1999 Ford Fiesta Zetec review from UK and Ireland

Clutch was changed after 2000 miles and gear lever was changed due to insanely aggravating rattling.

Front left tyre and wheel had to be changed because of unpleasant meeting with a kerb.

Quite a good car, looks pretty good, could do with there being less room between the wheel and the wheel arch.

I liked the fish face at first but now it just annoys me.

Interior is pleasant, nice colour coded seats, cool dial kit.

Gears are great. 5000k+ on the revs is fun. Too much roll on the car, I tried pushing it slightly through a corner but result was a collision with a kerb. The tail comes out a lot (when I drive) and it's fun but slightly annoying sometimes.

Not many styling/tuning products for it which is a shame because with a bit of tweaking here and there it could be a nice little 'hot' hatch.

Acceleration surprises some competitors at the lights although the traction is quite poor when you push it.

Top speed of 115mph is quite good but the handling really can't cope with doing 100mph+ round bends on motorways, on one occasion the tail slipped out a bit but I managed to bring it back, very very scary.

I get bored of things very easily so I'm buying a Toyota MR2 GT T-Bar in November. Should be fun (rear wheel drive - corners here I come - WOO HOO)

But if you're after a cheap 'luke warm' hatch then you could do a lot worse than this.