Hello.
Having just browsed the ford website i have noticed that the model names for the fiesta are changing.
For E.G the finnesse (Finesse or however its spelt) will now be a studio.
Is this inline with the new focus.
Also having chatted with a ford dealer they say they are giving the Fiesta a spring clean starting next month (March) does anyone know what has or will change.
I have noticed for one that the durashift gearbox has dissapeared from the build your own is it unreliable.
The reason for noticing this is that next march we plan to change the Fiesta for a mk6 (wife currently tootles around in mk5)
All advice greatfully recieved.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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Hello.
Does anyone have any information.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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Hello.
Have i upset everyone or something.
I feel iam being ignored.
This is highly unusual. All the other postings are recieving plenty of reply's.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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Nothing personal Mr Dagenham I just suspect no-one has any information on forthcoming changes to the Fiesta. The best advice i can give is see how much information you can extract from your dealer. He/she should be in the 'know' more than most.
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It seems highly unusual that Ford would give the car more than a few component changes: it's only 2.5 years old (I think). I can't see them adding anything new. Perhaps it's getting the direct petrol injection engines that the Focus is getting? This would make sense, as it'll be on sale for a few years yet and do they really want to have two different varieties of engine (IDI and Direct Injection) on sale in different cars?
Maybe the "spring clean" includes the model name changes you mentioned?
The Fiesta is a good car. The 1.4 my dad's got is quite powerful and soon adjusts to my light right foot! My only problem with it though, although I say this with no experience of cars newer than 1990 generally, is that it seems to have no power at low revs, then shoots off all of a sudden. i.e. no low-down torque. Though that might just be me used to an aging 8v.
We do seem to have problems every time we get one though. The last one had a squeeky spring in the drivers seat, and the current one has a noisey clutch spring. They've all sounded like road diggers under load at low revs! I'm not trying to put you off by this, it's just "perks" I've noticed, and I'd buy one tomorrow if I had the cash :-)
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Ford seem to make little changes all the time - you see 'new' car offers advertised against, for example 2004.5 or 2004.75 cars. I found it quite annoying when we last changed my wife's car as we couldn't get a straight answer from 3 different dealers about what we'd actually get, and what the differences where.
In the end we bought a Honda Jazz - and IMHO got a car that's in a different league to Fiesta, and, spec for spec, not very different in price (18 mths ago).
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Yes the Fiesta drives ok but my biggest gripe is ths shockingly poor quality of the interior plastics. In particular the hard grainy plastic that is the dash is truly awful.
Hopefully this spring clean will include some decent quality plastics and trim!
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we've recently bought the 1.4 too (04 reg) & it's a decent car. Having test driven VW polo / seat Ibiza / Clio prefered the Fiesta to them all.
Does sound like a Taxi at low revs though - although noticed the 1.2 Polo / Seat engine sounds exactly the same. Agree that low-down torque is slightly lacking but get a few revs on & its pretty quick.
Regarding model changes I can't see Ford doing anything more than a few "tweeks" - normal for manufacturers to try & renew peoples interest after the model has been around a little while.
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Hello.
Thank you for the good replies.
We are considering a 1.4 Ghia 3 Door Or a fully specified LX but with the LX, it does not have the softer seats and plusher interior.
The Gearbox I mention at the top is the Durashift Advanced manual it does not appear any more in the build your own car page on the ford website. I was going to specify that option as I sometimes find it painful to de clutch (must be age related) I liked the idea of using the gear stick as per normal but not having to use the clutch.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
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Personally went for the 3 door 1.4 Zetec, girlfriend wanted the "look nice" alloys & colour keyed bumpers. One thing that bothered us when looking was the interior colours - really didn't like the beige mix & match interiors, looks cheap IMHO.
That was another deciding factor with the Zetec, has the all black interior which IMHO looks the best.
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Off the top of my head the Finesse has been downgraded to a "Studio" model, the only main difference is that Ford have deleted the CD player and height adjustable driver's seat.
The Studio replaces LX and comes with a better level of kit, but costs about £800 more.
The Zetec now has boot spoiler but they have downgraded the engine to the 1.25 instead of 1.4. The 1.4 engine will still be available but only on the "Zetec Climate" which comes with air con, heated screen and electric mirrors.
The Ghia will have full leather and body coloured doorhandles as well as some other tweaks and IIRC will be available with the 1.6 TDCi engine from the Focus.
On the whole Ford have improved top end spec and made the entry level model so basic that I fear they're gonna lose a lot of business to the like of Renault, who can turn out a Clio with CD, electrics and central locking for less than the price of a Studio Fiesta with none of that. :-(
Overall I don't think anybody is over-enthusiastic about the "spring clean".
By the way there aren't gonna be any changes to plastics or the design of the car AFAIK.
Hope that's answered some of your questions Dagenham.
Blue
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The Studio replaces LX and comes with a better level of kit, but costs about £800 more.
Sorry that should read "the Style replaces LX"
Blue
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The Zetec now has boot spoiler but they have downgraded the engine to the 1.25 instead of 1.4.
What? A spoiler on a 1.25? I think they're trying to appeal to the "1.0 Mk3 Fiesta with full body styling kit and drainpipe exhaust" boy racer brigade.
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I have a Mk6 1.4 Flame, and i really could not recommened the car enough, execept for one thing. The 1.4 engine is fairly thirsty. I get 36-37mpg on average with a mainly motorway drive and fast country road driving. I posted a message about this on the uk fiesta network board and the replies all said that that was approximatly the mpg that other people got as well and after taking it to ford to get a diag check i was assured that its not a problem.
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>> The Zetec now has boot spoiler but they have downgraded the >> engine to the 1.25 instead of 1.4. What? A spoiler on a 1.25? I think they're trying to appeal to the "1.0 Mk3 Fiesta with full body styling kit and drainpipe exhaust" boy racer brigade.
In all fairness to Ford though, there is only a 5PS difference between the 1.25 and the 1.4 engine, so it's not exactly worth getting excited over.
I always found my 1.4 to be just about quick enough, although I wouldn't have liked it to be any weaker.
Blue
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