2009 Ford Fiesta 1.4L Diesel · MX09 TFU

The 2009 Ford Fiesta presents a mixed maintenance picture. The most recent MOT on 27 August 2025 at 130,899 miles passed, but the advisory list reveals a car that has been kept running rather than properly maintained. The tester flagged a nearside front tyre worn to the legal limit, an offside front steering rack inner joint with play, a defective headlamp lens, and a cut in the offside rear inner tyre sidewall. These are not catastrophic failures, yet the combination of steering wear and repeated tyre neglect suggests the previous owner addressed only the minimum to secure a pass. The trend is not worsening dramatically, but it is not improving either. The car sits in a stable but tired state. The mileage accumulation tells a clear story. Between the failed test on 2 March 2023 at 104,788 miles and the pass on 15 May 2024 at 114,138 miles, the car covered 9,350 miles in roughly fourteen months. Then, between May 2024 and August 2025, it added 16,761 miles in fifteen months, a noticeable acceleration to over 13,000 miles per year. This is above the roughly 7,700 miles per year average implied by the total 130,899 miles over seventeen years. The recent surge points to heavier use in the last year and a half, which compounds the wear already visible in the steering and tyres. The gap between the March 2023 failure and the May 2024 pass also raises a question about how promptly the fractured offside front coil spring and engine MIL fault were rectified. A buyer should focus the physical inspection on the front suspension and steering. The fractured coil spring found in March 2023 was a serious structural fault, and while it was presumably replaced, the subsequent advisory for play in the offside front steering rack inner joint at 130,899 miles suggests the front end has not been fully sorted. Check the rack inner joints, track rod ends, and lower arm bushes for slack. Inspect both front coil springs for cracks or corrosion, and examine the front dampers for oil misting or bounce. The repeated tyre wear advisories, including the cut sidewall noted in August 2025, point to possible tracking issues or simply neglected rotations. Have the wheel alignment and tyre pressures assessed on the spot. The exhaust shield noted as slightly loose in May 2024 is a minor body corrosion concern, but it flags a broader question about underbody condition. At seventeen years old and 130,899 miles, the sills, subframes, and brake lines deserve a thorough check for corrosion, especially if the car has spent time in a region that salts roads. The inoperative engine MIL from the 2023 failure is another red flag. Verify that the engine management light illuminates with the ignition and that no diagnostic trouble codes are stored. A car that has been run with a broken spring and a disabled MIL is one where deeper faults may have been ignored.