Ford Fiesta 1.3

...it isn't, but my 5-door Ford Fiesta Encore Mk4 1.3l is no sports car.

I am unable to afford a car of my own and accordingly share this with my father. I simpy pay my insurance, half the cost of maintenance and (the very expensive) petrol I use. Unusually, I've experienced this car in different ways to most people because it puts up with two people constantly using it, and now my younger brother has just begun to learn to drive, it's ...
...it now, unfortunately not mine! Ford want £90 per lock to replace which is an absolute joke and I think I'll just put up with the hassle until the lock completely gives in!

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You mentioned parts. Just how cheap are they?
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The right-side headlight started to dim a couple of weeks ago so I bought a new one ... more

Feeble it isn't, but my 5-door Ford Fiesta Encore Mk4 1.3l is no sports car.

I am unable to afford a car of my own and accordingly share this with my father. I simpy pay my insurance, half the cost of maintenance and (the very expensive) petrol I use. Unusually, I've experienced this car in different ways to most people because it puts up with two people constantly using it, and now my younger brother has just begun to learn to drive, it's burdened with three.

Now almost 10 years old, the car is in remarkably good condition having travelled just over 90,000 miles, 76,000 of them done in the last 6 years. (The car was purchased second hand from an old boy cruising gently to church every Sunday, he did barely 14,000 miles in 3 years!) The car has so far needed no major work, and has enjoyed regular servicing. It only very recently needed new brake discs, some light suspension work, a new battery and a new exhaust silencer. Not bad considering I've thrashed it over the last couple of years!

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Great, it's really reliable, but what do you get when you buy an Encore model?
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Not much I'm afraid! The Encore was Ford's most basic mk4 Fiesta offering in 1997, and really is just a chassis on four wheels. As standard, it comes with Ford's Traffic 4000 radio/cassette player, four fans (2 in the centre of the dashboard, one either side), fans under the footwell and on the windscreen, selectable via a 3-way control. There are four fan power options off, 1, 2 and 3, and a temperature control. The heater isn't bad, but obviously requires the engine to be warm before it heats up! That's it for your standard conveniences, although the obligatory cigarette lighter is available! Did someone say "power-assisted steering" and "Central Locking"? Don't make me laugh....

The instrument panel is extremely basic. A speedometer, a car diagram, fuel gauge, engine temperature, but no rev counter as if its absence is a statement of the car's lack of power. Front and rear windows are manual, as well as the two front seats' positioning controls. The rear window has an electric gauze to clear it when steamed up, and the car features the luxury of rear fog lights. Not front, as that would be just too divine. Rear fogs... brilliant.

Jokes aside, the car really has no modern luxury many people are used to and is your simple A-to-B machine. The 1.3l 8-valve "Endura-E" engine ticks over comfortably and achieves a maximum speed of 98mph from it's 5 gears. As one previous reviewer mentioned, because of its 8-valve design, the car soon loses power in higher gears. All the grunt is in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, while 4th and 5th serve only to take the car from 50-98mph very very slowly. Due to this lack of power the engine struggles to pull the fiesta up hills. Downshifting is often necessary to maintain decent speed and you can really feel it having to work hard!

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So, I'm going to miss ABS, Air Con, Electric Windows, and getting to 100mph before dinnertime. Why ON EARTH would I buy a car like this?
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A number of very good reasons that make a lot of sense to your wallet! Being a simple car, there aren't any complicated things that can go wrong. It's a Fiesta which means parts are always available and very cheap. Tax is very cheap and so is insurance, and you'll receive around 45mpg for your £32 investment in a full tank of petrol. The car performs a 0-60 sprint in around 14-15 seconds, and is pretty nippy from 0-40, meaning in town and on short trips it's got a lot of poke!

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But without my traction control and dynamic computer-powered suspension management system, how will I cope with the ride?
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True, it's a cheaply made car, but the ride is pretty comfortable if it's driven the way it was designed to be. I, as any 19-year-old would, drive it like a TVR and obviously look like a complete idiot thrashing my little Fiesta about. As such, the ride comfort suffers somewhat as the poor fiesta rolls uneasily from left to right as I whip it round corners at speed. The tyres will squeak painfully and the passenger, without a steering wheel to hold onto will be lauched annoyingly from left to right. For rear passengers it's probably worse! However, if you drive sensibly you'll be in adequate comfort and your passengers will be grateful...

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Yes this whole £5 gallon business is starting to worry me, but I can't do without lots of space. Will this provide the goods?
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The fiesta can quite comfortably transport 5 people around, but honestly no more, believe me. I've had 6 rowdy friends squeeze in with me, one in the front passenger seat, 3 in the rear, one in the boot, and one laid across the back 3 with his feet out the window. I really don't suggest you try this for health and safety reasons and you'll probably have to answer to a slightly bemused policeman if stopped. Furthermore, if you hit some kind of bump or dip in the road, your exhaust may end up scraping the tarmac. However, the fiesta has transported two large computers in boxes, two 20-inch widescreen monitors in boxes, 3 bags of cables, and amplifier, mixing desk, suitcase and laptop 6 times over a distance of 126 miles between East Sussex and Suffolk. Admittedly the rear seats were laid flat, but the car still had plenty of room to spare! At the end of the day, don't expect to fill the car with that stuff and 4 passengers. It's not quite that spacious!

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Look, I'll put up with a small engine, no extras, I'll even bung the extra kids on the roof, but I simply can't do without leather seats and a plush interior!
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Unfortunately, this fiesta won't give you leather seats but the interior is very pleasant and comfortable. The seats are a light blue, and the door panels are the same with a darker blue crosses pattern. The dashboard is a slightly squidgy blue plastic (like a slighty harder version of steering wheel plastic). The glove compartment has no light, but crucially has a drinks holder. This is brilliant as at night, you can put your drink down, but you'll knock it over as you can't see it. Marvellous.

The boot is covered in a dark blue carpet and has two small lights either side. The parcel shelf is the same light blue as the rest of the interior and is easily removeable.

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Seems like a nice enough little car. There have to be SOME problems with it though?!
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Well inevitably, every car has a couple of annoyances or problems, but this fiesta really only has one. The locks are rubbish. Quite crucial really....

The driver's side lock 'locks' but doesn't 'unlock'. Although I'm now used to it, to get in I have to unlock the car from the passenger side, climb in, unlock the driver door from the inside, climb out, walk round and finally get in. The boot lock has also started to go which is annoying and only one key works in it now, unfortunately not mine! Ford want £90 per lock to replace which is an absolute joke and I think I'll just put up with the hassle until the lock completely gives in!

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You mentioned parts. Just how cheap are they?
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The right-side headlight started to dim a couple of weeks ago so I bought a new one and swapped it over. The bulb cost a mere £7.99 from Halfords, and I'm sure if I'd looked hard enough I could've got it cheaper. The new exhaust silencer was £30 from Kwik-Fit which I thought was very reasonable.

Last year, I was reversing out of my garage, in a bad mood and with a heavy right foot. I tore backward and tore off the right-hand wing-mirror, completely destroying the plastic mounting and any hope of salvaging it. I booked it in to be done for me, as I was pretty busy and couldn't afford the time. The replacement part was £40 and labour £20+VAT which was again, very reasonable. The wing-mirrors are manually adjusted. Simple. I was told if they were electronically controlled, the replacement part would have been £90! Therefore: simple car, simple problems, simple fixes, cheapness!

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Any other helpful information?
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Music is a massive part of my life, and nothing beats hammering a car, with the windows down and the music up loud on a hot sunny day! (Summer where have you gone so soon...?) As soon as I'd passed my test, the first thing I pleaded with my dad to let me do was rip out the factory radio and replace with a CD headunit with iPod input. To fit an aftermarket unit in this car, you'll need two adapters. The first is a mounting adapter, as the factory fitted radio is huge. The adapter reduces the gap in the dashboard to the standard "DIN" size, ready for the headunit to be slipped in. The other bit of kit is a wiring adapter. All cars manufactured before 1998 had their own standards for powering their factory headunits. A universal ISO standard was brought in, meaning all cars post-98 can be fitted with a new headunit directly. This fiesta, made a year before its introduction, has Ford's own power connector. You can get a Ford to ISO adapter from www.caraudiodirect.co.uk for less than £10.

I also fitted some speakers into the parcel shelf, as the component factory speakers weren't powerful enough at the front. (They're actually not bad with good bass response and crisp highs, just not loud enough :D) which on the face of it, seemed like a big challenge. However, because of the fiesta's simplicity I could simply rip up some of the carpet and lay all the wires flush to the chassis replacing the carpet afterwards! Lovely!

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So your verdict on this small runaround?
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A big thumbs-up! Ever since I began driving it, well into 60,000 miles almost 2 years ago, it's been a faithful and reliable aid in getting me every place I've made it take me. It's never failed to start, aside from when it was left in a garage with the headlights on for 3 days. (Oops!) The oil hardly ever requires topping up, pertrol lasts a long time and any problems are always quickly and cheaply fixed. It's nippy enough for taking me in and out of town quickly and certainly holds its own on the motorway! The ride is generally smooth and all the basics are covered. I thoroughly expect the car to continue providing unflinching reliability for many years to come, and even though it's no Ferrari, it's great for what it is!

Models like mine in great condition are worth perhaps £500-850 these days, so go grab yourself a bargain and save on tax, insurance, petrol and maintenance!

Well done Ford! 

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