Used Ford Fiesta long-term test review: report 3
The Ford Fiesta may be the most popular used car in the UK, but how does it cope with the rigours of life on the What Car? fleet? We have four months to find out...
The car 2019 Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost 125 ST-Line
Run by Max Adams, used cars reporter
Why it’s here To find out if this fun-to-drive small car can beat our favourite used buy, the Skoda Fabia
Needs to Prove its worth against other used small cars
Mileage 5163 List price new (2019) £19,695 Price new with options £22,445 Value now £12,899 Test economy 43.6mpg
20 February 2020 - Having a Fiesta, even in winter
You might think, with the name Fiesta, that my car wouldn’t be at all suited to chilly conditions. However, I believe my little Ford is the best car I’ve driven so far in the winter months. And this is coming from someone who owns an old Volvo, which is famed for its Scandinavian reliability in colder temperatures.
Firstly, I’d like to congratulate the person at Ford who thought it would be a great idea to install a heated windscreen, because the one fitted to my Fiesta has transformed my morning commute.
No longer do I have to spend 10 minutes scraping away at the screen and then waiting a further five for the inside to demist before I can set off. All I have to do is switch it on, and by the time I’ve cleared the side glass, I’m ready to go. All cars should come with a heated windscreen, if only to rid the roads of that dangerous minority who think that it’s okay to drive away with only a letter-box slot to see through on a frosty day. Alright, rant over.
Now, I can appreciate the concerns of some regarding the windscreen's wavy elements upsetting their eyes. During my initial drive, I did catch the wires in my vision, but I have since got used to them, and it hasn’t bothered me since.
The heater is pretty spectacular, too. Having driven quite a lot of cars, I can tell you that heated seats are an absolute must in any diesel-powered Mazda; every example I’ve tried takes an age to warm up inside. Similarly, in the Dacia Duster I tested recently, even with the dial cranked up to its maximum, the air that filled the interior was about as hot as a tepid cup of tea. And a milky one at that.
The Fiesta, however, seems to have a heating system that was figuratively benchmarked against the surface temperature of the sun. Even on its medium setting, the blast furnace heat it produces can be too much for some, as evidenced by Steve, Greg, Lawrence and Tom, who were all starting to cook during a short trip into town and had to request that the air conditioning be switched on to stop them melting.
