1993 Ford Fiesta LX review from UK and Ireland

The rear brake pads have worn out quickly, and I believe the front disks are doing the same. Perhaps I am too hard on them, but I never had this problem in my Renault 5.

The handbrake cable recently perished to one wheel, still holding the other, MUST get this sorted soon! Didn't notice until I had the car up on the jack looking at the brakes and I tried to put the handbrake on when it was already on!

I consider it a problem that the fiesta uses a lot of oil. I have to put a couple of liters in every month or so, I'm sure its not burning oil, and I can find no leaks - where's it all going?

Idle problem. I've read about this on some other reviews. It only started quite recently, the revs will sometimes rise to 2-3000 rpm, and then fluctuate all over the place! This is quite embarrassing whilst sitting alongside traffic. It will accelerate itself, which I consider dangerous. However, some days it will be fine, and some days the opposite will be true, I will have to rev the engine to keep it going! The weather doesn't seem to affect it.

Despite the fairly lengthy complaints above, the fiesta isn't bad. Its quiet (inside!), comfortable and generally reliable. However, I am still young (19), and to me, this car has no character, it goes and stops (most of the time), but it completely dull to drive. It's also very, very slow. I know it's only a 1.1 but I have driven other cars with similar outputs and they seem much quicker. My old Renault 5 1.2 definitely had more pull, and at the time I thought that was bad! When you eventually get up to speed, you have to hang on round corners, the steering is vague, and the ride harsh. I hate having to rev the engine as it sounds like its in pain at anything above 2500rpm. Typical push-rod rattles I suppose. It just likes to go in a straight line. Slowly. I really have to accelerate hard when joining a fast road, for fear of the lorries behind crushing me! And overtaking is almost impossible. Saying that, it goes quite fast downhill, and I have reached 104mph, which must be some kind of record, surely!

I am getting an average 46MPG from a mixture of town, motorway driving. It doesn't change much though, on a recent steady run into Scotland it only rose to 49MPG, which I think is poor, considering I was being very gentle with it for once. Again, the Renault was better in this respect.

I have mentioned its drinking problem - it has a huge thirst for oil! This could just be a trait of the engine, I'm not sure.

The idle control problem is annoying. Does anyone have any ideas for a quick fix? Also, does anyone know how much it might be to fix it?

Overall, this car is OK. I bought it quite cheaply from a friend, and it is is good condition for the age. However, it's just too slow and ordinary for me. I really need a car that goes and looks better than this. I like the look of 106 Quicksilvers! For looks, performance, and costs (insurance/fuel), they seem to have a lot going for them.

I'll have this car for a few months yet, and I'll update these comments if anything important happens!

Hello to all slow Fiesta owners out there!

Matt.