Faults:

Just little frustrating niggles. It's got a strange momentary gear whine at cold startup from brand-new (never looked after by that tragic dealer).

Trim rattles here and there.

It has recently developed a slight ticking at low speed (calipers need adjusting I suspect).

MUST exchange the timing belt, it has visible little cracks!!

The suspensions are noisy on the bumpy bits, pretty disturbing.

Paintwork (solid white) is nothing special.

Lacks a bit of rear legroom. Interiors not as versatile as a Renault Twingo, but much better built.

Ford CVT (CTX) is sometimes a bit jerky from standstill, that's the most irritating thing. For the rest it's a darling. Could be quicker at the lights, though.

General Comments:

Local Ford dealer hasty & nasty, inefficient and utterly incompetent.

They told me they can't fix the gearbox if it goes wrong (!), left the car with NO petrol when I picked it up first time so I was stranded in the middle of the high street 5 minutes later, and many more bad service episodes.

The boys at the garage can't just understand why I bought it auto. I told them to drive one in the rush-hour traffic for a week. Fools and ignorant. Never again a Ford.

Faults:

Car has had only the most minor faults: foam started bursting out of the front passenger seat when the car was just under a year old (fixed under warranty) and the engine started making a humming noise after being switched off. Fixed by replacing the oil filter.

And the rear wiper decides to take a day off every few months - can't fix it because the problem goes away before you can get it into the shop.

Other than minor work, the car has been very reliable.

General Comments:

Best thing about the car: the handling. You can chuck it into a corner and the precise (non-assisted) steering is communicative, fun and fast.

In my opinion the 60 hp engine is a little under-powered for overtaking, but there are more powerful engines available. It's really just a mismatch with my driving style.

Biggest faults are a lack of space, especially in the rear, and the styling; the body style has been around for so long now that it's boring, bland and old-fashioned. But it's so much fun to drive I'd still seriously consider buying another if I didn't need more space.

Faults:

Cracked petrol tank, leaking brake cylinder, rear light circuit failure, misc. electrical gremlins, failed heated windscreen, squeaking speakers.

General Comments:

It seems that Ford is very good at building basic cars but this model with lots of comfort extras suffers from a lot of build quality problems. The electrical problems have been particularly difficult to fix and often dangerous.

All these problems take the edge of what is otherwise the ultimate urban runabout. The interior is both stylish and full of nice gadgets such as electric seat height adjustment, CD player, Air-con etc. With its sexy alloys and sharp looking front end, this car looks the part too.

Spookily though, the registration ends with WOE and this sums up the luck this car has had. All of these niggles and several accidents to its name after less than 3 years of gentle and infrequent use spoils an otherwise great little car.

Despite all this I can't help but love the car for its speed and handling, which are completely above reproach.

Faults:

Door open sensor only works occasionally, apart from that nothing.

General Comments:

A great car with a fun engine, if you want to change the stereo it means buying £15 worth of plastic though.

Faults:

The front windscreen wiper motor has just started to make a creaking noise when operating.

General Comments:

The 1.4i zetec engine is a real beauty.

This car's performance has really pleased me.

Faults:

Excessive handbrake travel after 1000 miles. Dealer fixed under warranty.

Valvegear became noisy (tapping sound) after 3000 miles. Dealer fixed under warranty.

Faults:

Car delivered without rear wiper blade and loose exhaust. Gearbox trouble after a few months, required 4 visits to the garage to fix. 12V power point never worked. Body work is now rusting and flaking on roof, under carpet in boot, both doors and at a repair performed by a Ford garage. Garage went speeding in the car and got photgraphed by police resulting in a summons to court for me!!!

General Comments:

Lovely car to drive, CD player is great. Loves winding roads and shows no instablity in corners. Very economical.

Very, very disappointing build quality. I am sick of this car.

Faults:

Nothing! The car has been perfect, except for the two times I crashed it! I had a 91 Fiesta before this, which was nothing but trouble. The new Fiesta is great!

General Comments:

This is my second car, if Ford were to make the Fiesta more aerodynamic and add a 1.6 or 1.8 zetec to the range, then I would buy another.......

G.Hand,

Dublin.