1992 Ford Tempo GL review from North America

Despite my ritualistic upkeep, the heater core went at 124,000 miles. The starter went at 140,000 miles. My head cracked at the number one chamber at 160,000 miles. There is no oil pressure anymore. Don't even ask about the exhaust pipe and muffler.

A family member, who is an expert at destroying cars in record time, borrowed my Chevy Cavalier. Needless to say, said family member put that expertise to use, and I found myself in the market for a another car.

My income limited, I bought my 1992 Ford Tempo. Shortly after I bought it, the heater core went. After it was replaced, the car ran fine. Granted, it was reliable after that. I racked up a lot of miles on the car because of my job. I kept up the maintenance on the car. When I gave it an oil change every three thousand miles, I put the good oil in and used the good filters. Every three months I put in the good spark plugs, not the ninety-nine cent cheap ones. Get the idea of how well I kept up the car?

The real problems started six months ago. The starter went. I immediately replaced it. Rust starting eating away my exhaust pipe and muffler. I fixed that too. Then the head cracked. I had a replacement put on. Now there is no oil pressure.

I began talking to mechanics about my car and found out that a cracked head is a common problem with Ford Tempos. I also found out that the lack of oil pressure is due to the fact that when the head cracked, it took the bottom half of the motor with it. This is one explanation as to why there is no oil pressure. The other possibility is that the screen in which the oil comes up into the head is clogged, another common problem among Tempos.

Major problems with cars are one thing and are to be expected. But with a car that has had good maintenance and loving care, this is ridiculous. As of right now my Ford Tempo will start and idle, but she won't drive more than a mile without dying. With the money I dumped into her so far, I should have just bought a another car.