Went to see an old friend yesterday. He and his wife have a 2015 Fiesta. Every car they have had in the last 50 years has been a new, red, Fiesta which is probably a record.
This one has only done 25,000 miles. On the advice of the mechanic that regularly services it, the wet timing belt has just been changed at a cost of about £1000. I gather this is a fair price.
Very wise I think. Regardless of mileage, the belt has still been pickling in oil for 10 years.
Almost all new cars now are financial time bombs. Fair?
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>> Almost all new cars now are financial time bombs. Fair?
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A little unfair, I feel.
Cars with wet belts are, I think, bad news long term.
Depends what you are looking for, of course. As a little runabout, I think it is hard to beat Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107.
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I'd rather hope my Superb isn't ticking either!!
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>> I'd rather hope my Superb isn't ticking either!!
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Depends if you wind it up!!
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>> Cars with wet belts are, I think, bad news long term.
with awareness of the issue, and there is now plenty of that, it need not be an issue. Oil changes with the correct oil, and a change of belt at a suitable timescale will see you all right.
There are, literally, millions of wet belt Ford engines out there, in things from Fiestas to Transit vans and everything in between, and the majority dont fail in use.
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During my motoring journey things have changed massively.
Decoke every 10k, clutches which if treated sympathetically may last 25k, engines beyond repair by 60k, terminal rust at 5-6 years common, etc etc.
Modern cars are models of reliability capable of 1-200k before a major failure. No longer do I open the car door wondering if I will get to my destination.
For the last 25 years I have owned cars typically between 1 and 8 years old with up to 150k on the clock. In that time I have spent well under £1000 in aggregate on repairs other than routine servicing and replacements.
It is now a matter worthy of comment when there is a failure, rather than an accepted feature of car ownership.
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<< During my motoring journey things have changed massively.
Decoke every 10k, clutches which if treated sympathetically may last 25k, engines beyond repair by 60k, terminal rust at 5-6 years common, etc etc. >>
You must have started with very early cars, Terry. My first was a 1962 LHD Morris 1100 in Canada, which went from 20K to 60K in three years. No troubles with the clutch; the main nuisance was the electric fuel pump in a vulnerable place under the tank (at the back of the car then of course), leaky stem seals which made me buy oil as often as petrol (both were cheap over there) and impossibly stiff steering when the temp got down to -20.
Later 1100s clutches went to over 90K miles, and the only clutch work I can remember in 60 years driving was about a year ago when a hydraulic cylinder gave up on my 207SW.
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"Later 1100s clutches went to over 90K miles"
1100 (basically any A series) clutch could be changed whilst you waited for your cuppa to cool down.
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I have never had to have a clutch changed in a car or had to decoke, or have an engine rebuild despite running some terrible old bangers. I did have to fettle a coke bottle 1.6 Cortina at about 100,000 miles when the camshaft oil feed blocked up, and replace the fractured rocker shaft on a Fiat 128 Special a couple of times.
There was more regular maintenance. The Oxford Farina had grease points that are supposed to be done every 1,000 miles. I suspect not many were. The trunnions seized on mine due to my ignorance and I had to replace those. But it was quite an old car by then.
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Servicing and lifed components like cambelts have been done by the book as long as I've had cars.
My second car, a Peugeot 104ZS, went through two clutches in the 50k miles or so I put on it from 82 to 86. Suspect the 66bhp ZS had same set up as its much lower powered siblings; not man enough for its task.
I think both BXs needed a replacement as they got silly heavy with age.
Xantia got close to 150k on original but replacement was just one of the needs that saw it go to the scrapper at 13 years old.
Berlingo #1 was of a design where some part of the clutch set up was made of Brie and threw in the towel, pedal on floor, at around 100k. Mrs B's cousin had the Pug equivalent with same issue at same mileage. Ours went again at 150k c2014; release bearing.
Since then 'lingo #2 and three Skodas have been just fine.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Mon 8 Dec 25 at 21:56
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Since 1966, New Cortina, I have had roughly 45+ cars - lots of company cars (usually replaced at 2 years or 60K) as well as my own.
No real major issues over the years but prior to late 1990s always needed something at service time.
Broken down at side of road and towed = 4
No engines / gearboxes blowing up - 1 x rear differential, 1 clutch
1995 was my first Japanese car and all they seemed to need was servicing - the Mazda Xedos I kept 15 years gave some grief near the end but were all age related - callipers, bushes + Rust - nothing mechanical
Shortest time from buying to breaking down 1972 MGB GT 4 miles and taken away on lorry
Most expensive repairs Mercedes over £3,500 - several repairs in a 6 mth period - the next thing to go was the car.
In the last 30 years, all Japanese, apart from the Mercedes. Cars have been my own - mechanical repairs next to nothing - almost everything age related.
SUVs 2007 to today
Diesel X-trail zero repairs in 5 years
Petrol CRV front spring (pothole?) & anti-roll bar (perished) in 11 years
Current CRV still under warranty but servicing only coming up 3 years. Admittedly only 5k- 6K per year.
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Good call Duncan. At least for those with the 1.0 Toyota engine. I think some of them have the 1.2 Puretech wet belt PSA engine. Maybe not so good. And they do date back about 20 years.
I'd exclude various Toyota's, Mazda's, Suzuki's and Subaru's from my sweeping generalisation. They don't generally use DCTs, wet belts, and mostly abjure turbos. Even so I'm not entirely sanguine about my MX-5 's direct injection engine but if it does coke up or can have the walnut shell treatment.
The Mazda 'Yaris' we've just bought is fairly complex in the hybrid synergy drive but I gave that a pass based on all those very high mileage Prizes. Touching wood.
One thing that doesn't seem to have materialised is the early failure of and vast expanse of replacing EV batteries. Some EV's may yet prove to be good long term motors.
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>> 'Yaris' is fairly complex in the hybrid synergy drive but I gave that a pass based on all those very high mileage Prizes
We justified buying a used Yaris hybrid a few years back on the same reasoning!
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>> Depends what you are looking for, of course. As a little runabout, I think it
>> is hard to beat Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107.
>>
or a Suzuki Jimny
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Do you mean in the last 49 years?
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>> Do you mean in the last 49 years?
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It's possible. He had the first one when I got married in 1977. But they are still probably the only ones he has actually bought in the last 50 years!
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>> Went to see an old friend yesterday. He and his wife have a 2015 Fiesta.
>> Every car they have had in the last 50 years has been a new, red,
>> Fiesta which is probably a record.
>>
Not for much longer. Your friends must be gutted that Ford have stopped making the Fiesta!
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>> Not for much longer. Your friends must be gutted that Ford have stopped making the
>> Fiesta!
Sadly I think this might have been the last anyway, he has Parkinson's so his next vehicle will quite likely be something wheelchair-adaptable.
I'm sorry to see it go. I had a Tuscan beige (I think) 950L new in 1980. Great car.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 1 Dec 25 at 11:16
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>>2015 Fiesta. This one has only done 25,000 miles. On the advice of the mechanic that regularly
>> services it, the wet timing belt has just been changed at a cost of about
>> £1000. I gather this is a fair price.
At 10 years old they have ducked a bullet. My Sister's 2013 Fiesta 1.0 ecoboom didn't make it to 10 years old before failing a few years ago. Involved a major rebuild / new heads etc - in the end probably cost more than the car was worth really.
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Recently did some undebody rust prevention on daughter's pug 107. Has been almost faultless in 11 years. Except for the automatic clutch and actuator. Once 11 years ago and again this year. Many people would have scrapped or traded in. But I feel in now good for another 8 years. The engine will probably be the last thing to let you down.
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Some 'preventive maintenance' is risky. There are many stories of engines wrecked by inexpert replacement of perfectly good cambelts which were made and designed to last the life of the car. 'If it works, don't mend it' often applies. Our first Passat (GL5) only had a belt change at 140,000 miles because the water pump needed changing. Our second Passat (2.0GL) was traded in at 242,000 with the original belt, although I did have to change a whining stiff tension pulley at around 130,000miles before it seized and fried the still perfectly satisfactory belt. Our next family estate, Mk1 Focus 1.6 Zetec, went to the scrappie at 21yrs old and 160,000 miles, original belt and tension pulley intact. I have no intention of ever changing our current Peugeot 1.2 puretech belt in oil unless it shows signs of deterioration. The reputation of these now ubiquitous engines suffered greatly a few years ago because their OEM DAYCO belts were of inferior quality and crumbled, causing much damage. I suspect they were also compromised by the use of inferior cheap oil - correct spec is vital for belts in oil, which is why I always change it myself.
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Preventive maintenance - Duncan
