Faults:

Nothing major whilst I have owned it.

Slight oil leak (not uncommon for an older car)

Boot lock seized.

General Comments:

What a sweet surprise this car was!

I was used to driving a luxury car before this one and I can honestly say this thing keeps up with it!

It is reliable, starts first time, every time.

Very comfortable, even my passengers have commented on the comfort.

Surprisingly spacious. This is down to the lack of any fascia and plastic running down the middle of the front!

Its not very powerful in 4th or 5th, but will run (eventually) quite happily at 85mph.

Great for carrying loads... just put the back seats down!. I got a drum kit and lighting rig in happily with two passengers!

Tank of fuel will last 350miles approx.

Insurance was strangely high for a 1.1!

It doesn't like getting too wet!!

Faults:

Nothing too bad.

Steering failed (loose bolt), start-up motor failed.

General Comments:

Although I didn't expect speed for a 1.1 engine, this car is just ridiculously slow. Overtaking becomes a very daring stunt, a couple of times I've attempted to over take a vehicle only to realise the car just won't go fast enough... never even think about going in the right hand lane on a dual carriage way.

It's highly frustrating to drive if ever you want to get somewhere fast, I recall crawling up a small hill at 45mph with my foot to the ground... screaming at it to go faster and hitting the steering wheel (that's probably why it broke)

On a flat road with no hills, the top speed is about 75... I can get 80 out of it if I start swearing at it.

I really hated this car, from the manual choke, manual need for correcting indicator, no central locking, no Intermitant speed of windscreen wiper... it is just a very cheap car.

Very basic interior, there's not even a glove box.

The worst thing is, for all this slow slow speed...it's not THAT good on petrol. My recent 1.6 Toyota MR2 is about the same on fuel if driven at the same speed!

The best thing about the car is the full beam light is good...

If you're looking for a cheap 1.1 car that's low on fuel, you can do so much better than this! A rover 100 for instance outperforms this on every level.

Faults:

So far I've only had to replace the choke cable and get a new tyre.

General Comments:

For a first car it's great.

Performance is pretty poor, but it's to be expected of an 11 year old car.

Handling can only really be described as numb.

Good economy although the engine sounds really harsh. This seems to be the case in most mk3 Fiestas.

I'm now looking to replace her soon, but I can't decide whether to get a Punto Sporting or Saxo Westcoast. All opinions on these cars would be greatly appreciated.