Use Your Fiesta As A Money Box.

[Magenta]

I did post a message on this topic some time ago when I first discovered* that the Fiesta is designed to be a huge piggy bank ! There is a perfectly coin-shaped slot behind the handbrake lever which not only accepts coins but also car-park tokens etc. and has an ingenious coin delivery action when the handbrake is applied if the coin doesn't slip in first time. :D

Does anyone know of a neat way of closing this hole ? I have tried various shapes of black tape on the underside but the hole still appears when putting the handbrake on. Why didn't Ford use a proper rubber boot to close this gap ? Yes- I do know - cost.

* I still haven't retrieved the car park token I lost down there some time ago despite removing the rear of the handbrake surround a couple of times (plastic car park tokens aren't magnetic and neither are coins !). How do I remove the whole of the handbrake centre console ? I still need to get my £10 back it cost me to get out of the car park that day !

Is there any way that the token could have fallen through on to the ground ?

[alexp999]

I have removed all of the centre plastic in my car and there are no holes to the ground, so anything that goes down there, stays down there.

The proper way, is to remove the gearstick surround, then the panels in the footwells, then the Aux/USB/Power section, then the cup holders.

However, if you get the angle right, you can just pull the cup holder section out without pulling any of the rest off. There are no clips on the very back of the cup holder section, they are only down the side and ajoining the next piece.

If you get in the back of the car, grab the joint in the back of the centre console and pull up, you should feel it release then a bit of jiggering about to get it away from the USB/Aux/Power section.

I hated this bit about the handbrake, especially about the Titanium spec. So much so, I had the leather handbrake fitted to my car, just last week, which has a proper leather gaiter to seal the whole, like the gearstick. :D

[b1g_dav3]

I just yanked the cup holder out when I lost a £10 note down there lol.

[Magenta]

Thanks, I'll give it another go. I've already removed the very rear half of the cuphiolder section twice and couldn't see the token so I think it's time to remove the section further forward as you describe. Mines an automatic so the gear stick surround is slightly different but I guess it pulls off in a similar way. Removing the footwell panels might also help me trace an annoying rattle from down there somewhere (it's not the car park token as it has always done it !).

Also I'll look at getting the leather handbrake option.

Presumably, models below the Titanium don't have all that plasticky cupholder moulding so the coin slot isn't a problem ?

Why do car manufactures design this area so it's so difficult to clean ?

[Magenta]

I just yanked the cup holder out when I lost a £10 note down there lol.

Do you mean just the rear section ? I think I need to remove the section forward of that.

[Magenta]

The "screws" that help to retain the rear section of the cupholder seem very iffy to me. Once they're out, they never go back in properly as there's nothing for the thread to catch on. This seems particularly so with the screws hoding the inner panels in the footwell. The screw just keeps turning (once you've pushed the plastic 'rawplug' back in) and the panel still flops about. No wonder I've got rattles from that area ! Is there a better way of securing these ?

[alexp999]

Thanks, I'll give it another go. I've already removed the very rear half of the cuphiolder section twice and couldn't see the token so I think it's time to remove the section further forward as you describe. Mines an automatic so the gear stick surround is slightly different but I guess it pulls off in a similar way. Removing the footwell panels might also help me trace an annoying rattle from down there somewhere (it's not the car park token as it has always done it !).

Also I'll look at getting the leather handbrake option.

Presumably, models below the Titanium don't have all that plasticky cupholder moulding so the coin slot isn't a problem ?

Why do car manufactures design this area so it's so difficult to clean ?

The centre console is exactly the same on all fiestas.

All have the whole around the handbrake unless you have the leather handbrake.