The trouble with most of the small cars is that they are fat. The designers, in meeting safety requirements, trying to create a sense of value and making room for our growing obesity have now widened small cars to such an extent that Peugeot 206 is wider than a Jaguar XJ and a new Corsa feels twice the width of an old Nova (if you remember that far back).
Which all seems very jolly on paper. But if you sit in a traffic jam in a City and your lane ahead is clear, or you little side street is semi-blocked by a delivery lorry, you want to be able to pull out and whizz through little gaps. Which you can’t do if you buy a fat car. Plus, you don’t get more leg room or head room, so if you are tall, your comfort is in no way improved.
Ford’s latest Fiesta, in order to compete with all the fatties has layered on high quality finishes to the interior, lots of different option specifications and glued it all together very nicely indeed. It is very close to the benchmarks of Vauxhall and Volkswagen.
It also has a firm, steady cruise and provided you avoid the smallest engines, sufficient performance.
But, unlike Vauxhall, it is all wrapped up in a slender, sexy design that is narrow enough to dive around inner cities rather than tense up in the traffic.
What’s the market like?
Fiestas are a paradox in that there are lots in the market going back well over 20 years and yet they still hold a reasonable ‘small car premium.’ There are infact over 6,000 Fiestas on the market that are less than 1 year old. But the latest shape models start at £9,000 and the cheapest ones are those that have slipped out of the main dealer network or are the ex-demonstrators.
There will never be a shortage of price or specification choices with the Fiesta, so as long as you are patient the perfect car will come along.
What else does this budget buy?
£9,000 nearly new small cars obviously include a great big bunch of nearly new Clios, 206s/207s and Corsas. But the interesting money will get spent on a four year old Mini. While the sensible money will get spent on a Hyundai i20 with its 5 year warranty. But with all these, except the Mini, they are all going to feel like new, but for £2,000- £3,000 less than list price.
Summary
One of the market leaders can now justify its place at the front of the field again. This car has style, comfort, equipment, build quality and is value for money. But you have to choose the right spec and engine to be totally happy.
By: Matthew Tumbridge