So let me say I’m a Honda person and drove the same car for almost 20 trouble-free years. -Never thought about buying anything else until I found out the newer Honda and even Toyota seats are painfully uncomfortable (to me). I rented a 2019 Ford Fiesta to drive while car shopping and realized this thing had one of the most comfortable seats for me, and not just in its class. Ford may have some issues in other areas, but they’ve nailed the seat game. Then I realized I really liked a lot about this car and will probably buy one..Here’s Why:
PROS: Comfortable Seats, Very Smooth and Quiet Ride (especially at highway speed), Fun and Zippy and Fun in the Corners, Great on Gas 27/37, Not fast, but really fun to rev out (could use more power with only 120hp, but what couldn’t?!), Decent Hauling Capacity. These things are Super Cheap to buy new, especially with rebates...like $12,300 for an SE, and 10k for the S base model at the right dealerships. Also, I think the styling is one of the best designs in the subcompact market.
CONS: This Fiesta and the Focus have both had a TON of problems with the automatic powershift transmission in previous models, so much so, that there have been multinational class action lawsuits. Ford swears the issues are fixed on the newer models, but who knows? Also, you can tell this was built on a serious budget (think long term quality issues) and it will probably be ok for a few years, but a 20 year car, it ain’t. As long as you know that going in, it should be fine. The front seats have plenty of room for anyone up to about 6 feet, but the rear seats are cramped and would probably only work for children. Lastly, this car didn’t perform well in one IIHS crash test, and you can see from video and still shots that the front airbags have a gap in coverage, and the driver side dummy head slid off to the left and contacted the left front A-pillar. The safety cell did not adequately maintain it’s space either. This may seem like a deal breaker to some, but it’s literally one of the only cars I tried that has a long term comfortable seat, is dirt cheap with rebates, and all the other positives I mentioned. So the call is yours.
Exterior Color: Oxford White
City MPG: 27
Interior Color: Charcoal Black
Highway MPG: 35
Stock: 12139
Engine: 1.6L I4 16V MPFI DOHC
