5th Oct 2004, 05:40

I have now covered 6000 miles in this car.

I have a few faults now.

I have had to remove both front seats and stick foam under the front brackets to stop a very annoying squeak.

On long journeys I have found the door casing plastic to be very hard on the elbow.

The temperature gauge in the instrument panel does not react to the engine temperature, If you come to a standstill on the motorway, you can hear the cooling fan cut in, however the gauge remains the same, quite dangerous as the car gets older.

Maybe someone can shred some light on a slight rattle from the back of the car. Can be heard when starting the car and occasionally on bumpy roads.

My partner who drives the car from time to time has pointed out that the wing mirrors do not move in towards the car and down enough if you are 5'-4" or below in height.

Considering the weight of the car, I'm very impressed with the 1.4 engine, it performs very well, In fact the new fiesta is more suited to long distance now than a city car in my opinion, and the air con is excellent, best I have experienced to date. For all the cars faults I would still buy another Fiesta as I feel it is still the best buy on the market.

28th Feb 2005, 10:43

The rattle in the back could be the exhaust hangers, seat holdings, or the boot cover. I think they are ther main things. In any case, just check all the bolts are as tight as they should be and check if any have fell out. It wouldn't be surprising if somthing has come loose by the way you say you drive:)

27th Sep 2005, 08:16

After reading various comments on this site regarding this model fiesta. I have come to the conclusion I must have a Friday afternoon car as the things that have now gone wrong with this vehicle are endless. It has now covered 15000 miles and I do wonder every morning now if it will even start let alone reach 30000 miles.

25th Jun 2010, 03:44

My partner mainly uses the 03 1.4 petrol Zetec, but I do use it from time to time if we are out together. It handles well and air conditioning is good feature on such a small car.

The fuel consumption has averaged 42 mpg mixed driving since one year old, and has now covered 82K.

Lately it has developed a transmission whine at about 40 plus MPH that does not appear to be a wheel bearing.

7th Feb 2011, 06:47

I have one of the new shape Fiestas 1.6 TDCI. Lovely car, but as someone mentioned above, the cooling fan seems to be on all the time, especially after any sort of long trip and even when you first start the car in the morning from cold...