2004 Ford Fiesta Ghia review from Belgium

Major rattle coming from below front left wheel arch at over 80 km/h.

Otherwise no further faults at just 3000 km.

Performance is zippy around town, which I suppose is what matters most for what is really a small city car. However, once past 90 km/h the small diesel (68 HP) has real trouble with the substantial weight of the car (around 1150 kg I believe). 4th and 5th are also very long geared, which adds to the problem. I will get to 140 km/h and stay there for highway cruising, but only with a lot of patience.

Handling is OK, though you shouldn't push it too hard into the corners or it will start squealing quite easily (however under steer is very predictable). On the whole, not too bad for a car without independent rear suspension. Stability is good at high speed for a small car (probably due to it actually being not that small and quite heavy). I should note that mine has 15 inch alloys.

As for the interior...

- The seats are pretty atrocious, the best thing you can say about them is that they are sufficiently hard. However, they are too short, badly adjustable, don't offer any side support or high back support and the headrests are merely there for decoration (or preventing whiplash), as you couldn't possibly rest your head against them.

- There is no space to put your foot next to the clutch, which is very tiresome on long travels.

- You can fold the standing part of the back seats 1/3-2/3, but this is pretty pointless as the part you sit on only folds up as a whole.

- More bad points go to the very hard plastic out of which everything is made. Surely car manufacturers can do better nowadays.

- Interior space is very roomy for this category of car, and very accessible if you have the 5d version.

- Finally, the airco is pretty good, with handy, big ventilation mounds.