My much loved, and sadly missed 1st car... (Ford Fiesta Ghia (pre 1995))

Member Name: 137699

Product:	Ford Fiesta Ghia (pre 1995)
Date:	27/11/02 (505 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Still a nice looking car, Quick, Reliable

Disadvantages: Poor spec, Expensive to insure, Getting very old now...

I passed my test in 1989, and having driven an horrendous & underpowered 1.0L Metro for 6 months, I convinced my mum to part with some readies and buy a new car that both of us could drive. My mum was getting on a bit, so she wanted a small car, and we looked at metro, nova and fiesta - the latter won for her on the basis of it being easy to get into & out of, and had superior road vision from a better driving angle. It won it for me, as I was desperate not to have another dog of a metro, and I didn't like the boxiness of the Nova.

So we purchased a silver F-reg mk2 Fiesta 1.4 Ghia. It was brand new, and cost just shy of £7000. Soon after we got it, my mum gave up driving, and I inherited an almost new car, and at the age of 18, that was fantastic. I got cheap insurance as a 2nd driver on my mum's policy!

One thing that I soon learnt about this car, was that it was quick. It had a published 0-60 time of around 10 sec, and it was apparent that it could compete with most cars away from the lights! Only at higher motorway speeds did it struggle a little to accelerate.

Handling was OK, and was on a par with today's budget superminis, but it was no sports car, and needed to be treated carefully on corners in the wet!

Equipment was perhaps a little lacking, and the mk3 which was launched just after we bought ours was much more well equipped. The main "luxuries" which you got on ours were, nicer wheel trims, nicer upholstery, a sunroof, internally operated door mirrors (not electric), a rear wash/wipe, a radio/cassette, and a rev counter. Most of this stuff is common place on even the most basic models these days!

It was however comfortable enough on journeys. When I was at university, it did plenty of trips between Essex & Sheffield, and there was a surprisingly large amount of legroom in the front.

It was also a very reliable car - in the four years & 40,000 miles I owned it, I did not have to s
pend very much on it whatsover - tyres, brake pads, battery, exhaust backbox & usual servicing costs.

I was very sad to see it go, when I traded it in for my next car (Ford Orion Ghia), and I was to regret this deal, as the Orion caused me all kinds of grief, as you can read in another opinion!

Still, I was so attached to the fiesta, that a few years later, I purchased another one for my girlfriend. That was a C-reg 1.3 ghia model, which had done 150,000 miles. We had that car for 18 months, and barely spent a penny on it! Despite its age, it had almost no rust, and had the same comforts as the f-reg one! Actually moreso, as it also had a trip timer, and a cassette box! I also briefly owned an F-reg 1.4S model, for two months whilst I was "between cars!".

Sadly the mk2's are a bit old now, and most are showing their age. If you are buying a 1st car after passing your test, I'd very highly recommend the fiesta, but would probably point you towards the mk3 ones - they are equally cheap to buy & look after, but have a better spec, and are a bit newer.

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