I have had my car for 3 months and around 3600 miles. Most of this sounds like a lot of complaining, but I really love my car.
Here are my opinions:
- I went into it knowing I was essentially buying a factory tuned/upgraded vehicle based on the least expensive car Ford sells so I was realistic in my expectations for materials and build quality. I think some people are expecting too much. A base Fiesta is ~$14k, so you're not buying a $21k car, but a $14k car with $7k of engine, suspension, body kit, and other upgrades. I think both are decent if not good. The plastics are definitely lower end. I think Ford could have used a better texture to make it less apparent. The dash texture looks cheesy and will look outdated not long in the future.
- I have always had an aversion towards cars built in Mexico, but my Fiesta feels solid. I.E. the sound and feel of the door closing isn't what I expected from an economy car. It is solid!
- The oem wheels are heavy for a car that is reliant on being lightweight. That and I don't understand why Ford used such a strange bolt pattern
- The brake dust is terrible. Unless I don't drive the car, it's almost impossible to keep the wheels clean.
- I don't see the big deal with the absence of a back-up camera. The visibility in this car is very good, unless you have a giant van or suv parked next to you. My dad's CR-V has a back-up camera and I find it more of a distraction than anything. It doesn't give the degree of visibility as looking out of the windows.
- It is surprisingly quiet for the type of car. It's not Lexus LS quiet, but wind noise at highway speeds is very acceptable. Road noise is there, and highly dependent on the quality of the roads.
- The interior feels cramped compared to the Honda Fit and Nissan Versa. Mainly the back seat and cargo space. Front leg room is adequate
- ergonomics are hit and miss. My main complaints are with the driver window switches, radio controls, and front cup holders. The window switches can sit back a couple more inches because I constantly find myself raising and lowering the rear windows when I meant to do the fronts. The grab bar on the door is in the way. The radio controls (sources, presets) are on the touch screen and it sits too far forward for me to safely reach it while driving. You can tell the placement of the screen was an afterthought. This could have been remedied with individual physical source buttons instead of one that cycles through AM1, AM2, FM1, FM2, Sirius, Bluetooth, CD, and USB. The placement of the cup holders make them almost unusable. Putting anything in them means I'm hitting my arm every time I shift. That and my right arm has to contort in uncomfortable directions to get drinks out of the cupholders.
- I have the base seats, and they're okay for short distance driving (<100 miles). They are uncomfortable for my back and legs/thighs on long distances. I do have back problems from a previous accident so maybe it's not widespread. I can drive all day in my 02 Maxima without any problems though.
- The handling of the car is incredible. I can do a U-turn in places where I would have to do a three-point in almost any other car.
- For the size of the car, the gas mileage is a bit on the low side. I bought it knowing the figures, but a Civic or Corolla could easily beat it and they're bigger cars with slightly bigger engines. Even when I drive it conservatively, I have a hard time beating EPA estimates. Of course, if gas mileage was my primary concern, I'd be in a Prius