Ford Fiesta (08 on) - Review

Review by Dan Harrison on
Last Updated: 25 August 2011
The Ford Fiesta is a small car with big ideas. As well as being stylish and good to drive, it borrows many innovations from larger Fords, such as keyless entry, Bluetooth hands-free phone compatibility and a system to prevent mis-fuelling. The Fiesta also has a few tricks of its own - it'll play MP3 files from a USB stick through the stereo, comes with a knee airbag as standard, plus has a dash inspired by a mobile phone. But that doesn't mean that it has betrayed its small car roots. It's better value than ever, cheaper to buy and costs less to run than the old car - there's even an ECOnetic model which costs nothing to tax. Overall it's one of the finest small cars you can buy.
4.5 out of 5

Other Ford reviews

4.5 out of 5

Running costs

Cost-conscious buyers have little to fear with the Fiesta. The smaller engines in the range are cheap to tax (the Econetic costs nothing) and there’s good fuel economy across the range – all engines are capable of 47mpg (diesels are capable of a minimum of 67mpg). Ford claims that the improvements it’s made to the efficiency of the 1.4-litre diesel engine over the previous generation should save its owners around 45 litres per year – or a tankful of fuel. Fiesta insurance groups are particularly impressive – more than 90 per cent are cheaper than before and the remaining 10 per cent are the same as the 2002-2008 Fiesta, making the newer car the cheapest Ford to insure ever. Servicing is generally good value, too.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,203 - £1,461 *

Diesel

£822 - £957 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

Every 12 months/12,500 miles.

Warranty

Three years or 60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£0.00 - £170.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

5 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
    87
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
    154
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

Cars don’t come much greener than the Fiesta. The appropriately named ECOnetic model leads the way with emissions of 98g/km CO2 and up to 78mpg in everyday driving. Other models in the range perform very well for their sizes – even the 1.6-litre petrol comes in at under 140g/km of CO2, which is ahead of many similar cars.

Find the exact engine and CO2