im getting one now

[donkeylover]

yes im getting a fiesta after thinking about cliosport/206gti and i even test drove a yaris yxr :ticking: i wanted a zetec but its a 6week waiting list so im getting my black lx on tuesday $17000 new.is that a decent price ? im not too fussed about alloys and sports springs i will get aftermarket ones later.cant wait should be good.whats the best insurance company aami have said $1180 fully comp.thanks

[Ives]

Awesome! yeah $17,000 sounds like a good deal. You're getting manual, right? cos I got my LX auto for $18,500 drive-away. The comprehensive insurance with AAMI sounds about right.

Let us know how u go!

[Teki04]

Glad you've made your decision!

Are you by-passing the 206 GTi? Did you test drive one?

Good luck with the car! In all honesty, can you afford the Zetec? I've been seeing a few of the WQ Zetecs around lately, and they look HOT! Especially a few I've seen lowered.

Either way, congrats!

[Pieoter]

Congrats on your purchase.

If you gonna mod the car the LX is the one to get.

[donkeylover]

No i didnt test drive a 206gti cos my car now is falling to bits and i need finance and with the fiesta it was just easy and hassle free and if i get any problems they will sort without any hassle unlike a 2nd hand car sales place.so soon i will be needing lowering springs,wheels and exhaust.oh and a bmc induction kit.I was thinking about the australian service and how you get ur cars done every 5k why is that? In england its around every 12,000 miles (around 20,000k)

[Ives]

Dont u think it looks kinda like Mercedes from the rear?

http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/mondeo/-/-/-/-/3/217110

[robjh80]

Originally Posted by donkeylover

yes im getting a fiesta after thinking about cliosport/206gti and i even test drove a yaris yxr :ticking: i wanted a zetec but its a 6week waiting list so im getting my black lx on tuesday $17000 new.is that a decent price ? im not too fussed about alloys and sports springs i will get aftermarket ones later.cant wait should be good.whats the best insurance company aami have said $1180 fully comp.thanks

I was with Suncorp for years with both cars.....until they put the premium up around $150 on each vehicle for no reason, never made a claim, rating 1, 40 years old etc....gave them the big flick and went to AAMI as they were cheaper and also a bloke at work put me on to them, he couldn't praise them enough so I thought I'd give them a go, unfortunately the missus had her car smashed up only a couple of weeks of joining AAMI, not her fault, 4WD ran up the back of her while she was stopped at a pedestrian crossing.....anyway to cut a long story short, AAMI have been absolutely fantastic, excellent service, I simply dropped the smashed car off at AAMI's main centre up here in Brisbane and they arranged everything from start to finish, even the cab fare to get me to the hire car place....which they also arranged, they also kept us updated on the progress of the repairs every couple of days, when they said they would ring, "THEY ACTUALLY DID!!", I couldn't believe it.......anyway, just got the car back yesterday from the panelbeaters and it's just like new, perfect job, cannot fault it, cannot fault AAMI, and believe me I would have to be one of the fussiest most difficult customer in OZ, to me customer service is virtually non-existant these days....only something big companies talk about and claim to be the best at, actions speak louder than words with most of them imo........for what it's worth very pleased with AAMI..........."oh, good luck on the new car too."

[mitch_lx]

Give ''young and cool'' a call.

They are VERY fussy about one thing, you will have to install a 3 point immobaliser. Just take your car somewhere and have an alarm + two additional immobalisers put in. Has to be Australian standards apparently.

Fair enough you might have to spent 450 on an upgraded alarm and immobalisers, but the savings over the few years are worth it, PLUS its a nice feeling knowing your car is more protected (with alarm etc)

I had my fiesta insured through them and they were VERY cheap, around the 890 per year for comprehensive insurance under my name... and im only 20 years old... CHEAP

[AS_Telstar_Man]

Hey guys - need some advice =) Originally I was thinking of getting an LX Focus to replace the old 'Star but now I've decided at ~25gs driveaway (manual) with $900 comp insurance on top its really all to expensive cos I'm still unmarried and young (25) so now I'm trying to decide between the LX and the Zetec Fiestas. I ruled out the swift as well cos parts/insurance are ridiculously expensive for that.

Can anybody tell me if there's discernable difference in the gearboxes of the two cars? I know the Zetec has slightly lower suspension and lower gearing but does that mean any real-world gains if you drove the two cars back to back? Cos if there isn't then paying 2.5gs more for a set of factory alloys, fog-lights and ABS seems a bit steep when the rest of the car bar the mirrors is exactly the same. Arghh and the 6 week wait as well :( is that for all colours - its enough to make me cry....I've been totally busy at work lately (working weekends as well) so I haven't had real time to go check out cars save for a Focus test drive, let alone buy one. I was impressed by the Focus though - it felt like a *nice* car that just wraps around you when you sit inside and the handling was just out of this world and that was the CL! I sat in the Fiesta LX without test driving it and the Focus' showroom appeal was a cut above, but as I said before 17g driveaway for a Fiesta LX and 25g driveaway for a Focus LX is a massive price difference. Having said that the dealer was totally desperate to get me to buy the Focus instead of the Fiesta - must have much bigger profit margins on the Focii....it seems hard to bargain on the Fiesta.

Decisions decisions....help!!

[robjh80]

Originally Posted by AS_Telstar_Man

Can anybody tell me if there's discernable difference in the gearboxes of the two cars?

Yes, there is..........the LX and Ghia models use the same gearbox....."and it's better than the one in the Zetec!!"..... it has taller gear ratios and hence revs slightly lower than the Zetec which is shorter geared to maximise take off throughout the gear range, ie: the Zetec is always in the higher end of the rev range so when you put your foot down it's ready to go as the max torque is around the 4000rpm spot in the Fiesta, this has been deliberately done by Ford engineers of course to squeeze everything out of the modest 74kw engine, which incidently is identical across the model range.

I do love some of the things in the Zetec over the LX though such as the coloured seats, aluminium look touches in the interior, the colour coded mirrors and definately the stereo controls on the steering coloumn.

I wouldn't get too fussed up over the wheels, suspension or fog lights.........the wheels you replace with nice 17 inch alloys, throw in some lowered King springs and the fog lights you can get from your Ford dealer if ya really want them........"oh, and you can get the LX in Red, can't get a WQ Zetec in Red"......imho spend the $2500 ya save by not getting the Zetec and jazz up the LX........you would probably spend it anyway on the same things even if got the Zetec......."I know I did."

[goop]

I went with the WQ Zetec, cause I'm a bit like you - i.e. I'd probably never get around to jazzing it up. The 16" rims on the Zetec are quite attractive and suit the car well (ok, 17s would be better, but no biggie), all that really needs doing to tidy it up is lower it an inch or so imho I like the gearbox (manual) but I've never driven an LX so I'm pretty biased...

Perhaps consider how much highway driving you do, and on what sort of roads; the zetec buzzes along @ 3500RPM@100KPH, it can get a little tiresome, as can the ride quality, even on the standard suspension setup. I would imagine the LX would be more comfortable on highways/bumpy roads

[AS_Telstar_Man]

Originally Posted by goop

Perhaps consider how much highway driving you do, and on what sort of roads; the zetec buzzes along @ 3500RPM@100KPH, it can get a little tiresome, as can the ride quality, even on the standard suspension setup. I would imagine the LX would be more comfortable on highways/bumpy roads

It's going to be an inner city runabout through and through, I only do about <10k km a year but 99% is city driving. The remaining 1% is from when I take it to places like the old pac highway, the royal national park, wisemans ferry etc =) in which case I know the zetec would probably be better. I managed to get the telstar to lift-off oversteer followed by 4 wheel aqua-planing in the wet once

3500rpm @ 100KPH are you joking? whats the redline? it must have a top speed of 170km/h only (not that I'm ever going to find out) but this thing is from autobahn land!

[goop]

maybe it's 3300, not sure - but high. Redline at 6, limiter at 7 Oh, and she LOVES to lift off/brake oversteer weeee

[Scareybear]

Originally Posted by AS_Telstar_Man

It's going to be an inner city runabout through and through, I only do about <10k km a year but 99% is city driving. The remaining 1% is from when I take it to places like the old pac highway, the royal national park, wisemans ferry etc =) in which case I know the zetec would probably be better. I managed to get the telstar to lift-off oversteer followed by 4 wheel aqua-planing in the wet once

3500rpm @ 100KPH are you joking? whats the redline? it must have a top speed of 170km/h only (not that I'm ever going to find out) but this thing is from autobahn land!

I had mine to about 170 (felt solid as a rock, still pulling)before the speed limiter in the passenger seat cut in, I backed off over a slight rise to see one of QLD's finest coming the other way : . He got me for 130. That was in Jan. last year, I'm still copping grief for it.

[donkeylover]

i thought the zetec would be the only one i would like to drive but when i drove the lx a was shocked it handles fairly well and for 17-18k its a bargin oyou should have a drive c what u think.oh and i rang racv and got my insurance down to $744 :-)

[AS_Telstar_Man]

Yeah I'm leaning towards the LX at the moment cos its cheaper and I need to put away money for a deposit on a house. I just hope I don't regret buying the LX later thinking that I should've got the Zetec but I guess if I wanted nice wheels and lowered suspension those can always be done later (later = never for me). The Zetecs just seem to have more road presence...

[AS_Telstar_Man]

Thanks for the replies guys will be thinking about it, sometime within the next fortnight I'm gonna haggle and put an order down for a Fiesta....still torn between LX and Zetec and the colours too!! ...... hehehe the 'star is already gone cos I didn't wanna sell after rego ran out...I miss her, I even called her Tess....

[Teki04]

Guys, lets not forget the Zetec also has much better TYRES then the LX too, which makes for more fun and steering feel. Not to mention the ABS. The foglights looks much better, interior is slightly more appealing... and you aren't driving the base model (like, who wants to drive that? :P)

So yea, the Zetec has bigger rims and better tyres, lowered suspension, lower gearing (in the manual), foglights, ABS, highlighted interior and of course... the badge!

IMO go the Zetec.

[donkeylover]

or buy a zetec badge off ur dealer ;-) you cant be a car snob and buy a fiesta can you lol.

[Scareybear]

Originally Posted by donkeylover

or buy a zetec badge off ur dealer ;-) you cant be a car snob and buy a fiesta can you lol.

You would be surprised.....

[AS_Telstar_Man]

Originally Posted by donkeylover

or buy a zetec badge off ur dealer ;-) you cant be a car snob and buy a fiesta can you lol.

I believe most Fiesta owners already are - you guys are all part of the 'I don't drive any boring jap piece of crap mazda2/yaris/swift/jazz/colt god forbid korean piece of crap barina/getz' - least you're driving a German car, it's got more in common with a benz/beemer than anything else under 20k

[goop]

this is silly...... but a big part of what sold me on the car was the solid 'clunk' sound the doors make when you close them.... in my experience, asian cars don't do that......

[Scareybear]

Originally Posted by goop

this is silly...... but a big part of what sold me on the car was the solid 'clunk' sound the doors make when you close them.... in my experience, asian cars don't do that......

Its not that silly, its surprising how many people notice it the first time they come for a ride.

[photn]

i agree with goop. what sold me on the Fiesta apart from the Dash, the sexy look and awesum design. was the quility it was buit to. and the fact that the doors felt like they closed no just sat there as ive experienced with other cars.

[Pieoter]

What sold me on the Fiesta was that my grandad has owned a MK1 fiesta, MK3 fiesta, MK5 fiesta and now a MK6 fiesta. I went along with the trend as hes never had any problems with any of them.

[Ives]

Good to hear about the quality of the Fiestas. However, that Rose "chick" is having problem with the engine management.

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthr...5&page=3&pp=25