Zetec 1.4 5dr Hatchback

Doesn't live up to the hype

Having read a lot of reviews prior to buying this car, I had fairly high expectations. It seems to be universally highly rated. But after a year of ownership, I really don't understand how this could be considered better than a Corsa or Polo for example. Cost saving and poor design are evident throughout the car, making it difficult to live with and not at all user-friendly.

Good points first, as there aren't many:

The steering and handling are the only thing that has lived up to expectations - they're excellent. Sadly, it's of absolutely no consequence on the school run or a trip to the supermarket.

The door speakers provide surprisingly good sound quality with plenty of bass response. Something that's rarely found at this end of the market I guess.
So far the car has been reliable, but at 9 years old and under 40k miles that's to be expected.

The heated windscreen is handy in winter.

On to the bad points:

The brakes are terrifying. They are either on or off, and incredibly hard to modulate. This seems to be a fairly common issue with these cars. We've had it looked at by three different garages and the verdict is that something somewhere is wrong, but isn't actually failing. Not really acceptable and will probably be the reason to get rid of the car.

The wheel nuts and wheel brace are downright dangerous. The nuts have a flimsy pressed cover fitted over them. The wheel brace is also flimsy. When attempting to loosen the nuts, these two flimsy items distort meaning the only thing you can turn is the wheel nut cover. The nut stays firmly put. Luckily I discovered this on my driveway where I had access to the various tools required to overcome this. If it happened at the roadside, you'd be well and truly stuck.

Generally the build quality is poor. The doors actually sound like a biscuit tin, and plastic parts feel hard and brittle.

Windscreen wipers don’t cover enough of the screen.

Door mirrors are small and fragile.

Bulbs not easy to replace.

Parking sensors are useless. They beep when you know there's nothing there, and don't when you know there is! Pointless.

Window switches are badly placed, being nearer your elbows than your hands.

HVAC controls are impossible to use at night, and require concentration during the day, which is dangerous as they are so low down. The marker is right on the edge of the bezel, so it is either covered by your fingers or turned to the side you can't see.

Radio awkward to operate since it bulges out of the dash at 45 degrees. The cursor control is hopeless.

Rear seatbelt buckles are useless if you have child seats fitted, as the mountings aren't flexible. The child seat ends up on top of the buckles. I had to change ours for some out of an old Ka, which were flexible. Incidentally, one of the rear seat belts in our car is fitted back to front, and so is always twisted.

Column stalks are flimsy and have sharp edges which aren't nice to use.

There is no boot light, but you do get a row of tacky red LEDs along the passenger side of the dashboard. Baffling.

Steering wheel is a weird uncomfortable shape.

The trim along the bottom of the windscreen doesn't fit snugly and traps leaves.

To summarise, I'd say there's better cars out there for the money, considering all the shortcomings listed above. Yes, it handles beautifully, but I can't imagine that's a high priority for many buyers. I love a spirited drive in responsive car, but it doesn't make up for the bad design and engineering.

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