from his Fiesta out of curiosity and posted pics. Literally appeared to be black bin liners sealed up with what looked like gaffa tape, presumably containing some sort of sound deadening material. He gave everything inside the inner wing/door pillar area a blast of rustproofer before putting them back.

 

Wow!