It’s official. The Ford Fiesta is Ireland’s favourite car. In the first quarter of 2010, the Ford veteran recorded sales here of 2115 cars.
We decided to take a look at the 2009 model, to see if we agree with the rest of the nation.
Price
The Fiesta won’t cost you an arm and a leg, setting you back around €15,640 to €19,490. If you’ve got a ten-year-old car to scrap, that figure drops to €11,700. On top of it being relatively inexpensive, it could save you a bucket load in running costs.
It’s a very reliable car, and easy to fix. Its 99kg/km Econentric engine should also save you a decent amount in petrol costs when compared to cars with bigger, less efficient engines. It’s also environmentally friendly, as it has very low CO2 emissions.
Look and Performance
It isn’t very fast (max speed is 183km/h, but you’re not going to come close to doing that). Let’s face it, it’s a Fiesta. Nobody buys one expecting to enter the Monaco Grand Prix or the Le Mans 24 hours.
You buy it because it’s reliable, and it’s exceptionally reliable. You buy it because it handles well, and the Fiesta really handles well. The engine can sound a little bit loud at times though, when you go faster than normal, such as on a motorway.
Inside, it’s comfortable and spacious (there is a hell of a lot of headroom), even if it is a little cramped in the rear.
There are comfy leather seats, and the dashboard is made from soft materials instead of plastic. All the buttons you need are very easy to access from the driver’s seat.
Where Ford have really outdone themselves is the exterior. For a Fiesta, the most recent model looks genuinely fantastic. It’s sleek and stylish. The colours are bold and brilliant. It’ll look like you’ve spent a good bit more on it than you have.
Cool extras
What really makes the Fiesta so bloody brilliant is the little features. Have you ever woken up in the morning and walked to your car, ready to drive to work, only to find your windscreen completely frozen over?
Then you have to deal with the laborious task of boiling up the kettle, and then throwing the water over it. This activity could cost you between two and three minutes in the morning, and with the way you always wait until the last minute to leave, it’ll probably cause you to be late.
You probably wouldn’t get fired, but your boss might look at you funny all day. Who needs that aggravation? The Fiesta has a heated windscreen, which clears snow and ice in only a few seconds.
It has park assist, and folded mirrors (who hasn’t had mirrors broken at some stage?). It has headlamp courtesy delay too, staying on for a few seconds after you leave the car to help you walk back to your house in the dark (or not if you rush, given that the headlights will still be on for a bit).
Handy
The windscreen wipers turn on automatically, as the Fiesta detects whether or not it is raining. This is perfect for your average lazy person like me, who couldn’t be bothered flicking a little switch. If you have a smart phone, you can use the navigation chip to transmit route data to the car’s audio system.
Another great feature is the fuel inhibitor, which only accepts the correct nozzle for your car. This prevents you from misfuelling, which is very handy. Something JOE knows from experience.
It won the Auto Express Car of the Year 2009, What Car? car of the year, Northern Car of the Year and the Semperit Irish Motoring Writers’ Association’s Small Family Car of the Year. If we had a JOE car of the year back then, we probably would have given it to the Fiesta too.
Conor Hogan
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