1998 Ford Escort ZX2 review from North America

I have owned my 1998 Ford Escort ZX2 for just over 2 years. My boyfriend, who is a mechanic, has done regular maintenance on the vehicle (oil changes, filters, etc.) Those people who keep commenting on maintaining vehicles can shove it. I drive all highway and keep regular maintenance and do NOT race the car or have it pimped out. The fact of the matter is, Ford does not put enough time or effort into building their cars. At 120,000km, the serpentine belt needed to be replaced as one of the bearings blew up and wrecked the entire unit! At 130,000km I replaced the radiator which wasn't a huge deal except for the fact that the thermostat gauge stopped working entirely after working on and off for about a year. Since about 130,000km also, my transmission started slipping. When merging onto the hwy, the car would rev up no matter how much gas was given, but the car wouldn't go past 20km/h. Eventually it'd catch after a few seconds and run regular. In keeping up the maintenance, my boyfriend did a tranny flush in hopes of clearing the problem up temporarily. 2 weeks after the flush, my tranny died. I only have 148,000km on my car. My alternator is on it's way out as well. This car has cost me more than I paid for it. It was driven by an old lady before and she gave me the records on the car indicating regular maintenance as well.

From what I've read on previous comments, the trannys on the Ford Escort ZX2 (1997-2002) have serious defects. Some of you may be lucky enough to find one that was built by a professional, but most are lemons and I wouldn't suggest investing your money on these. I will be buying an import from now on.