1994 Ford Fiesta???? Common faults???

Ahhh, this will be the legendary mk3.5 Fiesta, won't it? ;-)

Assuming it's a mk3.5 then it'll rust horribly around the fuel filler cap. And most likely everywhere else, too.

The engine is tough as old boots, but as rough as a bag of rusty nails. Cheap to fix if it breaks, though.

This model of Fiesta was hopelessly outclassed when new (with it being nothing more than a stretching and re-skinning of the MkII, which, itself, was a reskinned MkI from the mid 1970s) - there's much better cars out there for similar money. Like the Renault Clio, Fiat Punto, Peugeot 205 etc.

correct about the rusting non arround the fuel cap, but there is a bit on the rear on the car (under the bumper)

would it be recomendable tho for a cheap first car runaround?

Thanks

Chris

Isn't rust around the filler cap a sign of terminal Iron Moth elsewhere on the car?

Pete.

Having driven one of these cars a 1990 Fiesta 1.1LX over 180k miles I consider myself an expert. The cars of the above year where tough however having experience of latter fords I would say steer clear. The only saving grace is that you'll find a Ford garage on every corner and parts are also relatively cheap, you'll need the garages and the parts regularly.

My history was

New disks and pads at about 100k (I do a lot of motorway miles) Steering rack and lower ball joints at about 120k. Engine management system and coil exploded at 130k. The car then ran reliably until about 180k when the engine mounts started to go and I thought that the car had reached the end of it's days. I also used 2 or was it 3 alternators over this period and an exhaust system every 40-50k miles. I also had to clean out the carb at about 80,90,120k miles due to rust from the petrol tank.

In comparison I bought a Proton and drove that for 140k and nothing! failed not even the exhaust. I then got rid of the car. The car just needed new brake pads.