Are Ford Fiestas reliable?

Are Ford Fiestas reliable?

You may have moved on from this, but my Ford Fiesta just hit 200k miles. I have an automatic transmission, and like others have mentioned, it’s a bit janky.

Overall, the car has served me well and has been reliable. It seems like my experience is a lucky exception, as others have had much worse luck. Unfortunately, my transmission is starting to fail; it revs high at low speeds and has slipped out of gear once. Since the transmission is a closed system, I’m pretty much stuck driving it until it completely breaks down. That said, I can’t complain about reaching 200k miles!

I’ve owned four Fiestas, and none of them have ever let me down! :grin:

If it’s an automatic, I would steer clear. If it’s a manual, you’ll need to do more research. The Focus has similar issues, but you might find a slightly older manual Focus for the same price, and they tend to be quite reliable.

It depends. I believe there’s a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) for the transmission that can provide a permanent fix. If that repair has been done or if you can afford to have it completed, the car should be a great value. Some components were made with materials that were prone to breaking down and clogging the transmission, but the fix is simply to replace those parts with updated versions.

Ford Fiestas make excellent first cars, but they can struggle a bit when I need extra speed. They are definitely reliable and durable, and I haven’t encountered any issues apart from those caused by me. They handle rough treatment really well.