Feisty Fiesta (Ford Fiesta (pre-1995))

Member Name: Flibble

Product:	Ford Fiesta (pre-1995)
Date:	13/11/01 (683 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun to drive, plenty of power, It's 100 times better than my old Panda!

Disadvantages: None so far

Those of you who have read my previous drivel might remember that I used to own a little Fiat Panda. Now, I loved that little Panda, it was small, a bit nippy and had bags of character. Unfortunately however I had caned it for mileage in the one year that I owned it – being used every day on very long journeys had certainly taken it’s toll on the little thing. Every month something would need replacing and it became more and more annoying – the end was finally reached when it just wouldn’t start at all – I’d had enough and more importantly so had my other half (as I had to borrow her car to get to work every day)

So the hunt was on for a new motor – but what? We were on a tight budget; the problem being though that if you buy a motor on the cheap, what’s to say you won’t encounter more problems further down the road?

I had a vague idea about the type of car I was after – something small, cheap to insure and frugal on the fuel. After a Sunday of driving round various local garages I had just about given up hope – consigned to another week of trawling through the papers. Only one garage left on the list, we decided we might as well take a look.

I went to a local Vauxhall Network Q garage – predominantly dealing in new or nearly new Vauxhall cars, they also sold cars by other manufacturers that they had thoroughly checked over themselves – it was there that I saw my soon-to-be new motor.

A silver, 5 door ‘M’ reg Ford Fiesta 1.8 Diesel had just arrived the day before – the car had only done 34,000 miles (which for a diesel engine is hardly anything). The car looked very tidy both inside and out, so we took it for a spin. The first thing we all noticed (there were three of us on the day – the father in law knows EVERYTHING about Ford diesel engines, which was very handy) was the surprising amount of room inside the car. All
of us are quite tall, but even with the drivers and passengers seat quite far back there was still ample room in the back for the extra occupant.

So, off we set – starting the car up it did sound a bit like a taxi firing up – but all Diesels are decidedly noisy when first started. Once it gets going it soon quietens down and sounds just like any other car on the road We set off through the town centre and then onto a slightly faster main road. Around town it certainly glided in and out amongst the traffic and weaved its way around parked cars – this is the ‘L’ model, so no power steering I’m afraid, but the turning circle isn’t bad at all – very easy to manoeuvre I found.

Once we left the town centre we hit the main road out of town itself – The 1.8 engine certainly delivers the power you’d expect it to, with quite nippy acceleration we soon picked up speed and I found the 5 speed manual gearbox to be quite precise in gear changes (a big improvement over my Panda for sure) and it easily racked up 70mph in no time at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no boy-racer, but it’s reassuring to know that the power is there when you need it.


So, performance wises, no problems at all – but what about the interior of the car? One of my biggest problems with the Panda was it’s Spartan interior. Seats were uncomfortable and the whole thing just felt ‘cold’ when inside – not much fun on a grey dull morning!

Inside the Fiesta however things are much nicer. The seats give great support and are very comfortable when driving over long distances – I recently took a trip through to Edinburgh and it felt like being sat in the sofa at home – great stuff! The material itself is grey fabric, no garish colours here and it matches the silver bodywork wonderfully. The layout of the cabin (whilst nothing overly spectacular) is as
good as you would hope for. There’s no rev counter unfortunately, but the instrument panels are clear and easy to read.

This Fiesta also came with a pretty decent Ford-made stereo – it comes with RDS and a 6-station memory. Whilst it was more than capable, I took a Wharefdale CD player (which I’ve also written an opinion on) and it was very easy to fit. Sound is channelled through the four-way speaker system that was fitted by Ford too – they are surprisingly decent speakers, so no complaints there.

Does the Fiesta come with any fancy extras? I own the basic ‘L’ model – the only real extra is a manual ‘tilt’ sunroof. I would have like to have central locking for the back doors (as they can only be unlocked from the inside) but that’s a small gripe really. Apart from that there are no real toys to speak of. I’ll admit though that I don’t really miss anything – electric windows are just one more thing to go wrong in my opinion, so no loss there either.

The boot is large and spacious enough to get quite large parcels/bags in and the hatchback boot makes it very easy to place things inside. It even has a little light inside the thing so you can see better in the dark – hardly cutting edge stuff I know, but nice to have!

Engine-wise it’s in great condition too, well maintained and well cared for, Susan’s Dad checked over the important bits of that for me and it passed with flying colours. New brake discs/pads were fitted by the garage prior to my collection, along with a new set of tyres too. I think for just over £2000 I got myself a real bargain and one that should hopefully give me many years of motoring pleasure.

I’ve had my Fiesta for a week now and have found it a real pleasure to drive – it’s been very economical for me on Diesel (around 400 miles on a full tank) and has got me to work in ample t
ime every day – another real improvement over the Fiat.

Maintenance isn’t too difficult with it being a Diesel engine – there are no spark plugs to worry about here – luckily Susan’s dad knows everything about these motors, so the fact that I’ll be getting cheap (i.e. nearly free) servicing helped sway my mind no end.

I know there are newer Ford models available, but I actually prefer this older shape, it looks a bit roomier from the outside and should age pretty well. A lovely motor to drive and cheap to run too makes this an ideal choice for myself and others looking for a car on a budget. Did I mention they also gave me £250 for my knackered old Panda in part-ex? Another bonus for me!

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