2011 Ford Fiesta SES 1.6 inline 4 from North America

Summary:

Dependable but small for long trips

Faults:

The transmission had a leak at 370,000km.

The car currently has a charging system light that won't go out, and a recent light show that resulted from a cut wheel speed sensor.

The rear alignment is scrubbing the tires a bit, and several alignments have failed to bring it under control.

There's rust on the rear quarter panels from 300000km of living on a gravel road.

General Comments:

This car is my parents' car, and has been the longest-serving car they've ever had. It regularly racks up 1800km a week, and fails so infrequently that it's the most reliable car my folks have ever owned. It rides a little rough for washboard gravel roads, and it can be wearing on longer highway trips, but it reliably goes 700-800km on a tank, which counts for a lot in this time of soaring gas prices. My dad does all of the maintenance, and I don't think the car has been down for the last 2 years for more than a weekend. It's cramped, though, for tall people like my dad, and access to the rear wheels is tight, which becomes a problem on gravel roads, because the rear alloy wheels are very wide, and collect enough grit to unbalance them regularly. This car has done very well for my folks, and I think it'll probably pass 500,000km in their hands. That makes it the highest-mileage Fiesta I've seen. Too bad Ford decided they were done making small cars.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 6th June, 2022

12th Jun 2022, 01:57

"The rear alignment is scrubbing the tires a bit, and several alignments have failed to bring it under control."

This is intriguing in that the rear suspension is a twist beam which is usually free from subjecting the tires to angles that noticeably affect tire wear - e.g., scrub from the tires from unfortunate Camber and Toe-In/Out angles.

Please let us know how this develops as time goes on.

In reply to 12th Jun 2022, 01:57

30th Jan 2023, 07:13

The car's at about 493,000km now, and a few of the issues have been fixed, but I think that the alignment issue comes largely from the fact that the owner (my dad) won't get expensive work done. It might be a fixable issue, but the local (small town) Ford dealer was stumped, and so he left it at that. The battery light that had been on for the last 30,000km turned out to be an unplugged lead. The tires wear prematurely, at about 20,000km a pair. They wear from the inside out, to the point where the inside is bald, but the outside has 7/16 tread. I suspect that at some point or other the torsion beam got bent out of shape. Once my parents are done with it, I'd happily take it as an upgrade to my car. The only new issue is that the Bluetooth won't pair with my parents' phones any more.

2011 Ford Fiesta WT 1.6 turbo diesel from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Awesome!

Faults:

The only thing that has gone wrong with my car is a radiator fan relay, which was sticking when I switched the car off, causing the radiator fan to remain on when the car was turned off. Fixed myself for $25. Only other things are standard such as replaced a battery, and a few globes have blown which I replaced myself, and tyres.

General Comments:

Comfortable, great handling. Takes corners very well. Traction control. Short first gear, but that's good for hill starts, but means taking off at lights is not going to be startling. It has surprising power for what it is. Overtaking, even at 100km/h is more than adequate, even in 5th gear thanks to the diesel engine.

Great stock speakers, cruise control. Everything works well. I even routinely tow a small trailer (300kg).

Fuel economy great, it is extremely cheap to drive around in.

Only criticism I have is that on my model I cannot connect my phone through Bluetooth audio. But hey, there's a headphone jack.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th June, 2019