1997 Ford Fiesta Chicane review from UK and Ireland

Passenger electric window switch died after about 100ml of Sprite was inadvertently poured into it. Incredibly, the warranty company paid up.

Battery in November 2005.

No other attention needed apart from scheduled servicing.

Can't seriously fault the car.

Punchy, frugal, revvy, sweet, reliable 1.4 Zetec-SE engine is worth the purchase price on its own. Far superior to equivalent sized units from VW, Vauxhall, Renault or Peugeot/Citroen. A peach to use and surprisingly lively.

Slick, short throw gearbox is a delight.

Comfy sports seats, small chunky steering wheel and fabulous driving position.

Not much space in the back by modern supermini standards. Not as spacious as a Corsa (which I looked at seriously), but beats the pants off it to drive.

Plasticky interior, but actually very well built. No squeaks or rattles.

Fun to drive with fabulous handling and lots of steering feel. Grippy, chuckable and the tail is happy to play along in response to a lift of the throttle where the Corsa and Polo just understeer doggedly.

Cheap to maintain and own, and utterly dependable.

As small, cheapish cars go, very hard to fault.