2000 Ford Fiesta Zetec review from France

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

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.