Buyers Guide: Ford Fiesta Si 1994-1996
The Fiesta Si is now around 10 years old, so be careful buying one as you could get caught out. This guide should hopefully help you pick a great motor from the rest. If you look after your Si it should last for years to come, but try and start off with the best you can. The Si is often overlooked in favour of its more famous siblings the XR and RS cars. However the Si in many respects out does these cars and real fun can be had for very little cash.
Bodywork
The paint on most cars is reasonable due to the fact all the cars were metallic and hence were lacquered from the factory. Hopefully they’ll be no ill effects over the years, such as the infamous Radiant Red transformation into pink on other Fords.
Main problem areas on the car are the rear wheel arches rusting, where the rear quarter panel meets the rear panel corrodes quite well. The sills are very prone to rusting very badly, but a pair of pattern sills can be bought very cheaply. A lot of Si’s have had XR/RS arches and skirts fitted which can hide very nasty corrosion, so if you can, take a peek at them or feel behind them with your hands. On 5 door variants check the bottoms of the rear doors which can often rust. The bottom of the rear hatch will corrode and often spread to the inner area of the rear panel. Open either door and lift up the weather seal on the bottom of the door, specifically the bottom corner of the b-pillar. Often rust is found here and can be tricky to full get rid of. Chassis rails are prone, so if the car has had the splash guards taken off, turn the wheels fully one way and take a peek. The splash guards don’t make any difference to the corrosion whether they’re there or not.
There are some areas which don’t corrode as often but in wet or salty areas such as the coast have been known to start to rust such as around the sunroof and the aerial.
Underneath should be fairly clean, but with cars around 10 years old, the floor could’ve taken a real beating and starting to show its age. Try not to patch the rust up for another 12 months as this typically doesn’t work and the rust will come back.
Engine
The Zetec engine is a tough little cookie and should be fine for years to come. Expect the mileage to be around 80-120k and still quite healthy. It’s a sporty model, so no doubt it will have had a hard 10years so far, but if it’s been looked after there shouldn’t be much of a problem. When started from cold you will hear the tappets for about 5seconds, but this is normal as they’re hydraulic and are just building up pressure. Any tapping that doesn’t go away could spell trouble. It could just be sticking but it could be something more serious, so beware. Engines will often push 150k without any real problems if treated properly.
Look for smoke on acceleration as this could be the piston rings on their way out. (I’ve personally had this and it led to oil starvation and me breaking the shells allowing movement in the crank!).
It’s common for the engine to develop a stutter often around 3000rpm. This is often the MAF sensor playing up. A replacement and service will normally see this solved.
Second hand MAF’s are plentiful and will probably cost around £10.
A severe lack of power could well point to a collapsed cat. The item is part of the downpipe and will cost around £100 to replace for a new item, but second hand ones are normally available from people breaking cars.
The cam belt is to be changed at 70k miles. Make sure this has been done.
The CVH engine is well-known engine which is proven to be a reliable engine if treated properly. It’s certainly not as ‘revvy’ as the Zetec, but provides good mid-range torque for driving quickly. If serviced regularly it should see 120k without much problem. Lumpy idle and poor power could point to the cam being excessively worn. Also check the ISCV as these are prone to problems in later years.
Cam belt suggested to be changed every 36k miles.
Suspension
If the car’s been lowered, the front wishbone bushes take a real beating. Expect to eat through a set of them once every 12months if you’ve lowered your Si around the 60mm mark. A set of pattern wishbones will cost you around £50 upwards for a pair.
Check the anti-roll bar drop links as these often break allowing movement in the ARB making a banging noise whilst driving. It’s very cheap to replace these, just a few quid from Ford. If it’s been lowered on springs, watch out for weeping, leaking dampers that will bounce around a lot when driving. Standard dampers will cost around £40 per corner, but it might be worthwhile up rating the suspension while you’re messing around with G-Max suspension kits costing £220 which equates to only £55 per corner.
Price Guide:
Three doors do tend to fetch a little more money than five doors due to their desirability. The presence of additional options may increase the price with low mileage, fully loaded Si’s could fetch £2k+. Lightly modified cars don’t tend to fetch much more than their standard counterparts, but cars with 2litre conversions and more modified examples will fetch a premium and could be worth £2500+ in the right market.
These prices give a rough idea of the price you’d expect to pay for an Si.
Very good / Mint Example: £1800
Good condition: £1200
Average £1000
Rough around the edges £700
Desperate car in need of attention £400
This is part of the buyers guide that will be appearing on the main pages as soon as I do it 
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