Faults:

Chassis rails rotted.

Both sills rotted.

Boot floor rotted.

Brake master cylinder leak.

Rear wheel cylinder burst.

Exhaust fell off.

Throttle cable snapped.

General Comments:

I bought this Fiesta as a 1.1 for £700 in February 2000 after I blew the engine on my first Fiesta.

It was in very good condition for its age and had a very low mileage of only 53000, although I have pushed it up to 90000 in just under 2 years.

Seeing as I have done a lot of miles in such a relatively short time, the car has never really let me down majorly, just minor bits and bobs here and there which I fixed myself.

The one downfall was the corrosion, which seems to be a problem for all Fiestas, and in the same spots. Mine has now been welded (by myself) in every mark 2 rot spot.

I decided to replace the 1.1 4-speed lump for a 1.3 5-speed from an Escort I picked up for £20, as all my driving is on dual carriageways and motorways, but I am only 19 so wanted to keep insurance costs low.

The car is extremely comfortable on any type of journey and the velour trim is very hard wearing. I often do 150 mile trips in this car and it doesn't bat an eyelid and I never get uncomfortable.

Faults:

The tappets stick once in a while.

The starter motor went in it.

The handbrake did not work.

Shocks needed to be replaced.

Rear wheele bearings needed to be replaced.

She was misfiring as there was a leak at the air inlet manifold.

Back door starting to rust like mad.

General Comments:

The big engine combined with the light weight makes it very fast.

It handles very well in the dry, but in the rain she tends to slip and slide.

Those semi bucket seats are comfortable, but no match to a set of Cobra buckets and a set of racing harnesses for extra safty during those wet drives.

Faults:

Rev counter stopped working.

Battery died.

Radio speakers stopped working.

Rust bucket.

Front inside wings rusted and fell apart.

General Comments:

Heap of junk if anything. Bought it for £500 and spent loads of money on it. Sold it for £20.

Eats petrol.

Faults:

Absolutely nothing, but I did practically rebuild the thing from scratch so this category is irrelevant.

General Comments:

The XR2 mkII is a laugh, I have tried the mkI and found it to be quicker but not very comfortable. The markI is nice but it's a bit boring to drive. So in contrast I would say for comfort, reliability and pure balls out fun the mkII does it for me every time.

Faults:

Fuel pump, gearbox mount and a few oil leaks.

General Comments:

With a K&N air filter, bore exhaust, upgrade cam and a tune up, this car can keep up with most cars on the roads!

A great little car! Harsh when driving in the wet (go slow)!