Ford Fiesta ST Online
What is Ford Direct and was my ST part of it? Here we will explain and help identify this.
Explanation; Ford Direct is the company's central stock of newish cars that have been returned from short leases – The most common reason is being used by Ford employees in levels of management i.e. company cars. They are then refurbished and offered online to main dealers. Other times press cars would be sold through this scheme also.
Here's how Ford showcased the Ford Direct scheme and what were the benefits and features.
Your Ford Direct car comes with complete peace of mind, including:
- 2 year unlimited mileage warranty
- 2 year Ford Assistance – roadside recovery
- 30 day exchange plan
- Comprehensively reconditioned to Ford standards
- Identified by a tamper proof hologram
- 3 Day Driveaway insurance
- National Mileage Register and HPI checked
2 year unlimited mileage warranty
Your Ford Direct car comes with a two-year comprehensive unlimited mileage warranty included in the price.
This means it's covered against failure due to manufacturing or material defects in most original specification components, and there are no limits on the number of claims you can make.
2 years Ford Assistance including Europe-wide cover
Ford Assistance covers most European destinations and is valid 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
All Ford Direct cars come with two-years' Ford Assistance which provides roadside assistance, assistance at home and vehicle recovery.
30 day exchange plan
If for any reason you wish to change your Ford Direct car, you may exchange it once within the first 30 days or 1,000 miles (whichever is sooner) as long as it is:
· Returned to the Dealer you bought it from
· The same vehicle that was sold to you (including tyres and options etc)
· In the same condition as sold
· Exchanged for another car of the same or higher price.
If you bought your car on finance, you'll need to settle the balance with the finance company when you make the exchange, and sign a new finance agreement.
Prepared to Ford's exacting standards
Before we offer your car for sale, we subject it to a rigorous examination.
We check inside, outside, under the bonnet and the underneath of every single Ford Direct vehicle – we even scrutinise the tool kit in the boot.
Once a vehicle has passed our initial examination, it goes through the Ford used car reconditioning process, where any prior noted imperfections are corrected.
Your car has a full service history, as recommended in the Ford Service Plan.
The Ford Direct hologram shows it's genuine
Once they've passed our rigorous tests and checks, all Ford Direct cars are issued with a tamperproof windscreen hologram.
So you can be confident that your car meets our strict standards and is backed by a comprehensive package of benefits.
3 Day Driveaway insurance
With Ford Insure 3 Day Driveaway insurance, you can be safely on your way.
The benefits of 3 Day Driveaway insurance are:
· 3 days complimentary Comprehensive cover
· Cover can be arranged from the moment you collect your car for added peace of mind
· More time to arrange new or change your existing insurance
Terms and conditions apply.
HPI and National Mileage Register checked
To ensure the mileage on your car is genuine, we check all Ford Direct vehicles on the National Mileage Register before we offer them for sale.
Your car will also have been given a comprehensive Hire Purchase Investigation (HPI) check to ensure there is no outstanding finance due.
And for extra reassurance, we check to ensure your car has never been written off and has not been reported to the police as lost or stolen.
The Ford Direct service centre would re-obtain the vehicles after the time period was over, give them the check overs they required, even service them if needed and then they were offered for sale. Any dealer could log on and see these vehicles that were available and offer them to potential buyers.
Here's how to identify if your ST was a Ford Direct car.
Windscreen hologram sticker
The windscreen sticker is located at the passenger side in the top corner, stuck on from the inside.
It is a tamper proof sticker with a hologram facing outwards but these would shrink and bubble with time so owners would remove them.
The exterior shows the hologram while the interior shows a logo and phone number.
'Ford Motor Company Ltd' number plates
Because Ford supplied the vehicle to the recipient, the number plates would show the company name at the bottom.
They all usually had the Euro logo to the side.
B-pillar sticker
Another visible sticker was on the B-pillar above the VIN sticker and door catch.
This was sometimes located below the VIN sticker, due to a breakdown assistance sticker located in the upper position.
The sticker was a rectangular white item with a barcode and the vehicles VIN displayed at the bottom while the words 'Please Do Not Remove' were located below this.
Now it's worth stopping here for a moment and re-capping on what we first said. There were two reasons an ST would go through the Ford Direct scheme, either employee car or press car.
With an employee car the first owner on the log book would show as The Ford Motor Company Ltd.
With a press car it would display the 'Ford Demonstration Centre' in Cambridge, as this is where the press cars were prepared and located, on the old Alconbury Airfield.
Service book stamps
There would be two relating stamps in the service book.
The first would be the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) - See about the PDI process here.
The second would be the service stamp by the Ford Direct Service Centre.
The first stamp is placed when the vehicle is inspected after delivery from the factory, and prepared for the road by having checks done and number plates added.
The stamp is from the internal Ford dealer at Dagenham, Essex. It reads;
The Ford Motor Co Ltd, Supplied by Autotech 4/750, Fiesta Drive, Dagenham, Essex, RM96SA, Tel: (0)20 8526 3259.
While other PDI stamps read;
Autotech, Dagenham, Essex, RM96SA.
The second stamp is when the vehicle is a year old and needs a service, or a year has lapsed and needs a service before sale.
The stamp reads;
Ford Direct 90087AA, Service Centre, 0845 841 1111.
V5c first owner
Being a company car, Ford would be the first owner of the vehicle. Therefore the registration certificate (V5c) would show this.
If the purpose was being a company car, the address would read Brentwood, Essex after the Ford name.
The press cars that were used for media and event purposes would show the Ford Demonstrator Centre, Alconbury on the V5c.
Certificate
As part of the Ford Direct process, when the vehicle is completed and ready to sell to the public, a certificate will be added to the vehicles documents.
This details the identity of the vehicle and that it has conformed to the Ford Direct standards.
So what does this mean for my ST?
Company cars and Press Cars were both available through the Ford Direct scheme. There were many Ford Direct dealers that you would've found ex-press cars for sale at.
Company cars being sold through the Ford Direct scheme would have all of the key factors above present; Windscreen sticker, B-pillar sticker, Marked number plates and the certificate.
Press used cars being sold through the Ford Direct scheme would show only some of the above, meaning that although the checks have been done prior to sale, there cannot be certain guarantee's due to the use it has had. Commonly you would only find the windscreen sticker from where the Ford Direct service centre has applied it after the checks, but not the B-pillar sticker.
The easiest way to tell if your car was a press car is to visit our Press Cars section.
