15 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

 

Unfortunately now Ford have culled the models which were most popular with their customers, I can see them switching franchise (Dacia, perhaps?😀) or going out of business altogether.

 

Same situation for me, I also have a fantastic family owned dealer close to me, they were a Ford dealer, but they got so sick of Ford, they switched to Dihatsu. Fortunately they still service fords

On 1/15/2024 at 8:52 PM, SteveStrat said:

Been reading a few stories about the ecoboost engines, regarding the wet timing belt.

At least you're starting from a great position, having knowledge of the potential issues and a fairly new car that still has significant resale value.

57 minutes ago, RayC333 said:

At least you're starting from a great position, having knowledge of the potential issues and a fairly new car that still has significant resale value.

Yeah, it's lost £7,000 in 3 years a better position would have been if I left my wallet in my pocket, the day I bought it 😉

1 hour ago, SteveStrat said:

Yeah, it's lost £7,000 in 3 years

Hopefully you enjoyed driving it those three years. That depreciation alone would have covered the value of at least 5 of what mine is now worth - and I have a new cambelt 🙂

3 hours ago, SteveStrat said:

I also have a fantastic family owned dealer close to me, they were a Ford dealer, but they got so sick of Ford, they switched to Dihatsu. 

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I can see them switching franchise (Dacia, perhaps?😀) or going out of business altogether.

Coincidentally another family owned business, a little further from me, have already switched franchise - from Ford to Renault/Dacia.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Coincidentally another family owned business, a little further from me, have already switched franchise - from Ford to Renault/Dacia.

The guys at my garage told me they were sick of Ford, they offered them no backup at all.

2 hours ago, RayC333 said:

Hopefully you enjoyed driving it those three years. That depreciation alone would have covered the value of at least 5 of what mine is now worth - and I have a new cambelt 🙂

I can at least double the value of My fiesta, by filling the tank with Petrol 😂😂

23 minutes ago, SteveStrat said:

I can at least double the value of My fiesta, by filling the tank with Petrol 😂😂

We used to say that about Skodas etc - how times have changed!

On 1/17/2024 at 4:50 PM, SteveStrat said:

I'm struggling to find a reliable small car, which is not hybrid TBH. And has chain for timing rather than wet belt

Honda Jazz comes out top for reliability

Toyota Yaris good for reliability but all Hybrid afaik

Hyundai I10 chain drive and petrol but dunno about reliability.

 

Whatever I do, my Vignale Fiesta value has dropped to about £10,000 I bought it for £17,000 just over 3 years ago, so selling it would mean more of a loss than say the £2000 to replace the belt in 3 years time, I guess.

Problem is I want a car but only really use it for short journeys with say the odd 600 mile round trip once a year.

Hi Steve, 

Bit late I know but to add my two penn'orth - the Mazda 2 1.5 petrol is a chain cam engine and to my knowledge they're reliable... although even top spec cars won't have as many goodies as your Vignale.

As you've said you do a lot of short journeys I won't say the word diesel 😁

On 1/17/2024 at 4:50 PM, SteveStrat said:

I'm struggling to find a reliable small car, which is not hybrid TBH.

Why don't you want a hybrid? Everyone I know who has one loves them.

On 1/17/2024 at 4:50 PM, SteveStrat said:

I'm struggling to find a reliable small car, which is not hybrid TBH. And has chain for timing rather than wet belt

Honda Jazz comes out top for reliability

Toyota Yaris good for reliability but all Hybrid afaik

Hyundai I10 chain drive and petrol but dunno about reliability.

 

Whatever I do, my Vignale Fiesta value has dropped to about £10,000 I bought it for £17,000 just over 3 years ago, so selling it would mean more of a loss than say the £2000 to replace the belt in 3 years time, I guess.

Problem is I want a car but only really use it for short journeys with say the odd 600 mile round trip once a year.

 

I'm in the same position - what to get next:-

Honda Jazz your looking at £25k new and £20k for up to 3 years old

Yaris is just as expensive as the Honda

i10 only with the 1lt Turbo is £18k new  1 or 2 year old £15k

Swift again only the 1.4 sport is worth getting and thats over £20k

Mazda 2 looks a nice car but inside is dated - non turbo engines are a little slow

Puma over 25k

anything else worth looking at?

 

 

 

 

On 1/19/2024 at 6:25 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Keeping an eye on that myself as a future possibility. From what I've seen Renault/Dacia seem to have flipped between dry belt and chain over the years.  Has the engine changed recently? According to the Dacia site it's now belt:

TCe 90

Super versatile

 

Available with a manual gearbox, this latest generation 3-cylinder 90 hp turbo engine is more environmentally friendly and offers incredible responsiveness and driveability. With its timing belt, you can save even more and reduce your daily maintenance budget. So clever!

 

The Tce 90 is definitely chain driven. That’s a misprint on their site; I think it was implying the belt (chain), doesn’t need any maintenance (unlike a belt), and ‘you can save even more..’.

 

37 minutes ago, Smartd00d said:

The Tce 90 is definitely chain driven. That’s a misprint on their site; I think it was implying the belt (chain), doesn’t need any maintenance (unlike a belt), and ‘you can save even more..’.

 

Not that it means much, unless they are going to back up the claim with a warranty. The service interval for the chain in the TCE is, I believe, 120000 miles but there are many reports of failure way before this. Replacement costs seem broadly comparable than for a wet belt (perhaps slightly less). On the upside you get plenty of warning of impending failure given the slapping noise they begin to make and the timing drifts due to the stretch leading to increasingly poor running so it is unlikely you'd get caught out like you would with a belt (and sudden oil starvation in particular). Again though it shouldn't be feared - just factor it in to the long-term ownership costs of a car. 

On 1/16/2024 at 7:33 PM, SteveStrat said:

Thanks @Eric Bloodaxe I didn't realise dry belts ( Is that the chain?) Needed replacement after 5 years, that makes the wet belt problem appear a little more palatable.

Yeah that golden wheels club was great, shame I only truly appreciate it now 🙂

Thanks for your great input Eric 👍

Not all 'dry' cambelts have a 5 year replacement interval, some go as high as 10 years, although for those engines I'd personally replace it at 8 years instead of pushing my luck by waiting the full 10 years before replacement.

8 minutes ago, MJNewton said:

Not that it means much. The service interval for the chain in the TCE is, I believe, 120000 miles but there are many reports of failure way before this. Replacement costs seem broadly comparable than for a wet belt (perhaps slightly less). On the upside you get plenty of warning of impending failure given the slapping noise they begin to make and the timing drifts due to the stretch leading to increasingly poor running so it is unlikely you'd get caught out like you would with a belt (and sudden oil starvation in particular). Again though it shouldn't be feared - just factor it in to the long-term ownership costs of a car. 

Yeah of course, anything can fail. I had a Smart Roadster for 9 years (I must love 3 pots!), with a noisy chain and it was fine even though there were horror stories of them jumping cogs.  

3 hours ago, Smartd00d said:

The Tce 90 is definitely chain driven. That’s a misprint on their site; 

It's very confusing, also found this on their site, though it doesn't seem to be a wet belt whichever it is!😀 I believe it's flipped from belt to chain over the years, just not quite sure where we are now.

(I actually found an item on a Dacia forum where a guy had changed the chain (it definitely was a chain) himself, but that was from about 3 years ago, the car had then done 83,000 kms (so not UK), so they may have swapped again to belt by now.)

"The timing belt ensures your engine is in perfect synchronisation.

Unlike lots of other car parts, there are no warning signs about wear on your timing belt. To prevent damage that may even lead to engine failure, make sure you stick to the timing belt replacement schedule. You should also take advantage of this work to check the water pump.

The timing package helps you avoid nasty surprises: change your timing belt if your vehicle is more than 5 years old, or has done over 70,000 miles."

5 hours ago, Tiexen said:

 

I'm in the same position - what to get next:-

Honda Jazz your looking at £25k new and £20k for up to 3 years old

Yaris is just as expensive as the Honda

i10 only with the 1lt Turbo is £18k new  1 or 2 year old £15k

Swift again only the 1.4 sport is worth getting and thats over £20k

Mazda 2 looks a nice car but inside is dated - non turbo engines are a little slow

Puma over 25k

anything else worth looking at?

 

 

 

 

Just to butt in again... 😉 current Hyundai i20s are 15-16k on a 22 plate. There's also the Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia... haven't looked up the cambelt change interval on any of those lol 😆 

12 hours ago, Tiexen said:

 

I'm in the same position - what to get next:-

Honda Jazz your looking at £25k new and £20k for up to 3 years old

Yaris is just as expensive as the Honda

i10 only with the 1lt Turbo is £18k new  1 or 2 year old £15k

Swift again only the 1.4 sport is worth getting and thats over £20k

Mazda 2 looks a nice car but inside is dated - non turbo engines are a little slow

Puma over 25k

anything else worth looking at?

 

 

 

 

Thinking about the GTS Kia picanto as used car, chain drive afaik looks nice, storage space unimportant for me, reliable from what I have researched

33 minutes ago, SteveStrat said:

Thinking about the GTS Kia picanto as used car, chain drive afaik looks nice, storage space unimportant for me, reliable from what I have researched

The turbo Picantos are very rare and they stopped making them - only wheezy 66hp left in the range

Hyundai i10 is the same 1ltr turbo and is still on sale

44 minutes ago, Tiexen said:

The turbo Picantos are very rare and they stopped making them - only wheezy 66hp left in the range

Hyundai i10 is the same 1ltr turbo and is still on sale

Thanks, I'm seeing a few on autotrader though, but love the look of the 2024 picanto to be released in July....just hope it's not wetbelt 😉

14 hours ago, SteveStrat said:

but love the look of the 2024 picanto to be released in July....just hope it's not wetbelt 😉

Mentioned on another thread, some friends of mine were (unexpectedly) very impressed with the Picanto loan car they had while their car was in for accident repair again. The previous time (they've had a run of bad luck!) they were loaned a Toyota Aygo and thought that was rubbish.

Picanto is a class down from a Fiesta though. I keep seeing more and more good things about the Clio as a Fiesta substitute:

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/favourite-cars-2023-renault-clio-tce-90

Hello. Interesting debate and on my mind like many ecoboost ovners.

I have a 2019 Vignale 140. Bought at 9 months old from Ford Direct with 900 miles on it. It now has 20k and is serviced every year to include the correct oil and filter. Service is by an independent Ford specialist who has been servicing my cars for over 30 years. Annual mileage appx 5 to 6k as a total of 20k would suggest.

Well equipped and quick enough. I love it.

When did, if ever, the 140 move to a chain? I have read somewhere it might have been 2019? 

Would appreciate any comments on this. I have attached a photograph of my engine for reference. Sticker suggests a build date of June 2019 in Germany.

Regards to all.

 

 

 

@Noak Hill The turbo-at-the-front is the biggest telltale of it still being the wet belt design. 

9 minutes ago, Noak Hill said:

When did, if ever, the 140 move to a chain? I have read somewhere it might have been 2019? 

Never. In the Fiesta It was replaced by the 155 (MHEV) with chain mid 2020.

Thanks.