Hi,

I've just joined the forum in anticipation of collecting a used Fiesta tomorrow. I've been a serial Ford used car owner since my late teens. I started by buying a dodgy Mk1 Escort Mexico replica, I wrote it off after a few weeks, stripped it, bought a used bodyshell and rebuilt it with the parts I could salvage while using proper sized brakes etc. this time round. I had that car for years until rust got the better of it. Next was a Mk2 Escort RS2000 Custom 'V' reg with Fishnet Recaro seats. It was a lovely car but it got stolen after 3 weeks! I couldn't bring myself to buy another RS2000 when I only saw lesser examples for sale, especially as their asking prices far outstripped the money I got from my insurance settlement. Not being inclined to get a FWD Escort, I next bought a Sierra XR4i. I had that car a number of years before it got stolen too, cue a visit from an insurance investigator. He was happy to conclude that I am not a serial fraudster and this time the pay out went on another Sierra, an XR4×4i. My first daughter came home from the maternity hospital in that car. By the time daughter number two arrived, The Sierra was traded against a Mk1 Mondeo V6 Ghia X, all very civilised with full leather upholstery and a CD player as well as a cassette player! By this time the Ford Cougar had been recently launched and the Mondeo was traded against an ex-Ford company registered V6 Cougar X with manual transmission. I drove many miles South, to Archer's of Ashby, to collect the car with the exact spec I was after. Archers had a number of ex-Ford Cougars to choose from and I remember seeing four or five Racing Pumas in their yard at the time too; one of which was taken for a test drive by a young couple while I was there. The fellow who was driving it came back grinning like a maniac and couldn't wait to sign up for it. I still have my Cougar, it will have been with me for 22 years next month. Unfortunately it failed its MOT last November with corrosion of the rear sub-frame being the primary culprit. My better half was never comfortable driving it and is looking forward to the Fiesta as the sensible alternative to her somewhat larger car. I talked her into her car and it is only fair that I let her talk me into mine. I look forward to gaining useful knowledge here and trust the Fiesta will be well behaved!

Best regards.

Hi welcome

Welcome Old_Timer. Hope you enjoy the ride 🙂

10 hours ago, TheStigsCousin said:

Welcome Old_Timer. Hope you enjoy the ride 🙂

Thanks, me too. I've just figured out how to get the Fiesta's Vodafone Internet-in the car service running and I'm using the free trial. £15 for 2Gb of data in every 28 days thereafter seems a bit expensive though! I've also managed to activate the FordPass app at last.

55 minutes ago, Old_Timer said:

Internet-in the car service running and I'm using the free trial

Quite what the advantage of having the car being able to be used as a WiFi point these days I'm not sure of. Your mobile phone will be able to connect using it's own signal so connecting it to the car seems to have little advantage. Perhaps if you were wanting to use a Laptop in the car and connect to the internet there maybe some point, but then again you could could just use your phone as a hot spot and connect to that.

45 minutes ago, unofix said:

Quite what the advantage of having the car being able to be used as a WiFi point these days I'm not sure of. Your mobile phone will be able to connect using it's own signal so connecting it to the car seems to have little advantage. Perhaps if you were wanting to use a Laptop in the car and connect to the internet there maybe some point, but then again you could could just use your phone as a hot spot and connect to that.

That's true, trouble is I currently don't subscribe to data roaming on my PAYG iPhone, preferring to use local Wi-Fi networks instead. I imagine I may reconsider my options. My wife's car has data roaming on its Wi-Fi hotspot with Ubigi, £58 per year for 3Gb a month. That seems to be plenty. Is the Fiesta locked into using Vodafone, or is it possible to change the SIM and use another ISP?

6 minutes ago, Old_Timer said:

Is the Fiesta locked into using Vodafone,

Yes sadly. No option available to change SIM or to use any other network. You would be better to change your phone plan and be able to use the internet anywhere rather than paying for a service that you can only use when in the car.

I'm with O2 and have a monthly SIM only contract of £12, unlimited UK calls, unlimited text, and 10Gb of data.

On 4/24/2024 at 11:20 AM, unofix said:

You would be better to change your phone plan and be able to use the internet anywhere rather than paying for a service that you can only use when in the car.

Given that I can't change the SIM in the car, that makes a lot of sense. Thank you.