Ford Fiesta 2002

If it had had the proper body servicing, it shouldn't have.

There's plenty out there - walk away.

Don't bother buying it, there are hundreds more to look at. Rust like that after only 57,000miles is a bad sign, possibly of some bad accident repair. It doesn't matter which car you have had, common sense should tell you that rust like that is not normal. Why are you even offering to look at a car for someone, get someone that knows what they're doing. No point saying, "oh nice colour it must be reliable" for example. do you know where all the numbers are and how to cross reference them with documents, also how to spot a stolen or crash damaged car?

I left that one well alone. Now found an 01 Fiesta Finesse, low mileage, with 1.3 8-valve engine. I was not aware that Fiestas had pushrod engines this late. Are they OK, anything particular to look out for with them? I presume, less performance than 1.25 zetec?

'They all do that, Sir'.

Remember, that shape Fiesta is just a re-working of the MkIII, introduced way back in 1989. Even the 1989 car wasn't a clean sheet, being closely related to the MkII, which was just a re-skinned MkI.

No surprise they rot for England, really - and I'd definitely avoid the rattly old boat anchor 1.3.

It will be noisy and slow compared to the Zetec, however it is a little easier and much cheaper to work on.

I would not buy one with the pushrod engine, that is how profound the difference is from a driving point of view.

If you buy it, then oil changes every 6 months are a very good idea, as is removing the plugs at least once a year, copaslip on the threads and replace.

Thanks for the advice, he wanted =A32650 for the 01 Finesse, not open to offers, so I left it. I might try to find a Corsa instead, the 1 litre will be less to insure.