Hey,

I've visited a couple of dealers as I'm looking to buy a 1.6 3dr Titanium. My past few cars have had hard suspension and 17" alloys and I'm sick to death of hard rides, I live a little bit out in the country and the road surfaces are terrible. What are the 16" alloys like for comfort?

I was thinking of maybe trying to negotiate with the dealer to have the 15" rims from a Zetec swapped for the Titanium rims, do you think this could be arranged?

Also, what kind of discount have people been able to negotiate? The two dealerships I went to gave me a price on the base model at around £13,500 but when I got home I found that Drive The Deal have the base price listed at £11418.13.

This is the spec I'm looking at:

Titanium 1.6 petrol 3dr in Panther Black

city pack

individual leather pack

keyless entry + start button

^ This came to £13,313.25 on the Drive The Deal website, £200 lower than the dealers are offering me the base price Titanium for...I'd guess they would be asking £15,000 for the spec I want. I'm at a disadvantage because I have a £5K part ex, do you think I competitive discount could still be negotiated?

Thanks!

cant imagen an inch of tyre makes that much diffence in the ride as the suspension is the same on titanium and the zetec, the ride on the fiesta is still quite stiff but its very well damped i.e it dosent crash over pot holes and shudder through the cabin making the interior rattle like the mk6 fezza did it just kinda thuds then imediatly settles back down, but you could always change the 45 tyres for 50 tyres or even 55 tyres if you really wanted to ive seen it done on this forum before and the owner ( i think it was a sea grey 5 door fiesta) was happy with the results :)but if u want a car with a very smooth ride try the new renault megane ...... runs and hides lol .

If its a decent ride you want, I would go for 15" wheels. The 16" alloys are 195/45 profile which isnt much higher a profile than the 17" alloys which are 205/40.

There's been discussion of the ride comfort on 16" wheels in the past on this forum so I'm repeating myself. On decent roads the 16"s are perfectly fine. On ill-maintained potholed country roads the ride is too hard and there is an increased risk of damage to wheels and the low-profile tyres.

I recommend going for 15"s and to do it right from the start. If, like me, you accept the 16"s and later regret it, you will find that slightly-used wheels and tyres have much-reduced value. Just my thoughts and note that I'm in my 70's so my point of view differs from that of the youngsters!

There's been discussion of the ride comfort on 16" wheels in the past on this forum so I'm repeating myself. On decent roads the 16"s are perfectly fine. On ill-maintained potholed country roads the ride is too hard and there is an increased risk of damage to wheels and the low-profile tyres.

I recommend going for 15"s and to do it right from the start. If, like me, you accept the 16"s and later regret it, you will find that slightly-used wheels and tyres have much-reduced value. Just my thoughts and note that I'm in my 70's so my point of view differs from that of the youngsters!

I think I will ask if they can fit 15" instead of the 16" alloys, I used to be into the whole big wheels thing but it's just far too much of a compromise in ride quality. Plus I've noticed that on the cars I've owned with 17" alloys the interior starts to become loose and rattles appear far more quickly.

The dealership could not get within £1500 of the Drive The Deal price, but I think it's because I have a part ex :(

I think I will ask if they can fit 15" instead of the 16" alloys, I used to be into the whole big wheels thing but it's just far too much of a compromise in ride quality. Plus I've noticed that on the cars I've owned with 17" alloys the interior starts to become loose and rattles appear far more quickly.

As an owner of a 3 door Titanium (albeit with a 1.4 auto, I can help you here.

I ordered the 16" 7 spoke alloys with a 14" steel spare and also purchased off EBay 4 x 14" steel wheels for winter use.

The ride difference between the low profile alloys and the high profile steel wheels is very pronounced.

The 14" give a much smoother ride and feel better. The alloys look good and will go on when the better weather arrives.

As the 14" are high profile there is almost no difference in the overall diameter of the wheels/tyres.

As for part exchanging, funny how its always a buyers market when you are selling and a sellers when you are buying. Visit several Ford dealers and be prepared to walk away from them when they do not meet your requirements. They will phone back after a day or so and offer to meet your deal. `

Good luck

As an owner of a 3 door Titanium (albeit with a 1.4 auto, I can help you here.

I ordered the 16" 7 spoke alloys with a 14" steel spare and also purchased off EBay 4 x 14" steel wheels for winter use.

The ride difference between the low profile alloys and the high profile steel wheels is very pronounced.

The 14" give a much smoother ride and feel better. The alloys look good and will go on when the better weather arrives.

As the 14" are high profile there is almost no difference in the overall diameter of the wheels/tyres.

As for part exchanging, funny how its always a buyers market when you are selling and a sellers when you are buying. Visit several Ford dealers and be prepared to walk away from them when they do not meet your requirements. They will phone back after a day or so and offer to meet your deal. `

Good luck

:( I went to my two local Ford dealers, neither phoned back so I phoned them, that's when they told me they can't come to close to the Drive The Deal price. I wasn't necessarily expecting them to be able to match the price but they both said the would phone me and both seemed to lose interest as soon as I mentioned finding a cheaper price elsewhere.

Most can't get near broker prices so don't even bother anymore. Try drive the deal if you set on the price.

I can't use DTD because I have a part ex. As I said, I wasn't expecting them to be able to match the price, I just wanted to know what their best price was really. One of the dealers phoned me yesterday evening and asked me to go along tomorrow and said to bring the DTD quote with me too, so we'll see what happens.

Back in September last year I got my 1.6 petrol titanium for £13,300 and that included the full dress up kit, keyless system and option alloy wheels. But I know the discounts now have been cut by ford, which is a shame.