2000 Ford Fiesta Zetec S from UK and Ireland - Comments

No faults at all.

When we were looking for something to replace our tired (but great) 106 XSi, it never even occurred to us to check out the Zetec-S. There we were wandering around our Ford dealer when this shiny Colorado Red example just leapt out. To be honest, the looks alone half sold us, but the test drive finished the job.

This car is a total joy to drive, and will delight anyone who is remotely enthusiastic about driving. I didn't think I'd find anything that handled as well as the 106, but the Zetec-S does. On pure steering feel and response (and ONLY that I mean), it is scarily close to my friend's Lotus Elise, and proves that power steering done properly is perfectly OK! The result is a car with almost telepathic responses on a twisty road, and which handles with confidence, control and total ease. Ride is a bit harsh, but the trade off is fantastic body control at speed.

The engine is a bit under-endowed, but is sweet, economical and eager. It has lovely clout and an enthusiastic growl between 3,500 and 5,500 RPM, and makes the Fiesta feel quite lively in most "real road" situations. Also, the 5 speed box has a short throw, with a lovely slick, mechanical feel to it. Only when accelerating hard on an open, straight road does its lack of outright BHP show through. The flip side of this however, is a rock solid 35 MPG and insurance group 8E! Bit of a bargain really!

The Fiesta was the base for the Puma which has been often touted as having one of the finest front wheel drive chassis' around, so it's no surprise the car is good. The Zetec-S takes these qualities and combines them with insurability, low running costs and almost Germanic build quality. Sure it won't ripple the tarmac, but it's useable, balanced and every control oozes feel and feedback allowing you to drive it hard and fast in complete safety. Last but not least it looks rock hard. Nice one, Ford!

I'm glad yet another person appreciates the Zetec-s, it annoys me that most critics dismiss this car as underpowered with dated looks.

Far better looking than a clio, corsa and saxo with superior handling.

I have recently sold on a 1992 J reg Fiesta. Yes it did have rust patches, but these were cosmetic and very minor... a credit to the previous owner. If you don't look after a car then you will have problems.

I now drive a mark 4 Fiesta which I've made a couple of mods to and so I've always got my eye on other peoples Fiesta's to see how the compare :) I can honestly say that I have never seen a mark four Fiesta with rust. P reg cars are now 5 years old... I have seen rust on similar age mark 3 fiestas, but not on a mark 4.

If you own a car and want it to last then you do have to look at it, but let's face it, most people aren't interested in owning a car for more than 3 years or so these days... OK Ford may not match the German brands for quality, but they aren't as expensive either, they still beat Renaults and Fiats etc hands down!

Swings and roundabouts. A Polo may be better built (can't say it felt it particularly, but I bow to common wisdom), but in GTI form feels leaden and unexciting to drive. The Fiesta will not rust in the two years or so I will own it, and if it does, that's what the corrosion warranty is for. My friend owns an N registration Si model which is still immaculate, so I'm quietly optimistic.

In the meantime, I'll keep driving around in a car which is ten times as much fun as the equivalent VW, as well as being perfectly well screwed together in its own right. As for the possibility of rust in 6 years, quite frankly, even if I did believe it, I couldn't care less. I intend to be well shot of it by then.

VW, Audi and BMW, extremely expensive cars all with the same germanic styling, and I think you'll find the fiesta has changed somewhat since 1989, and seeing as the MK5 has only been around for nearly 4 years you know nothing to predict it'll be covered in rust after 5 years, you've proved your uneducated ignorance by your comments.

Check out the 1997-onwards Polo reports on this site if you think VW's are always well built. Some good reports, but plenty of bad ones too, with reliability and quality issues all over the place. Dealers no better than Ford by the look of it either.

You can be lucky and have a car with no problems or get that unfortunate "friday car" if the production line and get nothing but problems, it's absolutely ridiculous to say that all fiestas will fall apart and rust and all vw and bmw's are super reliable and super built to last forever, that's utter c**p.

I agree with the fact that Fiesta cars are badly built. My vehicle a 1.25 N Reg Mark 4 Fiesta has just failed its MOT. This was due to the fact that there was a hole under the passenger seat! The tester actually showed me this. As a result my car now needs £120 worth of welding. The factory build quality needs to be improved.

Lets get one thing right, the UK model Fiesta's 1995-1999 MK4 and the 1999-2002 MK5 are all based on the MK3 1989-1995 platform. The body panels have had revisions and an extra panel has been attached under the floor near the middle exhaust sections, but that's it!!

The suspension, engine choices differ, but the platform dates back to a 1989 design. So it is quite clear the build quality will not be up to modern standards due to the age of the design.

The comments from the 3rd of jan.

Your opinion is that this guys Fiesta is gonna rot and is poor because it has an old build design. This then surely must also apply to the Ford Puma, which strangley doesn't have many critics saying what a load of old crap it is and that it's going to fall apart.

I own a Ford Fiesta MK4 1.4 SI 1997 on a R reg and I have rust on the rear wheel arch. I have owned it since new and its only covered 20k. Ford say the 6 year anti corrosion warranty is not valid as it has not undergone yearly inspections at a Ford dealership.

Ford build poor cars and then refuse to do anything when they fall apart.

I agree with the bad build quality. As someone has already stated The sheet metal used to construct the vehicles needs to be galvanised and better protected. Even Fiat do this and there cars in general are cheaper than Fords and they use wax on the underbody as well.

With Ford its all about how cheap they can make cars they are corner cutting short term cowboy's.

Funny - my mate is currently trying to take Fiat to court for rust on his 3 year old Punto.

An update on the original review:

Car has now covered 22,000 miles and been has been utterly reliable apart from a slight knock from the front end over harsh bumps.

20,000 mile service plus a requested brake / clutch fluid change carried out by my local dealer (Dagenham Motors, Uxbridge) for £180 all in, including changing a rear wiper blade. Dealer courteous, efficient and very thorough. Diagnosed a problem with one of the anti-roll bar links as the cause of the knock and this was replaced. The £79 bill for the link was picked up by the dealer warranty without any hassle or argument. Car was finished 2 hours earlier than originally quoted and feels superb. No more suspension noise, and the little Zetec SE lump, now running on a fresh sumpful of oil, sounds and feels sweeter than ever.

My original opinion on this car hasn't changed. It's still a storming little warm hatch, and so far has proven to be a hassle free and relatively cheap car to run. After 22,000 hard driven miles, it's all holding together beautifully, and there's nothing to suggest it won't stay that way for the forseeable future.

I've owned a Zetec S from new, and while they are great to drive the long term durability is questionable, but in all fairness I gave up on it and bought a new car.

Any rust on a 3 year old Punto will mean the car has had an accident and it has suffered a bad repair. When was the last time you noticed a Punto with a rusted wheel arch? I never have.

I own a 1994 model which has no rust. How much rust would you spot on a 1994 Fiesta?