Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 14:05
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - KenMavor

Gents and ladies,

Need some help and assistance.

Daughter is 17 in April this year. She is mad keen to pass her test. She is happy to meet certain costs to get a slightly better car. Her driving will mainly be in and around town...longest journey 15 miles...and little motorway driving.

Looking at running costs it does seem to me that a diesel will be cheaper tjhan a petrol.......lower road tax, lower insurance, better mileage per gallon but obviously more expensive per gallon etc. Servicing will be done by me.

Questions I have.....

Do diesels like the sort of stop start journeys that she will be doing?

Looking at a Ford Fiesta and cannot decide whether a 1.4 diesel or petrol is the best option.

Any comments, suggestions, help and assistance gratefully received.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 14:15
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - unthrottled

Insurance costs dominate for new drivers so if diesel gives lower premiums, that is the one to go for. Diesels without DPF aren't especially fussed about journey length, diesels with them aren't that keen on a diet of slow speed journeys-but they will usually cope. In either case, you won't see the full benefits of the diesel economy on short jouneys.

I learned to drive in a diesel and liked it. But the newer ones can stall quite abruptly (to protect the DMF) and they can be unforgiving of poor gear selection compared to a petrol. It's a good idea to see how flexible the engine is at low RPMs because this can really sap confidence with new drivers.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 14:56
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - Collos25

I agree with unthrottled insurance is the deciding factor but from a pure mechanical point of view a petrol Fiesta is less likely to give problems allthough diesels are not quite as bad on short distances as somepeople make out .

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 15:30
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - 72 dudes

Whilst I agree with the comments on the insurance issue, I would come down on the side of petrol. If you do, go for the 1.25 82 BHP engine instead of the 1.4. It's smooth, fast enough and for day to day use, loses nothing compared to the 1.4. Insurance will be slightly cheaper too.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 15:56
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - KenMavor

Gents,

Excellent feedback.....been looking at 1.4TDCI and 1.4 petrol but interesting what was said about rhe 1.25 petrol version. Think the key piece is indeed going to be the insurance costs as everything else pales into insignificance.

Also keen to buy the car privately rather than through a dealer.

Please keep your thoughts and idea coming.

Thanks

Ken

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 16:03
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - thunderbird

I love diesels but for mainly town use a petrol is without doubt the best engine. On the open road a diesel is king but in town it can be a pain especially if its geared more for out of town use.

I have driven a Fiesta 1.25 petrol and found it fine, also liked the 1.4 TDCi I had on loan briefly. Not driven a 1.4.

Does it have to be a Fiesta, there are many other fine small haches around. We love the Micra 1.2, have had 2 in the family. Costs peanuts to run and since they are slightly smaller than a Fiesta can be better for a new driver. Think they are less to insure as well.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 16:11
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - Happy Blue!

Learn to drive on a petrol. Your daughter will learn far more about good clutch control than in a diesel, where teh torque from tickover is enough to avoid stalling.

I was told this by a friend who is a driving instructor.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 16:33
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - KenMavor

Learn to drive on a petrol. Your daughter will learn far more about good clutch control than in a diesel, where teh torque from tickover is enough to avoid stalling.

I was told this by a friend who is a driving instructor.

Very good point re learning to drive and never thought about that. Would assume that most, if not all, learning school cars are petrol......

Does not have to be a Fiesta but she's a girl and when I showed her a Micra went "No". Street cred and all that. She likes the Polos mind you but has to be one with the twin headlights at the front. Oh.....and she would like it either black or blue.....picky or what. In my day I had a Mini Clubman estate in puke green. Kids these days....don't know they're born!!

Edited by KenMavor on 21/01/2013 at 16:43

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 16:43
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - unthrottled

Your daughter will learn far more about good clutch control than in a diesel, where teh torque from tickover is enough to avoid stalling

I wouldn't take this for granted. The idle control valve on modern petrols is a pretty effective anti-stall device. A lot of diesels will purposely stall if the revs dip below governed idle speed. The diesel torque comes on about 1500 RPM.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 22:02
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - Avant

"Also keen to buy the car privately rather than through a dealer."

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I assume you're buying secondhand. The Fiesta 1.25 petrol sounds like a good idea; avoid the Vauxhall Corsa which is dreary to drive and there have been major engine problems with 2005-06 models.

If your budget runs to something more recent, you could look at the Toyota Aygo / Peugeot 107 / Citroen C1, or the bigger Toyota Yaris; or the Hyundai i10. Polos are good but hold their value better so cost more than a Fiesta of similar vintage.

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Mon 21 Jan 2013 22:33
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - MikeTorque

I would recommend the Fiesta 1.25 petrol, it's quieter than the 1.4 diesel engine and easier to drive overall. The 1.25 is between 1 and 2 insurance groups lower than the 1.4 diesel, very important cost consideration for many a young person.

The 1.25 will costs significantly less to buy compared with the 1.4 diesel, lots to choose from as well.

The 1.25 front end is lighter which aids manoeuvrability, 3-point turns, parking etc., a must for a learner.

Some driving schools use the Fiesta 1.4 TDCi but that's mainly to keep running cost down for the driving instructor who is usually responsible for paying the fuel bills.

Don't buy black, it looks horrible when/if not washed and polished regularly, it's also nearly invisible in dull light conditions or with no lights. Fiesta looks good in blue especially Vision Blue.

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Tue 22 Jan 2013 01:02
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - countryroads

My sister did exactly the same, her first car was a diesel Fiesta purchased locally for an excellent price...however she changed to a 1.25 petrol quite quickly, she just got on with it better in terms of responsiveness and ease of use as a new driver she felt more comfortable with it.

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Tue 22 Jan 2013 13:32
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - injection doc

we have had a range of fiestas and all been great cars but for learning to drive we bought a citroen C1 new. insurance was much much lower and MPG astounding 55-72mpg

We found MPG on petrol fiesta heavy around town.

C 1 Road tax was £20.00 & insurance for daughter was £400.00 for a year. She now has her own C1 at 20 and its £333.00 per year fully comp in her own name.Extremely nippy and fun to drive & its actually a Toyota so both C 1's have been 100% reliable

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Tue 22 Jan 2013 13:38
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - skidpan

its actually a Toyota so both C 1's have been 100% reliable

To be strickly accurate the CI, 107 and Aygo were designed and are now produced as a joint venture by Peugeot, Citroen and Toyota and are built in the Czech Republic.

The only problems with the car as far as I know were the Toyota sticking throttle pedal issues which affected them all but should have been sorted under the recall. Worth checking if you buy one.

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Tue 22 Jan 2013 16:42
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - jamie745

I wouldn't be so sure that all learner cars are petrol. Many independents now use things like the Fiesta 1.4TDCi.

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Tue 22 Jan 2013 20:42
Ford Fiesta diesel or petrol - Second hand car for daughter learning to drive. - thirts

Can I suggest you consider an old Yaris.

The 1.0L is fine, we have one, Y reg. Management (wife) uses it everyday for work and it's fine for that type of journey. This weekend I've tried the new Yaris with a 1.0L engine and it didn't feel as flexible as my Y reg one.

We also have a Focus, but if it's a fairly local journey I prefer the Yaris. I tend to only use the Focus if I'm going out with the family.

My current Yaris is really flexible and I would consider it a great first/learner car, however it is getting a bit long in the tooth and I'm looking at a replacement. And my daughter will be taking lessons in the next 14 months or so, so I aim to get another 1.0L Yaris to try and keep the insurance bearable

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