What are the Common faults with Ford Fiestas 1.8 diesel?

Answer 1

Another AnswerNot wishing anything bad on the guy who left the answer below, but he clearly has had a bad experience, or knows someone whose a bad experience with an OLD FORD and has therefore left a pretty botched answer.

In truth, Fords are generally quite reliable little motors, especially the new Ford Fiesta and KA. The KA for reasons being, that actually it isn't to dissimilar in all the parts used on its elder sister, the Fiesta.

Fords of old have rusted away to the point where (to use Clarkson' phrase) if you put your foot on the door sill it's like putting your foot through paper mache. Ford, however, seems to have fixed the majority of the issues where the body is concerned.

That doesn't mean that it is all clear sailing though. Unfortunately Ford seems to be of the impression that if you cant see it, then it doesn't mater if it rusts. Be sure to keep a constant check on all of your springs, as you may find yourself running through them like there is no tomorrow especially if you are carrying heavy loads. This problem seams to be a gremlin of the hatchback models in Ford's range, so if you have just bought yourself a nice shinny new Mondeo when reading this answer, you can breath a sigh of relief.

Do also watch out for Ford's policy when changing springs. They have a clause where if one spring breaks due to "metal fatigue" they will replace both of the say front springs, if it is the passenger front side that has snapped for they claim... "safety reasons", if your that worried about our safety Ford, why use the faulty things in the first place.

If your car is still within warranty, ask Ford to replace the affected tyre for FREE as you possibly will have damaged it if driving when the failure occurs. If they kick up a fuss, have a quite word in the ear of your local trading standards, quoting the Supply and Sale of Goods Act 1979, and Ford will soon whip that tyre off and replace it on the house.

On the subject of warranties. if it is that your car is out of warranty never take it back to ford themselves, always take it to a back street garage that HAS A GOOD REVIEW. They will be able to repair the fault at a fraction of Ford's quote, and with a subsequent part, that shouldn't fail, unless they get their parts direct from Ford.

The other small flaw to watch out for with modern Fords, no matter what model or type, is the ECU, or engine management system. Flaws with this have lead to cars cutting out at low RPM (revolutions per minute) or even failing to start. The most common of these errors, seams to relate to where the management system simply cuts all fuel flow to the engine at ignition as it "believes" you are about to "flood" the engine. However, you are really, really unlucky if you get any of these faults!

Inevitably cars do go wrong, and to touch on the other answer, DO NOT TOUCH FRENCH CARS WITH A STERILIZED BARGE POLE. French cars are all about as reliable as a sieve, if we say reliability is its ability to retain water! Yes, engines are just about bullet proof, though I wouldn't like to put that to the actual literal test, but every other component seams to go wrong around them, with the exception of Renault who appears to be breaking the French faulty car mould.

Not only that, French, and Italian cars are all designed so that the engines compartments are so tightly packed, that the cost of services are astronomical, when something does inevitably go wrong. Mechanic's have to spend forever getting at pretty basic parts, like spark plugs etc, and so this bumps the price of your service up.

In conclusion then. Ford's are a good make these days, just so long as you remember to keep your eye on those springs, and remember, when you come to buy a new car, have a look under the hood, just to see if the car is dead tight. You can guarantee that if it is, it will cost a fortune to upkeep, once it reaches breaking point. Hope this answers your questions!

AnswerThey rust like holy stink! The main areas are sills, around the rear wheel arches, wings, inner wings, floors, spare wheel well and anywhere else there is metal.

However, that aside, the engines are almost bullet proof and will last to about 150,000 miles until it starts to cause problems.

My advice is to buy an old Peugeot 205 1.9 Diesel, they are damn near indestructible and will see 250,000 miles easily. But do yourself a favour, make sure you get one with Power Steering, they are very heavy engines to have sitting on top of your front wheels.