Ford Advice

Some models — and intending buyers — are victims of their own success. Can you wait two years?

Convertibles have a short shelf-life, pick your summer outfit from these drop-tops.

Japanese makes have to close the books on their financial year — get in for these deals before the end of the month.March is the second-biggest month of the year for new-car sales — as Japanese brands have one last sales push to close off their books for the end of the Japanese financial year.Almost every other brand in the Top 10 must also have a crack if they don't want to be left behind, which is why Holden and Hyundai and others are out there with sharp deals to lure buyers away from Japanese showrooms.A lot of the deals will seem similar to the January offers, as dealers are still trying to clear 2015-built stock. But prices and/or other bonuses have been sharpened even further on a few models.Here are the best deals as we see them.Small carsAmong the tiny tots, the Suzuki Celerio is still the cheapest in the business at $12,990 drive-away with automatic transmission, while the Mitsubishi Mirage is also sharp buying for $1000 more, at $13,990 drive-away with auto, including a standard five-year factory warranty.Need the next size up? The Suzuki Swift hatchback is still at an incredibly low $15,990 drive-away with auto. That's about $4000 off retail and $2000 less than the sharply discounted Toyota Yaris, which continues at an appealing $17,990 drive-away with auto ($3000 off RRP).With the popular Hyundai i20 all but sold out, Hyundai has now taken the knife to the Accent to help drive sales. It is $15,990 drive-away with auto (this offer isn't clear on the website, but that's the deal if you ask before the end of the month, a saving of $4500).Need something a little roomier? As anticipated, Hyundai is back with a super sharp price on the i30 hatch at $19,990 drive-away including automatic transmission, rear-view camera and five-year warranty. It's unbeatable at this price.Deals are usually rare on top-sellers. But Toyota has shifted its discount from the dearer Corolla Ascent Sport to the regular Ascent, which is $21,990 drive-away with CVT auto this month. That's $2000 less than the previous Corolla offer.SUVsOur eyes popped when we saw this deal. The updated Holden Captiva5 (with the new look and Apple CarPlay) is an astonishingly low $25,990 drive-away. The seven-seater Captiva7 is $29,990 drive-away. The Captiva may be overdue for replacement but this is the most metal for the money in the class.Need something smaller? The city-sized Holden Trax SUV is $23,990 drive-away with auto and free servicing until 2020. At that price, who cares what it looks like?The Mitsubishi ASX remains at $25,000 drive-away with auto, rear camera and five-year factory warranty. No wonder it's one of Mitsubishi's top sellers. This is $5000 off the original RRP but it's been this price for so long it's worth pointing out it's still $3000 less than its direct rivals.UtesNeed a cheap work ute? The Isuzu D-Max with dropside tray is still the sharpest tradies' diesel at $25,990 drive-away.Pay $1000 more ($26,990 drive-away) if you want a Mazda BT-50 diesel with a dropside tray or pay $2000 more ($27,990 drive-away) if you want the new Toyota HiLux with black wheels and a smaller tray but that bulletproof Toyota badge.Need a new four-door 4WD ute but don't want to wait three months for a top-of-the-range Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux? Get the Toyota HiLux Workmate dual-cab 4WD at $43,990 drive-away. Dead set bargain. And with the money you save, you can afford to replace the ugly black wheels.Don't mind the gangly looks of the new Mitsubishi Triton? That $36,990 drive-away deal on the GLX four-door 4WD just got better for March. It includes free auto (as well as the camera and alloys), which is about $5000 off full freight. Decent.Honourable mentionIt's not a small car, an SUV or a ute (our biggest categories) but if you want a sedan, Toyota is trying to clear the 5300 Camrys it declared as sold in December 2015: it is still $27,990 drive-away, with zero interest. Red hot price on a solid car.

The end of financial year might be the best time to nab a deal on any new car, but the deals on a spanking-new ute can be absolutely stratospheric.

Purchase price is only half the battle in ownership — these are the champions come trade-in time. Buying the right new car can save you thousands of dollars. With depreciation tearing the largest chunk out of any motoring budget, easily beating the costs of fuel or servicing or insurance, it pays to go with a

Ford should be commended for its recently announced free loan car program for service customers. We're hoping other brands follow suit. But several readers have contacted us to point out in some cases the cars are handed over with barely a quarter of a tank of petrol.Customers are only expected to return them with the same amount of fuel but in many cases it means added inconvenience because the first stop after picking up your free loan car is to a petrol station.Why, as many readers have pointed out, don't Ford dealers simply do what rental car companies do: send the cars out full of fuel and ask customers to return them full? At least then customers can refuel at a more convenient time rather than having a panic attack that they might not make it to work. Some dealers tell us they don't expect the car to be topped up if driven only a short distance.Next time you pick up a loan car...be sure to read the fine print.And there is another sting in the tail, which applies to many service centre loan cars, not just Ford: insurance excess.Prang your free Ford loan car and you're up for a $2000 insurance excess (the going rate for private cars is typically between $500 and $800).Next time you pick up a loan car — regardless of which brand's service centre you're using — be sure to read the fine print.

Here's a list of things you might not know about Mark Webber...1. How old is Mark Webber?42. He turns 43 on August 27, which also makes him a Virgo.2. How tall is Mark Webber?184cm or 6 feet on the old scale. This height is relatively tall for a racing driver which presented a challenge for Mark in being able to find a comfortable seating position in single-seaters. From Formula Ford to Formula One, the long-limb Aussie was always marginal on cockpit comfort, which makes his achievements even more impressive.3. Where is Mark Webber from?A small NSW regional town called Queanbeyan, with a population of less than 40,000. It’s located on the banks of the Queanbeyan River. In fact, this name evolved from the Aboriginal word ‘quinbean’ meaning ‘clear waters’.4. Where does Mark Webber live?A small village called Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, UK with a population of less than 4000. Must be something special about growing up in a small town which stays with you. He also owns a home at Noosa in Queensland.5. How many Formula One races did Mark Webber win?A total of nine Grand Prix wins from 215 starts, in an F1 career which started in 2002 and ended in 2013. He also scored 42 podium finishes, 13 pole positions and 19 fastest race laps.6. What was Mark Webber’s best result in a Formula One championship?Third and he did it three times in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Beyond F1 he also drove for Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship, which he jointly won in 2015 with Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley.7. Which teams did Mark Webber drive for in Formula One?Minardi (owned at the time by fellow Aussie Paul Stoddart), Jaguar, Williams and Red Bull as team-mate to Sebastian Vettel.8. What are the most memorable moments from Mark Webber’s Formula One career?His Formula One debut in 2002 which occurred at his home event - the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Minardi was a struggling back-marker team but Webber showed ‘Aussie grit’ by finishing in a fighting fifth place, after starting 18th out of 22 cars and nursing a broken differential. At that time, he became only the fourth Aussie driver to have scored F1 world championship points. He was also twice winner of the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix.9. What were the biggest crashes of Mark Webber’s career?These all occurred in sports car racing. At Le Mans in 1999 he was driving for the Mercedes-AMG team. During practice for the famous 24-hour race, his car suddenly became airborne on Mulsanne Straight at more than 300km/h and did a somersault in mid-air before crashing heavily. A new car was prepared for the race but Webber suffered the same terrifying high-speed flip during the pre-race warm-up. Another car driven by team-mate Peter Dumbreck suffered the same fate a few hours into the race, which forced Mercedes-Benz to cancel its sports car program.Fortunately, Webber (and Dumbreck) escaped uninjured from these fearful accidents which were blamed on an aerodynamic imbalance in the German cars.Webber survived another huge crash driving for Porsche in the 2014 World Endurance Championship. This high-speed accident, which occurred when Webber was passing a slower Ferrari, resulted in his Porsche literally breaking in two. Amazingly, he also avoided serious injury.10. What is Mark Webber’s net worth?Forbes ranks his estimated net worth at around $10 million.11. Who are Mark Webber’s parents?Alan and Diane Webber. Alan owned a Yamaha motorcycle dealership in Queanbeyan when Mark was growing up which is why he spent a lot of his early years riding dirt bikes.12. Who is Mark Webber’s wife?British-born Ann Neal. She emigrated to Australia in the early 1990s where she met Mark in 1994.13. What is the age difference between Ann and Mark?Ann is 13 years older which caused some friction early in their relationship, particularly with Mark’s mum Diane who initially did not approve of her son having a much older woman as his partner.14: Does Mark Webber have any children?Ann Neal has a son from a former relationship named Luke Barrett. There was a story doing the rounds a few years ago which claimed that Mark and his wife Ann were celebrating the arrival of a daughter, which he chose to name ‘GT3’. The story was published on April 1…15: Who is Mark Webber’s manager?For much of his racing career Mark’s future wife Ann Neal was also his manager, but for professional and commercial reasons they chose to keep their personal relationship secret during that time.16: Has Mark Webber been in any movies?None that we’re aware of. And hopefully he’s not in any that he’s not aware of either.17: Has Mark Webber written any books?In 2015 he released his autobiography titled Aussie Grit, which tells the compelling story of his journey from Queanbeyan to the high-speed world of Formula One racing.18. Is Mark Webber on social media?Yes. He has his own website plus Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Well, you’ll be pleased to know that the latest Ford Focus has a timing chain. Why would you be pleased? You’re about to find out… read on.

When the Ford Territory was introduced in 2004 it allowed Ford to extract the most from the Falcon platform while riding the growing SUV wave.

Truly Australian car brands – as in brands that mass manufactured cars locally, regardless of the origin of their overseas parent companies, became a thing of the past in 2017.