80000 to 100000 miles on a 1.4 2003 Ford Fiesta too much?

facade

Ah get you now!

I know about the other gears, but the Corsa-C is a big car for a tiny engine, and struggles in 4th uphill.
In the Peaks, with 3 people in, it starts to get worrying when you are in second gear and it still seems to be slowing down, with only 1st to go!

Lum

facade wrote: »

Corsa is a good car. Make sure it is stone cold, and start it up. If there is a rattly sound it needs a camchain and gears - these last around 60,000 miles tops, so an 80,000 miler should have had them changed.

Wait, seriously?

Cars with cambelts get so much stick on these forums, OMG, you have to change the belt every 60,000 miles, you should save money by getting a car with a chain instead.

And VX make a car with a chain that has to be replaced more frequently than the cambelt in my car. :eek:

motorguy

OddballJamie wrote: »

I was recently looking for a Fiesta of similar age for my partner. For a decent one with FSH from a dealer you're going to be needing twice the budget.
Have you considered a Corsa or KA as they tend to be cheaper.

You can easily get a good 2003 Fiesta for £1500. Buy privately from the previous owner.

If you're paying £3,000 for one, you're just lining some dealers pockets.

alastairq

In the Peaks, with 3 people in, it starts to get worrying when you are in second gear and it still seems to be slowing down, with only 1st to go!

The problem is, re-starting if inadvertently brought to a standstill?

The big fear of ancient lorry drivers?

Still.....if 1st won't do it, there's always reverse??

{This from a bus driver who ended up reversing UP Garrowby Hill [A166].....decades ago now....1970's?......oh, and the driver of the first bus to ever break down on the Humber Bridge......the day after it opened....dubious, or what?}

Sounds like VX needed to play around with final drive ratios?

cubegame

Should be pretty bullet proof. Our 1.4 2003 Fiesta is still going strong at 170,000 miles.

Only work that has needed doing is wear parts.

facade

Lum wrote: »

And VX make a car with a chain that has to be replaced more frequently than the cambelt in my car. :eek:

The best piece of engineering vauxhall ever did. Take something eminently reliable, and get it to fail :T fairly easy I think, don't bother to lubricate it properly.

OddballJamie

motorguy wrote: »

You can easily get a good 2003 Fiesta for £1500. Buy privately from the previous owner.

If you're paying £3,000 for one, you're just lining some dealers pockets.

OP is looking to buy from a dealer not private.

natlol

Id continue looking unless it is a bargain...there are plenty about with lower mileage..I have an early MK6 (52 plate) with 44k on the clock.. The car is pretty good but you need to buy the early ones carefully...check bottoms of doors...wheel arches for rust! They can and do rust extremely well.

Graham_Devon

Depends how it's done the mileage to be honest. A 30k city car would likely be more knackered than an 80k car that's sat on A roads and dual carriageways.

Mileage is simply a number on the dash. You'll have stuff that comes up, sure, the suspensions, bushes, all that kind of jazz, but that happens on every car.

It's how it's been driven, where it's been driven and how it's been looked after that tells you everything. A FSH isn't an indicator of a good car. Some of the best cars out there don't have a full service history. Mine doesn't, but I change the oil and filter every 4-6k miles, do anything it needs myself if I can and replace anything that requires replacing. I don't, however, have a stamp in a book!

Very hard to tell. It's all a gamble. Nothing wrong itself in 100k miles though. That's simply a number.