You can rely on the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to pump out some statistics on a regular basis. I’m just not sure whether they are on the side of Bangernomics and appreciate the importance of the used car market. They seem genuinely surprised when it is doing well.
However, the used car market does seem to be down, by just 0.6%, year on year with more than two million transactions. There is inevitably a 30.7% growth in demand for hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure-electric cars, as a trifling 32,272 change hands. As ever, superminis are by far the most popular used buy, at 676,395, accounting for a third of sales and 6000 up on last year’s period. I won’t bore you with the most popular colour, but I will with the top-of-the-pops model: the perennial Ford Fiesta.
A total of 92,798 Fiestas found homes and it is easy to see why: they are great little buses. Obviously, I cannot resist travelling back in time to find a 2001 1.3 Flight with a full service history and just 35,000 miles. You might think it would be £20,000 or something based on recent trends but, no, it’s a very reasonable £365. Not the prettiest Fiesta, but not a fish face. Those are a few hundred quid and becoming ironic classics. Mind you, a 1997 Fiesta 1.25 LX with a ‘pensioner owner’ (their words) and another one of those full service histories is just £495.
Another point to bear in mind is the Fiesta remains a performance icon and an old-fashioned category D 2.0 ST from 2008 would, in the seller’s words, make an “ideal track project” and costs just £799.
Otherwise, it is a 2016 ST-Line Fiesta with 41,000 miles at £9500, which certainly looks the part. Or you can up your game to a 2018 1.5-litre Ecoboost ST-2 with 5000 miles for £19,400. Then again, a 2006 2.0 ST with 100,000 miles is just £1795.
Which brings us to the Fiesta van. Is there a prettier LCV, or light commercial vehicle? Really, it is a TCV; yes, a tiny one. I came across a 2004 1.4 TDCi example with almost 140,000 miles for just £1000 from a dealer. It has a full MOT, too. And room for your shopping. Alternatively, just over £5000 will get you a 2014 1.25 Zetec with 65,000 miles. That is yet another full-service-history three-door.
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Fiesta: poverty spec motoring for the masses
No-one, apart from the liars and cheats inside Ford's marketeering department, should be celebrating the Fiesta's sales success. On the contrary, the proliferation of these horrid little motorised shopping trolleys across Britain is a measure of our relative poverty. The Fiesta - and similarly-sized cars - are rarer than hen's teeth in most other countries in northern Europe and North America, and indeed across most of the developed world. They're cramped, uncomfortable, often slow, and lacking in genuine utility or flexibility. They're a symptom of the UK's low salaries, sky-high fuel prices, and driveways and garages designed for the Austin 7.
I hate to rain on your parade, Mr Ruppert, but there's really nothing to cheer about here. No, we're talking poverty spec motoring for the unquestioning, gullible masses. Where's the aspiration? Where's the joy? Where's the sense of style, the glint of sunlight on a swooping boot lid, the glorious rumble of a big V8? Nowhere to be seen, sadly, as far as the 676, 395 poor souls who fell under the supermini spell last year are concerned. They, and we, deserve better.
Rollocks wrote:
You're mad, or a tosser, I'm not quite sure which.