Faults:

A rattle under the rear seats; I have found that trim on Fiestas seem to come loose and rattle at speed, or if windy.

General Comments:

This car is not as nippy as the C2, and the handling, despite other comments, I find to be loose, and there is a lot of roll on cornering.

The engine however, at 3-4000 revs, purrs beautifully, but loses power at the top end of the revs.

Faults:

I have had the car for just over a year, and have had several problems.

First, there was a oil leak, which had to be taken into Ford 3 times for them to fix it properly.

Second, the window switch snapped.

Third, my rear window heater stopped working completely.

Fourth, there was a recall on the car because of the clutch shaft.

But saying everything above, Ford's warranty has fixed them all for me free of charge, which I think is good service, but just problems you don't need.

General Comments:

As for the car itself, I think it is amazing.

Handling - The handling the car is 10/10, just like a go kart. There is not another car I have driven which is as much fun as this.

Performance - Performance is a great coming out of bends, as it has low gear ratios, so there is plenty of pull in low revs and high, Saying this though, the car could have some more bhp, which would help in comparison with other cars.

Build - This car is built well, but as always with Ford, there's the plastic feel inside, and the CD player and speakers could be improved a lot. You do get sport seats, which are comfortable and keep you stable in your seat.

Overall - I love this car, and it is still the most fun I have had. As for handling, I can't find anything like it in the price range. Sadly I'm going to have to sell it though, because of the mpg. Maybe diesel power next.

General Comments:

This car is pretty quick off the mark.

However you have to rev it a lot to get the most out of the power.

Handling is fantastic.

After a few mods I got a lot more power out of the engine bringing it on par with the Renault Clio sport.

But with the added extra of better handling.

Faults:

Gearbox/Clutch Problems (6/7 Times - still unresolved), Fuel Gauge broken, Rear seat mechanism broken, Bonnet cable seized, 2 new clutches in 22,000 miles (which Ford have admitted is not due to my driving!! I am a sensible driver!).

Also, when changing the clutch the first time, the dealership failed to do up an Engine mounting - the engine fell down onto the drive train while I was going along. The RAC have rescued me twice.

General Comments:

When I collected the car new, I was impressed by the beefier body and safety features. There is also a lot of room in the vehicle (it's one of the larger super minis). The sound system is also very pleasing given that it is standard. This, however, is where the "Pro's" end for me...

Apart from all the problems mentioned above, I find the car bland and relatively unappealing in terms of performance and handling, and looks. The seats are very uncomfortable and too short, especially noticeable on long journeys where there is no back/side support and a laughable headrest.

The interior pattern is bland and very difficult to keep clean, and the dashboard and all instrument panels are very 'plasticky'.

I find the gearbox is absolutely awful, and the gear shift is situated in a rather odd place - further forward than you'd expect for a small car, but not overly noticeable until you've been driving it a while. I find the gears are also too close together and too stiff - it's annoying to say the least!

The Windscreen Wipers are completely ineffective (as we've found over 4 Fiesta Mark 6's), and by FAR the most annoying thing is the visibility - I have to do a LOT of parallel parking, and my old Vauxhall Corsa did this like a dream. The Fiesta is hard to see out of the back and also to judge where the front exactly is, and there are strange overhangs where you don't expect them to be.

The dealership are always, without exception, patronising and uncooperative (to me and my family who all have Fords there), and apart from causing a lot of the problems themselves, are generally unhelpful and will often not look under the bonnet or road test the car if they 'think' they know what is the problem. (This has led to me being told that they are 'unable to reproduce faults' when I have explicitly mentioned that they are intermittent).

Apart from this, I've just found the car to be generally tacky and unreliable - a true "Friday Afternoon" car!