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Indeed, but but I will be doing very low milleage in it, it is not a good engine, but even when very worn they still run ok, mines done 66k too.
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Yes MM, though its design harks back loosely to the 50's, millions of units have done 00s of millions of miles and it really should not be any more troublesome than the next engine - and it does not need a cambelt change.
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I'm not convinced by the 'bangernomics' principle. Ok, you've got a (very) cheap car, but even a smiple old car cheap will have hidden issues & things about to break - I wouldn't want to rely on something like that: miles from home, maybe passengers on-board, maybe filthy dirty weather, maybe a nasty A-road or M-way hard shoulder, maybe an unpleasant part of town - list is endless.
Yes, I know any car can breakdown or give trouble, but it seems to me that you'll be forever
wondering whether that rattle,rumble, grind or squeak presages an interrupted jouney or is just the 'characterful' old-car groans & moans.
I could just about contemplate an old banger for (very) local journeys - but even then it would be just me & no passengers - wouldn't want to test the crumple-zone efficacy & air-bag (if present) function in a structurally deteriorating unknown quantity.
Anyway, good luck with the project.
Edited by woodbines on 22/10/2008 at 13:53
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You both misunderstand me... the only point I was making is that HJ is suggesting that the tappety sound is nothing to do with the tappets... (or at least, not in a fixable fashion). Rattle (ironic!) should save his cash.
I'm sure the engine will die long after tinworm eats the beast - and equally, I'm sure it will pass its next MOT.
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Granted NC, no one would expect a 60,000 mile pushrod Fiesta to be silent. But there are degrees of clatter, and less is better from all points of view (provided the clearances are correct).
The chances are that this car has never had its clearances checked or adjusted, because that is exactly the sort of thing slovenly garages offering 'servicing' to non-enthusiast car owners neglect. Although a couple of thousandths of an inch on or off the valve clearances won't make a noticeable difference to performance, it will make one, and there will be a difference in running costs, refinement (if that is a word to use in a Fiesta thread) and driveability. Why let a shed be even more of a shed just for the lack of a bit of undemanding spanner-twiddling?
Of course it is perfectly possible that Rattle or his mechanic will discover the valve clearances are spot on. Perhaps he will tell us.
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"I'm not convinced by the 'bangernomics' principle"
The secret is to buy a vehicle that is likely to be easy or cheap to fix in the event of a minor fault. Clearly if it's major you throw it away. But you also manage your risks sensibly by having a mobile phone and a recovery service subscription. I've just renewed my family RAC cover using Tesco clubcard points.
You also manage the vehicle and spend sensibly on maintenance. I've covered 15,000 miles in the 405TD that I paid £400 for, and spent £300 on at MoT time (mostly new tyres, and inc. the test fee). It's still worth £400. 15k/1 year for £300 seems reasonable to me, it's 2p/mile.
I'd be much happier trying to fix my 405 myself, if needed, that SWMBO's 2002 Focus, which is full of electrickery.
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Of the 40 odd under £1000 cars ive owned in the last ten years, only one ( a Sierra ) has actually broken down on me ( undetected HGF due to thermstat not showing true extent of prob ). I did however, look after them with varying degrees of expense.
Sure, older cars need to be carefully examined so you know what you have, but once you do, you can choose accordingly.
If you buy a well maintained car, they can, through the simple ideology of simplicity, out live more modern machines which fail and are not repaird due to their complexity and thus expense.
Overall, cheap cars are cheaper unless you buy a dud. That much is up to the buyer.
Older owners and yes there are plenty, tend to value reliability so take car of their motors - theses make great buys if you just budget for a clutch - ive bought many lowish mileage cars from such folk and they make great value, with reams of SH and MOTs so you know whats going on with the car.
If you dont understand it, thats fine, but bangernomics can work if you know what your doing. Occasionally it bites you, but more often than not it doesnt.
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Maybe I've been lucky, but the only time I've been stranded in a cheap shed that I've owned was in my first car, a Mark 2 Ford Escort. People forget the minimal quality standards imposed by Ford in the 70s. All the other "stop gap cars" (including such desirable motors as a 16 year old Polo and a 10 year old Panda) ended up serving me very well and beyond the several hundred quid they cost, though I did always make sure they were well maintained.
The least reliable car I've ever owned, and the one that left me stranded most often was a very expensive nearly new TVR. I think this illustrates that not all old cars are sheds, and not all sheds are old.
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I wouldn't be too concerned with the tappet noise, sounds like you've got a good deal there.
As for bangernomics, I've been stranded three times in the last ten years and well over a quarter of a million miles. Once when I had a full set of wheel studs sheer, on the leg that I changed for one from a scrappy a few weeks before. That was on an ancient diesel Mondeo that cost me £500 and did me for 20k miles. I scrapped the car and got a can home.
Another occasion was when the waterpump went on the current tdci Mondeo, a car less than five years old at the time. I could have let it cool down and run it gently home later.
The other occasion was a broken clutch cable that went on a Caterham. Managed to limo it to a local motorfactors and they lent me enough tools to fit a new one. Had just got it fitted when the man with the breakdown truck arrived.
Modern cars, ie those built in the last twenty years are very very reliable. Its rare that a fault will leave anyone stranded and should it happen its only a mobile call to the breakdown company.
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with all the cars ive ever owned, the more i have spent on them, the more problems ive had with them!
my most expensive was a £4000 mondeo 2.0 ghia x auto......
I spent out on an extended warranty, with in 7 months i had a major breakdown - cambelt failed, although it had been changed 10k before..........................
Ah.... well actually, the belt was fine - it was the tensioner that had broken up, causing the belt to jump, and taking 8 valves with it.
'sorry not covered under warranty sir!' 'It will cost £1000 to fix....'
no it didnt, i did it myself for £250 (im in the trade....)
a year later, the auto box exploded... £1500 for a 'good' 2nd hand one!
at this point i sold it on as spares or repairs - still owing £3000 on the damn thing.
whilst i was fixing the engine i got a £200 car, ran it for 2 months, and did nothing to it bar filling the petrol tank, then sold it on @ £50 profit!
now... i refuse to pay more than £600 for a car - the one before my current car was a mk 3 1.1 fiesta on a J £250 one years use, over 10k in it, fuel, front pads, 3 litres of oil (no oil change, just top up) 2 tyres, thats it!
btw it never let me down, bar a flat battery when the boot light stayed on, fix? removed bulb.
reason i got rid? terminal rot! (but still got £50 for it!)
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You can buy an AWUFL lot of cabs home/hire cars/hotel rooms/AA membership for the difference in cost between even OP's car and a new Panda; let alone the difference between a £450 Audi and a £45,000 Audi...
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"The other occasion was a broken clutch cable that went on a Caterham. Managed to limo it to a local motorfactors..."
Oh, I wish I could draw cartoons. Did the limo tow the Caterham or did the Caterham fit inside?
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