1992 Ford Fiesta Flight review from UK and Ireland

In the first month I had the car, the driveshaft needed changing and it developed a serious oil leak caused by blocked breather hoses. Both were fixed by the dealer (a Citroen dealer, not Ford) free of charge. Since then, the only things that have gone wrong are what you would expect from a car of its age:

- Thermostat jammed shut, causing overheating

- Alternator belt needed changing

- Battery died

- Entire exhaust system needed changing (caused by previous owner using it for town driving - many cold starts, which corroded it)

- HT leads needed changing

There are a number of small niggles that aren't worth fixing:

- Blower doesn't work on slowest speed

- Temperamental rear wiper and remote boot release switch

- Splutters and stalls on startup in cold weather, but is fine once it's running

- Occasionally misfires on acceleration after long journeys

- Rev counter registers much higher than it should when the battery is on load (eg. with lights and rear demister on)

- Central locking sometimes goes haywire

A really nice little car with extras that you wouldn't expect in a Fiesta, like central locking and electric windows. The above may seem like a catalogue of faults, but most are minor niggles that you would expect to happen with an eight year old car. Fuel economy has improved from less than 30mpg when I first bought it, to 44mpg now, following nice long runs (a 50-mile commute to work every day) and decent high-quality oil. Accelerates smartly, and cruises quite happily at motorway speeds.