RetroPug's New Daily

[RetroPug]

The 306 is going to be a second car and will hopefully have every little niggle fixed now that it doesn't always have to be available to go to work for the week, as I put a deposit on a new daily driver today which I'll collect tomorrow.


After a few months of deliberating and looking at various cheap, totally boring eco beater cars that I can run into the ground, I have bought precisely none of the. I've actually bought a Ford Fiesta Zetec S 1.6 TDCI, nicely specced with digital climate control, heated front screen, big computer satnav thing that seems to do everything a normal radio does but in a much bigger, heavier package with an unnecessarily large touch screen. I'm an engineer...couldn't resist the gadgetry!

It is also in a good colour in my humble opinion!

Pictures from the advert:

[Toms306]

Good choice imo! Nice spec inside and the ZS kit looks good as well.

How much was it then?

[RetroPug]

Thanks! I'm rather excited to pick it up.
Looking forward to having this as a daily and also to doing proper fixing up to the 306. I'm quite time-limited so it'll be good to be able to do all the things it needs doing in stages.

It was an awful lot more than the sub 1k I was originally thinking of spending...

[Toms306]

Tbf, I'd have been quite annoyed if you'd picked it up sub £1k.

Worth it though as its something you'll be using every day for a few years!

[RetroPug]

Yeah agreed, plus the climate control etc. is really nice and I'm in the car probably for about 10 hours during the working week. I've had a very good job for a fair few months and I worked pretty hard to get through uni and get to where I am so I've treated myself. I desperately needed something that isn't an 18 year old gti6 to go to work in anyway so here we are! It will actually pay for itself in fuel savings after a few years!

[Toms306]

Lol, should make some nice savings in tax as well!

[Ruan]

Nice that!!! I like it!

Cracking buy IMHO - always be desirable in that spec!

[C.A.R.]

Mmm ZS. I hear that's how those on the forum refer to them!

Lovely cars, usually driven by yobbos. Looks like an ST too, albeit a frugal one. That gearshift gaiter would do my nut in though - looks very 'Transit'!

Go on then, how much was it?

[RetroPug]

Thanks!
Yes, this one had a nice spec compared to others out there so I jumped on it!

Nearly 3.5k. It is a pleasant place to sit though, it felt very nice to drive but I didn't give it a beating on the test drive. It'll be nice to see how good it is with spirited driving. Most of the others at that price were either higher miles or way worse spec.

My theory is if I drive it a few years with cheap running costs and sell it then I've lost some on depreciation but it was worth it for having a nice car and comfy commuting, and if I end up keeping it for many, many years than I'll have easily gotten my money's worth.

[7057sam]

Nice buy

Somthing different,very nice spec better that my mates St which is the same year

[Piggy]

Wow thats a good price.

Couldnt find one sub £5k only a couple years back.

These map quite well I believe too!

My petrol 1.6 ZS was amazing im stock form. I stuck 300mm mondeo brakes up front on it and it was just a B road killer! Loved it!
I got leather gaitors for gear n handbrake too coz that rubber is hateful!

[mattsrallye]

I really like these, I think they have aged very well. I've never heard anything but good things about how fiestas drive as well, good choice!

[C.A.R.]

Indeed, the only negative things I've ever heard about this shape Fez were from a car alarm company - the fitter said that the wiring on them is a f*cking nightmare - bare in mind he was fitting an alarm to a GTi6 at the time and had already electrocuted himself twice because the wires weren't the same colour as they were in the haynes!

[Toms306]

Peugeot wires are numbered....if alarm fitters don't know this maybe that's why all aftermarket alarms seem to be shit!


On topic though, not a bad price tbh, that spec and colour will always remain desirable - and changing the gear gaitor will increase value also. How many miles has it done?

[RetroPug]

It has done 76k. At the same price other examples either had crap bodywork (not a mark on this one) or bad interiors (immaculate inside), cloth seats, patchy history, aircon but not climate control and not the touch screen, were silver which I find a bit boring etc.

The owners wanted between 3700 and 3900 so I beat them down a bit.
They'd bought it for 5630 a couple of years ago.

I'm due to collect it this evening so hopefully I'll be able to comment further on how nice to drive it is and how it handles commuting etc.!

[C.A.R.]

My boss is looking to spend > £5k on a small commuter hatch, as we currently car share and he knows I'm looking for another job.

I got him looking at these at lunchtime but he can't see past the book 0-60 time It's not all about numbers!

He's looking at 1.7 CDTi Corsa's and DS3 Diesels (if he ups his budget).

[RetroPug]

How often do you really use 0-60 times going to work anyway?
I collected this tonight, averaged 59.2MPG on the way home!

[Toms306]

How often do you ever do 0-60? Can't think of the last time I did!

30-60/70 near enough every day though....which is what matters...

What is the 0-60 on this anyway? Must be quicker than the Focus and that's only just over 10s iirc... How quick do you need for a daily commuter lol?

[Dum-Dum]

You've had a bargain on that. My best mate has a 56 plate mk6 (yours is mk7 if you didn't know) and will be dead jealous of your heated windscreen as the mk6 fzs didn't get them. They are awesome when mapped.

[RetroPug]

You've had a bargain on that. My best mate has a 56 plate mk6 (yours is mk7 if you didn't know) and will be dead jealous of your heated windscreen as  the mk6 fzs didn't get them. They are awesome when mapped.

I'll drive it for a year, wait for insurance to come down and my savings to go up (trying for a house deposit), and then see about doing some stuff to this. A remap would probably be first on the list. The front screen does demist extremely quickly.

Yeah I'm pretty happy with it, ideal for work and normal trips without being too boring.

It does pull pretty nicely, especially low down, great compared to the 1.4. I've never owned a diesel before, only driven them on odd occasions so the power delivery is quite different to me.

How often do you ever do 0-60?  Can't think of the last time I did!

30-60/70 near enough every day though....which is what matters...

What is the 0-60 on this anyway?  Must be quicker than the Focus and that's only just over 10s iirc...  How quick do you need for a daily commuter lol?

I don't need a quick daily commuter.

The 306 got a good blast almost every time I drove it though, just couldn't resist it when the road opened up slightly even when commuting.

Now it will only get good blasts, but will be even more pampered!

[Orta]

You've had a bargain on that. My best mate has a 56 plate mk6 (yours is mk7 if you didn't know) and will be dead jealous of your heated windscreen as  the mk6 fzs didn't get them. They are awesome when mapped.

Actually when they added the nipples lights it was only a facelift not a new mark. That's a mark 6a officially. The mark 7 is this:

[Toms306]

Ford marks are ridiculous - on the Focus they changed EVERY body panel in early 2008...yet most of the interior and the floorpan remained the same so they called it the Mk2.5 instead of Mk3....no-one on ebay has a clue what car they're selling parts for!

How often do you ever do 0-60?  Can't think of the last time I did!

30-60/70 near enough every day though....which is what matters...

What is the 0-60 on this anyway?  Must be quicker than the Focus and that's only just over 10s iirc...  How quick do you need for a daily commuter lol?

I don't need a quick daily commuter.

The 306 got a good blast almost every time I drove it though, just couldn't resist it when the road opened up slightly even when commuting.

Now it will only get good blasts, but will be even more pampered!

That bit was aimed at Chris' mate really. 10s 0-60 is more than adequate for a daily imo! Only time I want more from mine is 65+, but its not 'slow' enough to worry about and I don't feel I'm holding anyone up. Very different to the '6 where I want more at 1500rpm. Gonna take some time getting used to petrol again I think lol.

[RetroPug]

Ford marks are ridiculous - on the Focus they changed EVERY body panel in early  2008...yet most of the interior and the floorpan remained the same so they called it the Mk2.5 instead of Mk3....no-one on ebay has a clue what car they're selling parts for!

How often do you ever do 0-60?  Can't think of the last time I did!

30-60/70 near enough every day though....which is what matters...

What is the 0-60 on this anyway?  Must be quicker than the Focus and that's only just over 10s iirc...  How quick do you need for a daily commuter lol?

I don't need a quick daily commuter.

The 306 got a good blast almost every time I drove it though, just couldn't resist it when the road opened up slightly even when commuting.

Now it will only get good blasts, but will be even more pampered!

That bit was aimed at Chris' mate really.  10s 0-60 is more than adequate for a daily imo!  Only time I want more from mine is 65+, but its not 'slow' enough to worry about and I don't feel I'm holding anyone up.  Very different to the '6 where I want more at 1500rpm.  Gonna take some time getting used to petrol again I think lol.

See I find that with lots of throttle input the initial torquey shove from the diesel is really great. However compared to the gti6 you really need to use the throttle and be in a low gear, whereas the gti6 will pull through basically every gear pretty well at pretty much any speed, and will happily roll in high gears.

Had a nice drive in this to work today....climate control was lovely, actual demisting of the windows, and a regulated temperature rather than a choice of scalding air and air from outside gusted into your face along with lots of leaves.

Still got a lot of love for the 306 and can't wait to drive it again.

[C.A.R.]

I know what you mean about the climate control - I had the digital setup in my Celica. Probably considered old-tech nowadays (the car was a 2001) but it just felt amazing to fire up the engine and sit and wait for it to sort itself out. Just flick a button to adjust the temperature.

None of this old-skool shenanigans with the twisty knobs in the 306!

[RetroPug]

The windscreen was covered in a thick layer of ice this morning. Banged the full demist and heated front screen on and went back inside to grab my ice scraper. By the time I got back out the ice was no longer solid and I didn't need the scraped to remove it- I squeegeed it off as it was mush.

Bloody brilliant.

This car would ideally like a 6th gear for the motorway but oh well, getting good MPG.

[7057sam]

damn things like this is why I should get something newer as a daily.

What sort of mpg figures have you had ?

[RetroPug]

Now that I'm driving more normally my current average is between 55-55.5MPG.

Very slippery in the snow on the way home today.

[RetroPug]

So, I reset the MPG meter when I bought the car and haven't ever reset it since. My overall average across all driving is currently 60.1 MPG.

[Toms306]

Hmm. Though I suppose it is considerably lighter than the Focus lol.

Not that the trip computer is always right, mine seems to be fine for a couple of tanks then way off every 3rd or so!

[RetroPug]

As mine is driven most days and hasn't been reset variance should be smoothed out as it is an average taken over a long time.

However, yes it might not be totally accurate. Isn't yours also a larger engine?

I think this is a great average considering it does some stop start etc. Plus it has been steadily rising all the time as I get used to driving a derv and not hooning like in a 306. If I reset it now and drove like this for a few weeks it might be a little bit higher.