Faults:

Timing belt tensioner needed replacing (under warranty) at 6000 miles.

There was a water leak inside the car, Ford dealer couldn't fix it, so I had to. Just a case of re-fitting the rubber seal around the door properly.

General Comments:

This car is definitely worth the good reviews it had in the motoring press. I paid £8500 for a five month old one from a local Ford dealer, saved £3000 on new.

Standard the car is supposed to run at 103bhp at the flywheel which is rubbish, most Zetec-S' push out 110bhp standard. Perhaps Ford kept the performance figures down to keep insurance ratings down???

My car has been modified with a Jetex panel filter and Janspeed catback system. A Superchip will be fitted after its first service. The car will beat a standard Saxo VTS with just the exhaust and filter. People seem to compare the Zetec-S with a Saxo VTR, in my eyes there's no contest, it handles better and is a lot quicker.

Interior wise the car looks good, seats are supportive, although it could do with lumber support and maybe an adjustable steering wheel???

All in all, I would recommend this car to anyone, and get one soon as production ceases at the end of 2001.

Faults:

The cassette player gave out at 15,000km. However, it was covered under the warranty.

General Comments:

A tremendous joy to drive. I am actually an American graduate student living in France, and since my previous car had been a 1997 Ford Taurus (re: big, heavy V6 22 m/gall), I stuck with the American mark over any French or German car. Although 1.25L is tiny compared to cars back home, I took that car all through Germany, Alsace, Lorraine, Switzerland (up the Alps), and Italy. Not a lot of "go" on the auto-routes, but certainly adequate. Since where I live is noted for car thefts, even a new Fiesta does not attract much attention.

My only serious complaint is that the city 9 litres per 100 km should be better. The performance of the first three gears can certainly smoke the Polo, Saxo, Peugeot 206, or the Bravo. However, to run the car at 4000 RPM at 120-130 km/hr is a little excessive. Fuel economy plummets if you are driving over 130 km/hr. That may sound like a lot, but driving in Germany and France is much quicker than England and the U.S.!

I just sold mine, and I have noticed that Fiestas tend to fall in value very quickly (but maybe that is because there is not as much demand for them in France). It had the reputation here as being a woman's car, but that was no problem.

Faults:

Nothing yet.

General Comments:

Nice little car all round, Great performance up to 3rd gear and has a smooth ride, I am really impressed so far with the handling and far outperforms my old Fiat.

Faults:

The temperature gauge temporarily went berserk, fluctuating between cold and normal very quickly whilst driving along. Seems to have cured itself and nothing showed up at the dealer diagnosis.

Short grinding sound a few seconds after moving away. Does anyone know what this is?

General Comments:

The car is a fantastic drive and the handling is excellent. Shorter gearing would have been nice, especially in 5th.

More power would be great, but that would mean more than group 8 insurance and put off a lot of its potential buyers. Maybe Ford should have put the Puma engine in it and had 2 models like the Saxo VTR/VTS.

For cosmetic reasons, I changed the standard gear knob for the little round alloy one from the Puma (£20 from dealers). It sounds mad, but the previously sticky gear change (especially when going from 2nd-3rd, and 4th-5th) has been transformed by the smaller (heavier?) gear knob.

If you leave your car on the road or even on your drive at night - have a proper alarm fitted. My wheels went after only having the car a month (the Ford locking nuts posing not the slightest problem to the thieves).

Apparently they are flavour of the month. Get a shock/tilt sensor fitted.

Anyone compared the Zetec S to the new upgraded (98bhp) Saxo VTR?

Congratulate yourselves on having a fairly rare car - The new grown up Fiesta arrives at the end of the year, so your Zetec S may seem common now, but with only a 2 year model run it is likely to be a rare sight within a couple of years.