2001 Ford Fiesta Zetec-S review from UK and Ireland

The tailgate, when open hit the roof on the near side removing the paint off the roof, this was due to poor alignment of the tailgate.

There were various bits of dirt in the paint and blemishes in the paint on the scuttle panel.

Both doors were out of line resulting in poor alingment and finish of the product.

There was a rattle from the upper tailgate which tends to be very annoying.

The drivers seat lining started to tear where the leaver is to incline the seat to enter the rear seating area.

There was a lack of paint on both mirrors and the primer was still visible.

The off side front wheel had a chip out of it and had been painted over at the factory to try and cover the fault.

Most of these faults have been rectified by the dealers after having 3 attempts at most of the paint work.

The car is a very nippy and exciting car to drive due to its handling qualities and the exceptional steering equipment.

The car handling has been set to a tee, I have not driven another car that handles like this one, well done Ford.

The car should have been built better from the production stage so me, the customer doesn't have to suffer with the poor quality.

The car is nearly £12,000, and I expect it to be built a lot better than I had received, the faults were highlighted by myself, not by the dealer, I think this is a very poor service whereby the professionals can't spot the faults before the customer receives the car.

I have found that the gearbox has a whine to it, when in neutral it is amplified.

The car has excellent MPG, I average 40MPG on the motorway each day, this is excellent for a petrol car.

The engine is quite responsive, it comes on song after 3,500 rpm, it is very lively around the town. On a open road the slight lack of performance is noticiable, it could do with a bit more power.

The gear change is very nice and the engine eats the gears you quickly, resulting in the car accelerating very well up to 100mph.

Overall Ford can pat theirselves on the back, the car is lively and the handling matches the performance well.

I was very disappointed with the after sales, my car went in to have the mirrors painted and it came out with the bumper having a deep scratch in it, this was done at the dealers. I was pleased that they re-painted the bumper, this had to be done again due to the poor finish, which meant that I had to travel an extra 40 miles round trip to another dealer. The car returned to me with a very neat and professional job.

I had replaced the standard stereo equipment with my own, when my car was in the dealers for some work mentioned above, all my stereo equipment was stolen except the head unit, Ford accepted responsibility, but it has been going on now for over 3 months and all they have offered me is £400 for equipment that was over £2,800. I find this unacceptable, I have had to provide receipts for all my equipment, this was difficult due to me buying my equipment over a 3 year period. I have produced all the receipts except one, I am still dealing with the MD of Brooklyn Ford over this insurance claim.

Oh well, maybe I am just a little unlucky with this car, I think it might have been built on April fools day.

Generally the car is a gem, I am more pleased with it now the work has been done on it