What's with the Ford Fiesta?

August 22, 2023 8:42 PM

My impression from reading reports is that Ford Fiesta had issues some years, but not all. Some years seem pretty good, if basic. But I also gather that Ford Fiesta has a bad reputation in general.

On the used car market, the Fiesta is much more affordable than other discontinued compacts like the Yaris and Fit. I know it's not as highly rated as those, but it's just so much more economical if what you want is just a cheap and cheerful little car with enough juice to merge happily onto a highway. And, you know, not fall apart or blow up or something.
I'm specifically asking about the AUTOMATIC transmission and the normal (not high power fancy) engine version in later years.
Even the lesser powered Fiesta engine is reviewed to have more power than many similar cars and in its later years of production (after 2018) doesn't seem to have major issues. But there is still this sense I also read about that Fiestas are going to be a problem. I rarely see them in my town filled with little used cars.
Do you have an automatic Fiesta from 2019? Is it OK? Do you know of any reviews that take its later production years into account?
Bonus: There are so many Fiestas for sale. Is it hard to re-sell?

posted by ojocaliente to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

I don’t have a Fiesta, but I have a Focus from 2013 which uses the same problematic automatic transmission. My Focus did have significant transmission issues, however they have been mostly resolved for the last 5+ years via completely free repairs made by Ford. Given the faulty transmissions were installed starting in 2013 and quickly gained some notoriety, I have to think by 2019 they had fixed the issue (sorry this is not totally helpful, but perhaps gives some perspective on the timeline we’re talking about for the faulty transmissions).

I will say the following about my Ford - my 2013 Focus has had zero mechanical problems other than the transmission, which has been fixed by Ford at no cost to me (other than time/stress). The transmission is still a little finicky - you have to “learn” the car a bit to get smooth acceleration consistently and occasionally it’ll get a bit out of whack for some unknowable reason and get a little jerky for a day, but returns to baseline quickly. I am very happy driving it and have no intention of getting rid of the car anytime soon - it’s definitely been extraordinarily low-cost to own.

If you do pursue a Fiesta, INSIST on a test drive. The jerkiness indicative of problems will happen most often in stop/start lowish speed settings or sudden quick accelerations. Test both of these before you buy.
posted by annie o at 9:54 PM on August 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

Bonus: There are so many Fiestas for sale. Is it hard to re-sell?

Ford built over 22 million Fiestas, wordwide, over the model’s lifetime, so there’s bound to be be a ton of them around.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:05 AM on August 23, 2023

I have 2014 Fiesta and it's OK. There are some clunky accelerations that I don't love but I had a seven year maintenance plan and two different dealerships in the city said they didn't think anything was wrong. So far I haven't had any major issues and it's been reliable though.

I'm kind of sad there are so few hatchback options - I'll never need a bigger car and at least in North America that's what the companies seem to be pushing us towards.
posted by Kurichina at 7:47 AM on August 23, 2023 [1 favorite]