Hen Pecked

Now that our (wifes) new Fiesta has covered just over 6,300 miles on an around Europe tour, I thought I would share the experience/comments with other owners/potential owners.

The idea of an automatic Fiesta was my wifes after months of tracking around car showrooms and trying out the various models. She is a small woman (4’ 10”) so it is not easy to find a vehicle that can adjust from her height to mine (5’ 10”). Our previous vehicle, a Land Rover Discovery was fantastic and probably the best car we have owned but it was 8 years old and each service was costing more and more.

We chose the Titanium 1.4 petrol auto simply because the Titanium package offered the most features and the 1.4 petrol was the only auto available. We had no intention of driving more than 2 to 300 miles per day and at slowish speeds. Also, the car was only packed with two suitcases and a food box for snacks en-route.

The journey took us down through France, into Spain and Portugal, back into Spain and France, over to Germany and finally France again before the journey up north.

Pros:
A very comfortable car to drive and no sign of tiredness after 300 miles in the seat.

The visibility is good although there is a very bad blind spot on the passenger side when driving on the right hand side of the road. Back in the UK this is not an issue. Visibility out of the rear is excellent.

The controls are well placed and easy to operate.

The auto light feature is very helpful especially in the long Spanish tunnels where it can be easy to forget to switch the lights on.

The auto wipers are again very useful and seem to be set just right.

The fully adjustable steering wheel was just right.

The Sony system was very good and we took full advantage of the USB memory stick plug in for our music.

We had changed the 16” alloys for 14” steel high profile for the trip and these gave a very smooth ride even over some of the Spanish roads.

Surprisingly, a lot of room in the boot for a small car and a roomy back seat area.

Cons:
I found the auto box to be badly geared and found myself using the sequential manual option.

The fuel economy was nowhere near that claimed by Fords or other owners and over the entire trip, we averaged 37MPG at an average speed of 29MPH. We never drove over 60 and usually cruised at around 55MPH.

The capless fuel system has resulted in the loss of a tank of petrol in Hull. I know many FMs love the fact you do not have to twist of a lockable cap, but as fuel prices rocket…watch this space.

An electric adjusting seat would have been useful in the top end of the range model and the constant crank the seat up and crank the seat down become irritating after a while.

The leather used is not the greatest and some of the stitching has started to come loose. We will deal with this at our first service.

Overall:
A very enjoyable journey and considering the size of the engine, very relaxing.

The Fiesta would not be my first choice but as this is my wifes car, she feels she has made the right decision. Me, I prefer my own transport, a Triumph Thunderbird.

Apart from the few minor niggles which can be improved on, not a bad little car.

What on earth prompted Ford to design a vehicle with no lockable fuel cap?

Even with the vehicle locked, the fuel lid opens allowing someone to siphon out the petrol/diesel.

I know this as I filled up in Hull yesterday, parked at the Princes Quay car park, came back one hour later to find my fuel cap open and just enough petrol in the tank to get back the the garage.

With the cost of fuel going sky high, Fords must be the thieves greatest friend.

Oh well, off to Halfords for a lockable cap.

In September, I purchased a fully loaded Titanium 1.4 automatic (wife's choice not mine).

One of the selling points was the frugality of the Fiesta.

We are now 3000 miles into its life and are in the middle of a long European tour. We are not driving more than 50 to 60 MPH and feathering the accelerator with the lightest touch. No heavy overtaking, no hard breaking, just careful relaxed driving. The car is not overloaded, just the two of us plus modest luggage. Tyres are the correct pressure and we have tried both types of petrol.

The average MPG is a pathetic 37 on mostly long quiet roads (worked out from fuel in and milage covered, not the highly innacurate trip computer). The finish of the car is basic at best for example, the leather has to be the cheapest available on the market. We chaged the 16" alloys for 14" steel as we experienced the same trouble os other owners, buckled alloys. I managed over 35MPG in our last car, a LandRover Discover 2.5TDi, and that car was very well built and weighed several tons.

Even with a bit of haggling the car cost almost as much as a Golf but IMHO is a cheap piece of trash. Sorry, but I will never buy another Fiesta and in future wiil pay the extra and up market.

My fault for listening to my wife and buying such a heap of trash.

I have of course filled in the Ford customer review but doubt that will have any impact at all.

All I can say, is "Buyer Beware".