Faults:

Leather on the steering wheel wore away after 2 years.

Silver part of the gear knob fell off.

Air con packed up (wiring fault).

Exhaust snapped at the back box.

Front offside coil spring snapped.

General Comments:

I found the car to be very economic with its 1.4 TDCi engine returning approx 60 MPG.

Road fund license was cheap at £35 per annum, due to being in band B (120 G/KM)

I had the car for nearly two years, covering over 40,000 miles, but found the comfort spoilt due to no footrest to the left of the clutch pedal, causing me to gain a bad knee over a period of time.

The seats are not very comfortable with the driving position being very high.

Performance was very good for a 1.4, only revving at 2500RPM at 70MPH.

If you are after a very cheap to run car with Alloys, A/C and good performance, and can live with the leg room, then this could be ideal.

Faults:

Slight blow on exhaust.

That's it!

General Comments:

Seems to be a seriously reliable little car. Only had it for 4 months, but in that time no problems whatsoever with the exception of wear and tear.

It's only a 1300 8-valve petrol so it doesn't exactly set the road on fire when you floor the accelerator, but it's adequate enough for me. The car is reasonably nippy around town, but struggles to accelerate at speeds over 60mph, especially with more than one passenger. This isn't really a detrimental comment however - it will still be perfectly acceptable to most and the remuneration can be seen in the excellent fuel economy. It's reluctance to rev can frustrate a little, however.

The car's handling is excellent considering it is so diminutive. The car is glued to the road around corners and has magnificent front-end grip. The steering is light yet perfectly weighted with the right amount of feedback. Ride quality is also good, thought a bit firm around town.

It's quite a comfortable car even on long journeys, though there is a lot of wind and road noise at higher speeds. The Duratec engine can get coarse at about 4000 revs and never really sounds or feels smooth enough to be classed as refined.

Space-wise I can't really fault it that much. I am 6 feet and 1 inch tall and I can still fit in the back without any problems. Not the most spacious in the class, but certainly roomy for it's size. The boot is a little small, but the ergonomics are superb. Build quality is similarly impressive, especially if you've been driving a Fiat! One qualm - nowhere to rest your left foot whilst driving!

Insurance is very cheap for a 22-year old like me and this would make an excellent first car. More expensive to buy than equivalent Corsa, but who wants one of those?

Faults:

When starting the car, it sometimes cuts out.

Sometimes jumps out of reverse.

General Comments:

This car would be fine for your mom with the feeling that she's in something sporty, but don't be fooled by the zetec badge. It simply has a leather steering wheel, plastic silver gear knob and 15" alloys. It has masses of head room and I have seated 3 big built lads in the back, also good for the shopping?! The car itself feels solid and proved to be after I had a bad head on crash. I later found the car was awarded 5*'s in the crash test surveys! With ford making it a safe and strong car it hasn't compromised on the cars handling. As I'm in my teens I like a thrill, I have been on the limits of the car, sharp bends the back end does seem to kick out, but that's at speed of over 50mph, it really does hold the road. (by the way, the crash previously mentioned was the other drivers fault, not mine)

Only downside is performance. You really have to rev the car to really get anything out of the 75bhp engine and it really sounds thrashy! you need to use the whole rev range (up to 6250rpm rev limit) to get any kind of peformance out of the car as there is very little torque below 3000rpm.i think the figure state 0-60 in 13.2, but I've managed high 11's. Also I use to find the gear change is clunky and has a long shifted to 3rd making the gear change awkward if I was shifting fast. Being given the fiesta free for the year because of family reasons, I have not really appreciated the car resulting in given it a good test.

Overall this car is perfect for moms and great for Pretentious lads who go by what badge it's got on the back (zetec) but at the end of the day it's a fiesta, a well built, safe and simple family car, but doesn't really put a smile on your face for the younger generation.