Faults:

A rear wheel bearing seized when driving without warning.

Very heavy on fuel, and 2 different mechanics had no answer as to why (no leaky fuel lines, leaky fuel tank, dodgy brakes and exhaust was good: lambda 1.01 at idle and 1.05 at 3000 RPM, and the rest like any other car).

General Comments:

The thirstiest car I have ever owned, it took between 1,1 litres/10km to 1,4 litres/10km.

This car only had 2 previous owners (if I remember correctly) and was in absolute showroom condition and very low mileage.

Great side mirrors with a good view.

Pretty comfortable seats.

74 HP, so pretty nice acceleration, since it is a light car.

Faults:

What haven't gone wrong? :-) But it is an old car, so it is not so dramatic...

General Comments:

The Ford Fiesta XR2 is good car, for Serbian roads especially. It is hard and unbreakable... goes 160 kmph on LPG, what else do I need...

Faults:

For the MOT, all that was required was a small amount of welding to one of the chassis rails.

Front end of exhaust broke at manifold joint.

Sills need welding for next MOT.

General Comments:

For the price I paid for my 1988 Fiesta Van, I didn't expect too much from it. However, when I bought it, I drove it 180 miles home with no problems whatsoever.

The MOT was about to expire though, hence the small amount of work required as mentioned above.

I use the van every day for my work, and it has never let me down.

It is very economical on petrol, easy and cheap to service, and extremely reliable. It is also very solid for a van of its age and although not immaculate, is it very reasonable cosmetically.

I have owned several Fiestas in the past, including the 1988 Fiesta 1.1L van reviewed previously on this site. (I would still have this van today had it not been stolen and classed as an insurance write off... it took me 18 months to find this latest van to replace it).

In my experience, Fiestas are excellent little cars (my wife also has one,and it too is a cracking little car) and are only a problem if neglected or abused. Find a (reasonably) good one to start with, service it properly, deal with any bodywork issues promptly, and it will serve you well.

Faults:

The car needed a new exhaust when I got it and some welding, since then just tires and window mechanism, that's all, apart from the few odd patches of surface rust (must less than my old fiesta which was a year newer)

General Comments:

The car was pretty quick for a 1.1 and it went round the corners even quicker.

I replaced the standard ford Carb with a weber Carb and K&N air filter which did improve the performance.

The interior was typical 80s ford and pretty cramped in the back, but seats were comfortable.

The standard steering wheel was horrible so I replaced mine with one from an xr2 which was much better.

Faults:

The alternator went.

It needed new bushes for its M.O.T.

The clutch is just starting to go.

General Comments:

This car might be a bit dated now, but it's still a 1.6 and it's great fun to drive.

My car was cheap to buy, reliable and has never broken down. It's a bargain!

The insurance was rather high, but I thought it was worth it.

Faults:

Tonight when I was driving, it was raining really hard. My car died and I tried to start it. It would not even turn over, but the lights inside the car still turned on.

General Comments:

What could be wrong? The battery, the starter?