1990 Ford Escort LX review from North America
"Cheap, Bad ignition, bad alignment and suspension, fighter-like cockpit, bad acceleration, shifting"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
1. Car eats tires:- I have to buy 4 tires per year (Even 70000 mile tires when I only drive 15000 miles)
2. Car won't stay in alignment; small bumps in road send it off.
3. Mechanic says car is missing alignment tools-you have to buy a $50
setup system to align each time.
4. Car Stalls at Stop signs and Stoplights and runs bad on every other day.
5. Dealership says they can't find anything wrong with cars performance.
6. Ford never notified the owner of a recall on the Front Windshield installation.
7. Seat Belts are always in the way of getting packages out of the car.
8. Timing Belts regularly die at every
75,000 miles.
9. Car Dealer took 45 minutes to decide to sell me the 30,000 mile extended warranty after I asked for it.
10. I was pestered by Dealerships as far away as California, Mexico, and Canada to sell me a extended warranty even though I had already bought one.
11. Electronic Diagnostic Hookup died necessitating a $150.00 charge even before what else could be determined to be bad with the car.
12. first 5 years of car were average; but last 5 years cost me $100.00 per month in repair bills to keep car on the road.
13. Even though garages would replace the battery, the car would think it still had a 'bad battery' so the car wouldn't start the next day. A Mechanic told me that the car 'had to learn it had a new battery??'.-Why can't it learn that in the shop??
14. Door Seals deteriorate necessitating replacement or the ice will freeze your doors and locks fast shut in Winter.
15. Car has no pickup as if the transmission was installed back-wards with 3rd gear as first, etc.
16. Had to put in Oil-50 engine coating so as the free up first gear to give me more power 6 months after car was new.-helped some.
17. Transmission doesn't want to shift into 2nd or 3rd despite amount of gas given and when finally does shift it jerks your head.
18. I'm sure I've forgotten something else as annoying or bad.
19. Was an 11,500 car new and not worth any more later. (Compare with a Chevy Camaro bought new in 69 for 5,000
{ plus interest) and sold in 82 for 1,000 (at start of car hijackings!).
20. Any escort near this age old is probably not worth more than a giveaway
value of $250 (if that) any blue or other book value is a laugher!
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| First year of ownership | 1990 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2003 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.8 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 4/10 |
| Reliability marks | 3/10 |
| Comfort marks | 2/10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 3/10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5/10 |
| Distance when acquired | 0 miles |
| Most recent distance | 155000 miles |
| Previous car | Chevrolet Chevrolet Citation |
| Date of Entry | 10th April, 2003 |