Second hand and similar to a Ford Fiesta

[crimsonlake]

I have basically only ever owned Ford Fiestas and I am now looking for another second hand car which is reliable and as close to a Ford Fiesta as I can get.
My current fiesta is an ecoBoost which I bought in haste following my car being written off after being rear ended by a drug driver. Since the purchase I have discovered there are issues with the ecoBoost having a 'wet belt' so I have decided to trade this in. My budget is under £10k. Tia

Mount Garage in Liverpool say 1299 for your engine, thats on their website.

GPTec1 - Thanks, I have considered Mount garage, but it is some distance from me and I would be stuck without a car for two days.
I asked for recommendations on fb locally and have been in contact with a garage who I can see from their fb pages have replaced them. They have quoted me £1,000 and have assured me they only use genuine parts so it looks like I may go with them and keep the car?

Fiesta fan here! I had a lovely reliable 20 year old Fiesta that eventually needed replacing and I spent ages researching and looking for another one. Like you, I read about issues with the Ecoboost engine and wet belts, so wanted to avoid that. I decided I'd go for the latest Fiesta I could, and choose one with a low mileage and full service history. I also opted for a full AA Inspection before purchasing.

Eventually I found my perfect car: a 2017 model with 16000 miles on the clock and one owner from new. I went to see it, did a test drive and booked the inspection. After a couple of minor issues were fixed (such as a missing logo on one of the wheels), I purchased the car. It has been perfect - and even has a personalised plate (not mine but an easily remembered one).

After purchase, I took my car for a full service (it had had a minor one at the garage) and to have everything checked over there too. The AA report was well worth getting by the way - 16 pages including photos - very detailed.

I found my car via AA Used Cars, which I found to be a very useful resource to use.

If you've recommendation and they are nearer, why not? We found a great little garage near us, very honest and seem to know what they are doing, size isn't everything!!

Worth asking if they have a car you can borrow..

I was in a very similar position to you in January. I had a 10 year old Fiesta with ecoboost that I loved. I decided to have the work done with my local Ford garage and it cost over 2K. At the time, it felt like the right thing to do as I thought it would give me some more years with the car and put off the hassle of choosing a new car.
However, 6months later the car developed a couple of intermittent faults (tyre pressure indicator and gear box) and I just lost confidence in the car and felt unsafe it. I’m in my late 50s and need to drive for my job but I have found my confidence as a driver in general has diminished.
I decided to trade in the car and buy an automatic and I now have a 2022 Skoda Fabia. It is very easy to drive and my confidence as a driver is much better.
It was disappointing that the trade in value of my Fiesta did not take the wet belt work into account!!!
I wish I had traded in my car before I had the work done.

Honda Jazz. Honda reliability, spacious, energy efficient, ULEZ compliant, no cam belt to change (they have a chain which lasts for 100k miles.) I'm on my second. My first I bought as a 5 year old car and ran her for 13 years with no issues. Great cars.

KentishJute - Such a dilemma isn't it and such a shame the replaced wet belt was not taken in to account when it came to trading it in.
If I trade in my car I will lose over £3k and I have only had it 9 months, £3k down the drain, so would have to find another few thousand to put towards a replacement.
As mentioned I have found a garage that will replace the wet belt for £1k and have assured me they use Ford's genuine parts. Although i can see from their fb pages they do them I am now starting to have a niggle of why so cheap?
I have toyed with the idea of leasing but that seems silly when you consider the interest charged. I could buy outright but getting near to retirement I am trying to build up my savings not wipe them out.

@crimsonlake £1000 isn't on the very cheap scale. Check if they replace water and oil pumps?
Is it "Replacement from £1000..."?

Labour costs will increase if your original belt has started to degrade, cleaning out the engine takes time.