Was looking around to replace the Mrs old Suzuki Swift auto, we bought that new nearly eleven years back and it’s done 102k miles. Despite that she passed her test (25 years ago) in a manual, she says she couldn’t drive one now
Phil papa did some work on my beemer recently and very kindly let me use his Fiesta courtesy car which I was hugely impressed with. It had a little 1 litre, 3 cylinder turbo engine.
Typing “best small automatic car” into google the Fiesta came up at or near the top of every list. So had a look around and found this one: Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost Powershift Titanium. Three years old with only 7.7k miles.
Had it a week now and I’m really impressed. The engine is amazing for a 1 litre - it has power right through the rev band and feels very nippy indeed. the DSG twin clutch box is a dream, the gear changes are imperceptible. The ride and refinement are also great for a small car - good around town and quiet on the motorway.
I’m pretty chuffed and the Mrs is over the moon with it
BTW - anyone interested in a Suzuki Swift 1.5 GLX auto - 10 years old, 102k miles, 9 months MOT. Total service history from new - yours for a grand - that’s cheap
Ford do make some very good cars. Only the badge snobs and freakishly large are missing out. Their chassis design is the benchmark for lots of OEMs in the small/ hatch sectors.
sat in a ford b-max yesterday . very nice design , shame they are stopping it . amazing that the 1,4 engine in it is less powerful than the 1.0 version you describe . one thing i noticed is both s/h models had the beginning of the windscreen trim beginning to lift .
I’ve recently had a very different experience with a Ford Fiesta ecoboost I bought for my son as he had just got his first job and needed a reliable car to do about 24k miles a year.
I bought one just over 3 years old from the auction. Direct from Ford main dealer, sold as seen. It looked to be a beautiful little car in perfect condition.
The only initial problem was that there was no locking nuts or puncture repair kit. I got it at the right price so he ho. By luck, the details from the previous owner had been left in the car so I rang them up to see if they had the locking nuts.
They hadn’t, but asked if the garage had told me of the serious problem with the car as they promised they would. Nope, auction sold as seen so I had no comeback. Apparently for the past 18 months it had failed to start with “Key Not Detected” (demobiliser active) when the weather was hot and had been recovered regularly.
So, as it was sold as seen, I was in the shit but called the main dealer sales manager simply to ask if they could tell me what parts had been changed so I didn’t duplicate anything. He refused to take my call and rang the auction manager to formally complain about me.
Fiestas are great cars, but perhaps be concerned if they go wrong.
BTW, I got it sorted without Fords help. (Traded it back in to another main dealer -
sold as seen - as I wasn’t prepared to sell to an individual)
I spoke to the auction manager - sold as seen is just that. You have to go to court, with proof of … etc. to get anywhere. I needed to get my son mobile so that wasn’t an option.
Auction and private sales (and trade to trade) - buyer beware - sold as seen, you’re shit out of luck son.
Trade to public - a little bit different. You always have statutory recourse with a dealer to reject as unfit for purpose, etc. Even if they specify it as a trade sale or with ‘no warranty’ your statutory rights are unaffected and it’s considered sharp practice by local trading standards etc.
Personally I’ll buy a car from a dealer most times, if i buy privately it’ll be for not much money and every mile i drive considered a bonus.