Author Topic: Bought a New Ford Fiesta (Read 1676 times)

Swampman · « **on:** March 26, 2011, 04:02:00 AM »

40 miles per gallon....we really like it.

BUGEYE · « **Reply #1 on:** March 26, 2011, 04:06:42 AM »

from everything I've seen and heard, that is a really good car. yours sure looks good.

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2011, 04:19:25 AM »

nice car..i had a festiva that i got 330.000 miles out of..[clean air, clean fuel, clean oil]that was a 90 model made in s. korea
i believe.. good luck wi the car.

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2011, 05:32:31 AM »

Nice! What kind of mileage did you get on your previous car? I'll bet this one is more pleasant at the gas pump.

I sometimes travel and rent cars. Most recently the Ford Focus. I liked that car. Very nice indeed. I've always been happy with Fords. I also recently rented a Chevy Malibu. What a piece of crap! It takes a lot to make me say something like that about a car, but that think was absolutely nerve racking to drive at highway speeds of 60 to 65mph, so I slowed down to 55 and I stopped being so scared. I generally have not liked the GM cars I have rented, although I did get a Buick Century some years ago that was surprisingly nice ( but not price/feature/value competitive with better cars from Ford and Toyota.)

Track your mileage at Fuelly.com for a while. You may find that you get better mileage than the EPA estimates.

yellowtail3 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2011, 07:48:59 AM »

I've got an old Escort Wagon about to hit 200K. It was cheap to buy, is easy to maintain, and very reliable. If I'm really gentle I can get consistent 35-38mpg; it'll crack 40mpg, but that requires 55mph on the highway which is to slow for normal life.

I'm glad to hear the Fiesta looks good. I hope it's another home run for Ford, following the Mustang and Fusion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVPEuBjJjEo

I had a very similar scene with my Dad, as he taught me to drive in a '67 289 Mustang.

bilmac · « **Reply #5 on:** March 26, 2011, 08:48:41 AM »

I commute 40 miles to my farm, so am looking for a cheap little car that will get really good mileage. Trouble is whenever gas prices start going up so do prices for high mileage cars. Anybody have any good candidates?

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #6 on:** March 26, 2011, 09:56:35 AM »

Yellowtail1:
That Escort is a great car. Ford is smart in that they have relatively few models and platforms, but they develop the heck out of them and they are good solid cars. My Explorer has 300k miles and it's still going strong albeit with a few quirks. Great machine.

Bilmac:

Toyota Yaris, Hyundai has a good one according to the reviews I've read. That Ford looks good. Ford Focus is real nice. Chevy Aveo has good mileage numbers but I always have low expectations of Chevy, so I probably would not look too seriously at it. There are a lot of them on the road though. Honda Fit is very popular around here, which means it would have to be a reasonably good winter car. Honda Civic is the perennial favorite here with long distance commuters.

Poke around at fuelly.com to see what kind of mileage people actually get with their cars.

bilmac · « **Reply #7 on:** March 26, 2011, 12:50:16 PM »

When we brought our present car I was looking at Ford Focus, but they were brand new then and I wasn't going to spend that kind of $. What I'd like to find now will be our 4th vehicle so I want it cheap and high MPG.

Swampman · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2011, 01:02:50 PM »

I've owned a Civic, 3 Escorts, an Echo, a Yaris, and now this Fiesta. The Toyotas are ver hard to beat IMO. The Fiesta is very quite and smooth.

boondocker · « **Reply #9 on:** March 26, 2011, 03:32:03 PM »

That is a good looking car.

mirage1988 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 26, 2011, 06:15:38 PM »

Your nightster was cooler though swampy...... My first car was a 1978 fiesta- got over 40 mpg back then.

The Hermit · « **Reply #11 on:** March 26, 2011, 06:21:35 PM »

Paid $3.75 a gallon for gas this morning. My Amish neighbor's horses are getting better looking all the while...

The Hermit

yellowtail3 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 26, 2011, 07:53:40 PM »

Paid $4.07 for regular today, driving to the Angeles forest. Yikes - even the Escort is getting expensive to run. But the venison still fits...

bilmac · « **Reply #13 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:13:26 AM »

And the yuppies have to have a FWD to run around in the city because it snows three times a year.

yellowtail3 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:19:21 PM »

I think the best bang-for-the-buck cheap, fuel-efficient cars were in the late 80s/early nineties. By late nineties the cars were getting heavier and more powerful. Early nineties Sentras, Corollas, Prizms (same thing) and Escort/Tracers are great values. I'm a big fan of small wagon - great utility, there.

I like an Escape, too. A friend a one (with a four) that I thought was nice.

Swampman · « **Reply #15 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:49:18 PM »

Few of those cars got really good mileage.

hillbill · « **Reply #16 on:** March 27, 2011, 02:51:08 PM »

im not a big ford fan, but i am a big enonomy car fan.kudos to yu for buying one instead of a suv.bad thing is that my 98 nissan sentra gets 36 to 38 mpg and i only gave 2500$ for it 6 years ago.yu would think technology would of come a little bit farther.im just pissed at detroit because they cant make a car that gets better mpg than they did over 10 yrs ago.

Spanky · « **Reply #17 on:** March 27, 2011, 03:39:30 PM »

My parents have an old Escort wagon with a ton of miles on it. It still runs perfect and gets 35mpg. It ain't fancy or fast but it starts every time and it'll haul alot of stuff if you fold the back seats down.

Spanky

Dixie Dude · « **Reply #18 on:** March 27, 2011, 04:05:52 PM »

I had a Ford Fiesta that was imported from Germany in 1979. It was a 4 speed. I got 36mpg on the highway and around 24 in town. It was a hatchback and the back seat would fold down for a cargo area that was very good size. The front seats fully reclined. It also had a sun/moon roof. Had to remove it by hand. Had a solid top and a glass top or you could leave it open. Now if it was a 5 speed with overdrive it probably would have made over 40 mpg. I do know that the German Fiesta comes in diesel and gets 63mpg in diesel. It will not be diesel over here yet. 63 with diesel is as good as the Pruis or Volt at a lot less cost and no batteries to dispose of or deal with down the road. German diesels do not meet our emission standards.

yellowtail3 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 27, 2011, 04:59:28 PM »

Quote from: Swampman on March 27, 2011, 02:49:18 PM

Few of those cars got really good mileage.

Well, I suppose this depends upon what you consider really good mileage. They were better than most cars of today.

With a five-speed and judicious driving, they'll all get mid-30s, easy (well, the Corollas not quite as good). Running 38-40psi in my five speed Escort Wagon, and driving carefully... I've averaged 35-38mpg, mixed highway/city in NJ a couple years ago. I'm getting a little less now - around 34-35mpg - but I'm in LA traffic now, too (temp gig). The key to the cars I mentioned is: run higher pressure (don't exceed sidewall), get a FIVE-SPEED, and... drive smartly. A 91-94 Sentra w/5speed 1.6L is a great ride. A forth-generation Civic (88-91) w/FE got GREAT mileage and was a very, very good car with good space w/seats folded down. Heck, the CRX HF of those days could break 50mpg, hybrid territory these days.

Nice thing about an Escort 1.9/2.0 engine: it's a non-interference design. If the water pump comes apart or belt slips/breaks, it just stops, w/no damage - and replacing the belt is easy. Have that happen on a 16V Honda/Nissan, and piston/valves meet with bad results (time for new motor).

Swampman · « **Reply #20 on:** March 27, 2011, 06:07:06 PM »

In 1983 my Civic got 40 mpg. My 2001 Toyota Echo would sometimes get 54. The new crap gas they sell really hurts mileage.

Conan The Librarian · « **Reply #21 on:** March 28, 2011, 05:02:34 AM »

Dixie Dude:

FYI, the VW and Audi diesels have met emission standards in all fifty states since 2009.

Dixie Dude · « **Reply #22 on:** March 28, 2011, 06:46:08 AM »

I didn't know that about the diesels. I knew at one time they didn't. I also forgot about the ethynol in gas making for less gas mileage. Had to drain gas out of my tiller, weed eater and lawn mower this year and put fresh in to get them to work. Drove across town to get some gas that didn't have ethynol in it. Using ethynol has helped cause food prices to go up. Synthetic fuel from coal or allowing drilling offshore, Alaska, and on shore might cause fuel prices to increase, but at least food prices might stay lower. Because of our nations debt, prices will have to increase so the government can pay back debt with inflated dollars.

I no longer have small vehicles, since I have a lot of children and grandchildren, and I have to pull a boat, I have an expedition. However I only live 2 miles from work, and less than 2-3 miles from a mall, grocery stores, etc. If I don't go to the lake or out of town, I only spend $75 a month on gas, was about $50, but has gone up.

hillbill · « **Reply #23 on:** March 28, 2011, 03:17:46 PM »

put STA-BIL in your gas for your little engines.it still seems to work. but i have had more frens and family bringing me littl engines to fix. but none of them put stabilizer in and all mine run fine.

hillbill · « **Reply #24 on:** March 28, 2011, 03:23:12 PM »

oh i do add a touch of marvel mystrey oil, maybe a 0z per 5 gallons. dont know if that helps, its just what i do after a old dude i greatly respect told me to do it.actually i think if yu treat your gas good with the stabil and marvel oil you will be fine with 4 stroke engines but with 2 strokes it does help to keep fresher gas since they went to that dam alchohol crap.

drdougrx · « **Reply #25 on:** March 28, 2011, 03:28:03 PM »

New Accord for me....V6, EXL, 2 weeks old and 1300 miles already, 24mpg city. I spend about 3hrs a day total commuting to and from work...wanted a comfortable car. Traded in a lease, same car - 4cyl....26mpg. Test drove a Gran Cherokee Lorado...just to get it outta my system. 40k and 14mpg....uhhhh-no...back to Honda.......