2003 Ford Fiesta LX review from UK and Ireland

The car handles wonderfully, a marked improvement on the 206 I drove, the zetec 1.25 while delivering mediocre grunt has a delicious note encouraging you to give it more stick.

On a negative note however the sound insulation is terrible, on the motorway at speed it feels like you are in a biscuit tin on spin cycle. The interior is incredibly cheap (Apparently Chris Bird is unhappy about it too and a facelift is due soon).

The other thing to note is do not buy an LX or Finesse fiesta new! These cars are leased out constantly to companies and can be picked up for nearly half what they retail for after less than 18 months. It is interesting that Ford seems to be acknowledging this with agressive offers which although tempting do not match the price the large car supermarkets can offer. My car was 5,300 GBP with 12k miles and metallic compared to an 8,200 RRP from Ford including metallic.

Thankfully though although these gripes can sour your enjoyment of the car the great drive which Ford seems so adept at providing is clearly in evidence and is just the ticket for enthusiastic youngsters like myself! :)