1991 Ford Escort Popular review from UK and Ireland

The gearbox linkage detached from underneath the car, causing the gearstick to disappear through the floor.

The rear nearside wheel fell off complete with brake drum.

The windscreen cracked which, according to Autoglass was due to the original windscreen not being laminated correctly.

The brakes suddenly failed with absolutely no warning.

The entire exhaust system rusted away and needed to be replaced.

The handling on this car isn't anything exciting. I do appreciate this is the estate model so it does have extra weight to cope with, but if Renault and VW can make an estate car that handles well, why can't Ford?

The car is very sluggish, particularly up hills.

One thing I was very surprised at is the fact the steering is very heavy, Ford really should have had power steering as standard on the estate models as I've heard similar stories from other Escort estate owners.

Reliability of this car has been truly dreadful. I've spent a lot of money in repairs and this has overshadowed the fact that the general economy of the fuel-injected 1.4 engine is actually very good.

The overall build quality is very poor. Fair enough this is a 10 year old car now, but I've driven other cars of a similar age and non have aged as badly as this. It's rusting on nearly every body panel and the paintwork is so badly faded it's now white (it was originally red)

In the car's defense, the seats are very comfortable and the carrying capacity is excellent, even with the back seats up.