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freedomseekers's avatar
freedomseekers
Explorer
Mar 01, 2020

2013 Ford Fiesta dingy

I am looking at a Ford Fiesta 2013 manual transmission to purchase for my son. The previous owner used it a dingy. The car is set up to be towed and to also tow something as it has it's own tow hitch and the hardware is still there from being towed. I wasn't to concerned about it being a previous tow vehicle until I saw the scrapes underneath the front bumper which I'm sure will happen in a small car. Because this will be the first car my son will finance I decided to do more research about it.

In our full time RV days we towed a 2008 Jeep Cherokee with no issues. And most of the time I would drive it to our destination because I just loved driving it. LOL. So, it really never saw much tow time.

But based on the Carfax it looks like this vehicle has done a cross country trip. 1 owner but showed up in California, PA and Florida and currently in NC. It has most likely seen quite a bit of tow time. I was not aware until I started reading that even if a manual transmission is in neutral there are still issues of lubrication when being towed.

Right now the car shifts nice and I see no issues other than typical dingy things such as chipped paint on the hood and scrapes to the underside of the front bumper.

I've also read no matter what the manual says I should call Ford to find out what the recommendation was about towing the vehicle.

Any thoughts or words of wisdom?
  • carringb's avatar
    carringb
    Explorer
    Mar 02, 2020
    The Fiesta is fine to flat-tow. The manual transmission requires nothing more than placing it in Neutral. They are great cars, and tow very well. I put a hitch on mine as well, and towed up to 2,000 pounds, but I had the turbo version. I'd keep the non-turbo to trailers under 1,000 pounds unless it's completely flat terrain.

    BTW - the scrapes under the front bumper are probably from pulling up to taller-than-typical curbs. I doubt it has anything to do with being towed unless they started with a dolly prior to setting it up for flat-towing.

    As far as reliability, the only problem area on the manual models, is the factory rear shocks are not very long lasting. Lots of aftermarket options that will last better. And Sync on the earlier models has some quirks, worse with some phones than others.
  • Y-Guy's avatar
    Y-Guy
    Moderator
    Mar 02, 2020
    Years ago I bought a dingy as my first car, back then the mileage was racked up towing or not towing so my mechanic didn't know how many were true miles. He checked things out very well before I bought it but it's a bit of a gamble. The car had 28,000 miles on it but based on some issues I had that were known on that vehicle we figured it had been towed about 12,000 miles.

    The key is to have the car checked out by a mechanic.
  • Campinghoss's avatar
    Campinghoss
    Explorer II
    Mar 02, 2020
    I purchased a new 2016 Fiesta to pull behind our motorhome. I went with the manual five speed as it was simpler to tow vs the automatic. We sold the motorhome in 2018 and went back to a fiver. I kept the Fiesta for my third car as I only use the F-350 for towing. I would not be concerned with the transmission since it was a manual.
  • F1bNorm's avatar
    F1bNorm
    Explorer
    Mar 01, 2020
    The factory manual is online. See: http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/13fstom2e.pdf

    Norm
  • freedomseekers's avatar
    freedomseekers
    Explorer
    Mar 01, 2020
    gbopp, that is correct.

    The car was set up to be a dingy (the hardware is still there) and also has a tow hitch.

    Thanks for your reply. I will contact Ford to ask the what towing requirements were for this car.


    Thank you!
  • gbopp's avatar
    gbopp
    Explorer
    Mar 01, 2020
    I can't comment on the transmission.

    The car was set up as a dinghy and a tow vehicle? Possibly the original owner used a dolly to pull the car and had a tow hitch installed to move the dolly around the campground, etc..
    Driving onto a dolly could be the reason for the scrapes under the front bumper.

    Then the car was equipped for towing 4 down.
    You still need to contact Ford about the towing recommendations but,
    it may not have as many 4 down miles as you think.
  • Lwiddis's avatar
    Lwiddis
    Explorer II
    Mar 01, 2020
    “I've also read no matter what the manual says I should call Ford to find out what the recommendation was about towing the vehicle.“

    No need to call Ford. Does the manual say yes or no?

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