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!

Faults:

Nothing yet (touch wood).

General Comments:

I've been a hot-match man all my driving life. After owning: a Vauxhall Nova SLE, Peugeot 205 Gti, Fiat Punta Sporting, Fiat Punto HGT and Seat Ibiza Gti, I've just picked up a 55 plate Zetec-S in Magnum Grey, 4k miles on the clock for £8,995. We needed something 'sensible' as we have a baby on the way, but there was no way on earth I was having a boring diesel Focus!!

All I can say is that the Zetec is the best car I've ever owned. It is as fun to drive as my old 1.6 GTi (handling, grip, power etc), it's as comfy, roomy and well built inside as the Volkswagen derived Ibiza, and hopefully it will be a damn sight more reliable than the 2 Fiat's I've owned, which were appalling! And in the dark grey paint, it looks stunning!

I'd call the performance 'nippy' compared to my previous cars (HGT being the fastest at 6.3 0-60!), but coupled with the superb handling, I can keep snot-nosed Lexus-lighted VTR's out of sight on twisty stuff! VTS would be closer, but he'd beat me on the straights, no doubt! And there is a certain exclusivity to the S that you don't get with the more common VTRs or 182s etc.

If you are after a nippy, fun, well handling and well built warm-hatch, then I could not recommend anything better at this price!