1994 Ford Fiesta 1.1 LX

"Alfie Smith"

It is impossible to pass comment on an unseen, 12 year old, £250 car. It might last another 12 years, it might explode ten minutes after you buy it.

It has no rust? Are you absolutely sure it's a Fiesta? :)

Si

Is this car a good buy and what should I look out for?

How many miles to the gallon should it do?

no rust ...

I reckon you should get a decent magnet and go around the car with it seeing if it sticks or not (if it dont stick it likely it has bodyfiller where previous rust or damage was) .... maybe has tons of body filler on it or maybe its a genuine mota.

Is this car a good buy and what should I look out for?

Cold starting issues. Insist you view it stone cold and witness the owner start it. These CFi's can be a nightmare, but are curable if you know what you're doing- so it could be a bargaining point if it tends to flood at cold start.

How many miles to the gallon should it do?

They're not vastly economical- expect around low 40's on a run. mid 30's in town.

Tim..

My sister has had one of these from new. She won it. It's done about

5000 a year and apart from a few very minor knocks and scrapes is rust free and is still a reliable little car, basic but OK as a run-around.

Andy

Ber-limey! Mined ewe, I live on the coast...

Si

0 - 60 in a bout three weeks.

Dire fuel consumption for such a slow car.

Tale of woe...I made a big mistake when I bought a 1992 Fiesta 1.3LX in 2000. On paper it looked like a good buy, 65,000 and fsh. Only a tiny bit ofe rust on the panel below the bumper and on the wheel arches but only superficial (and it was 9 years old) . The interior was pristine and it did look like a well cared for car

The cost me =A31995 from a used car dealer. Sounds expensive now- but what was I to know and I needed a car fast as my old one was written off and almost anything seemed luxurious compared to a 1988 mini city E=2E I didn't trust myself to buy privately as I had no-one to advise me.

The Fiesta had a 3 month warranty and as soon as that expired the exhaust pipe broke off and the steering rack went. When I'd got that fixed, the alternator went. Then I needed new rear shocks and a new battery - so all in all an expensive buy. It was also a very boring drive (compared to the mini) and I got rid after less than a year as it was costing a lot every month and I figured I might as well take a loan to get a better car that I might actually like.... .=2E only to get another Fiesta -but that was by accident as I honestly didn't intend to, however the Mk 4 is a *much* better car and I think I made the right decision over the other cars I test drove.

For =A3250 I guess you wouldn't be such a mug as I was to have bought that Mk3 fiesta for nearly 2 grand and then spend nearly another grand on maintenance! D'Oh! Secondhand prices have come down since then but not by THAT much - I was a definate mug.. I wish I'd had the advice of this group when I was buying that first fiesta... I'd have run a mile.

So just be careful that if you buy you don't end up spending =A3100 a month keeping it on the road like I did, ... and mine was supposed to have been well looked after when I got it... But perhaps you're an expert mechanic and can do it all yourself. Maybe I was just unlucky and you'll be fine with yours.

I'd definitley look at the exhaust though as the exhaust went after

75000 on my newish fiesta too. I think it's a common fiesta thing as it went in the same place - at the weld between the middle pipe and the end can.

In message , loony writes

If you got 75k/ 9 years out of an exhaust it would be bloody marvellous but I'll wager that it wasn't the car's original exhaust or even the second exhaust.

Indeed - the Mk4s are a huge improvement over the Mk3s.

Yup, we're quite a helpful bunch here.

More like a common thing with any car used for short journeys - as the leaflets at any exhaust garage will tell you, the rear section is the weak link in the chain, as it takes the longest to heat up properly as it's furthest from the engine, so on short journeys, condensation gathers, and this forms rust, and the exhaust eventually gives way. Best way to avoid this happening is to avoid short journeys, or if doing lots of stop-start journeys, leave the engine running wherever possible (not practical a lot of the time, mind).

We'll put it like this.

If it's "Rust free" in that it has the tiniest flake or two around the=20 filler cap, run away, very quickly, because it'll be a rotten bag o'=20 s**te underneath.

Pete.

--=20 NOTE! Email address is spamtrapped. Any email will be deleted Remove the news and underscore from my address to reply by mail

yep Pete,

You're right in everything you say. My newer Fiesta may have been used for short Journeys by it's first two owners but I certainly let it heat up properly as I rarely drove less than 20 miles in it.

Hopefully I'm a bit more knowledgeable now - though still a lot to learn! Maybe when it's time to sadly say goodbye to my current Fiesta I'll try looking at a private buy and get more car for my money - but I'll still need advice from you guys.

Oh BTW it wasn';t a power steering car. And I can't exactly remember what was wrong with the steering might have been a bearing or something as it suddenly went all notchy, I know that it cost quite a bit of dosh at my local garage to put right though...!

Exactly. One of my first purchases was a lovely clean mk.II Fiesta - the bottom fell out of it. This one is a bit newer, admittedly...

Si