I was a Ford man for years loads of fiesta's best one was a Fiesta Black, last was a 05 Focus last of the old shape. Stopped being a Ford man when I only got £3000.00 for a 5 year old car after dealer service and everything.

If it was a petrol with 50-60k on that was a good trade in price! LXs or studios are pretty much worthless and black ones also have a poor re-sale value. I dont know the exact model you had but 3k isnt impossible.

Richard

Yes I know it was not a top model, I did pay £12.000 for it though. I got a far better deal on my Leon when I changed that last year.

A little update
Well the Fiesta has now gone already and has been replaced with a nice Ford Focus Estate TDCi. Why the big change, well i fly RC aircraft and i cant get my 64 inch wingspan P-51 Mustang in the back of a Fiesta whereas the Focus has 6ft length in the back. I was a little miffed to let the Fiesta go but i suppose its for a good reason. It did have a few faults in my 3 months/5000 miles that i had it and there was the fault which was diagnosed from being a terminal engine failure to just a little standard tappet noise (which need to be adjusted at 70k anyway). Having said that the Focus is a great cruiser and ive been getting well over 70MPG but its only when you try and take into town you realise how awful the gearbox is and the clutch is something else, you cant feel the biting point which for someone who likesw a clutch with a biting point that would give you whiplash is not a good thing but im sure ill get used to it, it also has one of those DPF things too  Given its done low mileage how long would it be before the light comes on!

Richard

Just give the car a good thrashing once a week (insert joke here) and the dpf (diesel particle filter) will last a lot longer. It works like a catalytic converter but needs to get hotter for longer to do it's job.

Quote from: 4x2 on June 23, 2014, 11:10:35 PM
Just give the car a good thrashing once a week

a la Basil in Fawlty Towers you mean?


Paul

Quote from: B757-236GT on February 18, 2014, 09:15:00 AM
I know this is a model railwayvforum but im thinking of getting a newer car. Ive found a nice 1.6 petrol seat leon but i dont know what it does to the gallon and i never trust manufacturers figures. Motoring forums havent much help as they get bogged down in details. Does anyone here have one (or a vw golf 1.6 petrol)  and can tell me what they get.

Thanks

Richard

Hi Richard,

You have chosen two very good cars in the Golf and Leon.  As you probably know there is a great deal of parts sharing between all the VAG brands so mechanically there is little to choose between their cars.  The differences come down to price, packaging and style at the end of the day.

One other consideration is depreciation (although less of an issue if not buying new).  Traditionally VW tends to depreciate at a slower rate.  Again not fair, just badge snobbery.

As for the engine type, modern petrol engines are excellent and offer refinement, performance and very good fuel consumption.  My wife has a VW Polo with their 1.2TFSI petrol and it does well over 50 to the gallon.  It is also a "pocket rocket" and great fun to drive.  My own Audi A4 has the 1.8TFSI engine and once again I get in the mid to high 40s which is not bad for a big saloon.

As for petrol over diesel - well you need to do the sums.  Diesel costs more than petrol but this is offset by the higher MPG.  Having said that, diesel cars tend to cost more than their diesel counterpart - not sure why this should be so given the number sold these days.  Finally, diesel cars tend to need more frequent servicing so often the difference can be very close.

For example, until recently I was doing 20K+ miles per year and taking everything in to consideration it was still more cost effective for me to buy a petrol Audi.

Whatever you choose, I hope it is a great car and serves you well.

Best of luck.

Paddy

Im now on my second car since the seat leon and i have to say i still fancy a golf/leon but i think ill have to stick with my Focus for the time being as Golf Estates are like rocking horse stuff and the Leon isnt (i know the current one is) available as an Estate.

Richard