About 9 weeks back I picked up an 03-Plate 2.0 TDCi Zetec. Love the car, drives well, handles well (For what it is), and I've no reservations if it came to buying another.

HOWEVER. The following things have gone wrong, or been found to be wrong since I bought it ::

Dual Mass Flywheel :: Died within a couple of weeks of getting the car. Dealer sorted it out.

Brakes Binding on front :: only to find that ONE side had it's pads replaced, and the other hadn't by one of the local "Ford Specialist" independent garages. I won't be using them myself!

Starter Motor is a little scored on the shaft :: Should have been done with the DMF, but the dealer is an arsehole!

Fuel Return Pipe on top of engine split :: On closer inspection the plastic connector had cracked, and some idiot had simply wrapped it in Self-Amalgamating tape. Cost nearly £70 for the part as I needed it that day, and only Evans Halshaw had it in, It'd be nice if they at least gave you a kiss after they shagged you.

EGR Valve :: Was coked up solid, cleaned it, and the motor appears to have burned out.

Despite these issues I like the car. It's comfortable, quiet, and pretty quick for what it is.

I would buy another, but I'd be more inclined to buy from another dealer next time, rather than the cowboy I got it from this time! I've been unlucky, and collected all the main faults in one nice little package. If you're thinking of getting one of these cars I'd recommended it, but get a warranty with it! Make sure it's decent, and you'll be fine. Most of my issues I think is because I don't pootle around town never getting above 2000rpm! ALl of these issues are avoidable if you actually give the car some welly at some point, and make sure the servicing is kept on top of!

People don't seem to realise that diesels thrive when driven hard, as it cleans them out. Conversely they can get gummed up if you don't push them hard enough. That's especially true with modern diesels with DPF's which need to get up to a good temperature to regenerate.

Fuel quality is also important. Supermarket fuels often don't have the same cleaning additives as branded fuels. Premium diesels like BP ultimate and Shell V-Power may be more expensive, but they include extra cleaning additives, and are also cleaner anyway due to how they're produced. Using those regularly can help keep the engine clean, and help engine reliability.

Agree with avoiding the supermarket fuel.
Always use the Shell garage just down the road from the local Asda, usually within 1p a litre of Asdas price.
In the queue to pay one day and a bloke in an Asda uniform was in front of me. Assistant behind the counter said to him "thought you would have used your own petrol station, don't you get a discount?"
His reply said it all really, "I wouldn't put that s**t in my car!!"

Ran my previous car on Morrisons fuel for a while til I switched to Shell and started getting 2-3 mpg better economy. Not bad in a car that only did 27 mpg anyway! That's 5-10% improvement for an extra 1p a litre

Up to a point I agree with the fuel quality thing, but normally I fill up at Sainsburys. Partially because I can see the BP badge when they get their tanks filled up, and partially because they are normally 3p-5p cheaper than the rest of the garages round here. I chuck injector cleaner through my cars once every 2 months, and that does a better job anyway than fuel additives in such small amounts it's not going to make a massive difference.

The main things people don't do is service their car when they are supposed to, and they think driving with a light foot all the time is better. You NEED to blast any car out every so often. My father used to comment that when I'd driven the 2.2 Astra he had it usually ran better afterwards.