1993 Ford Orion LXD review from UK and Ireland

Front wishbones needed replaced at purchase.

Front exhaust down-pipe replaced.

New fuel tank.

New timing/pump belts.

New fuse box.

Re-con alternator.

Rusted through bolts on front of tank.

Rusted bolts on front wishbones.

Starter motor wire to alternator.

New glow plugs.

Bad earth on front left light cluster.

While not a performance car, it serves my needs although it is perhaps a bit big for just one person.

The car was purchased in June at which point it had 12 months mot and 6 months tax. The tank looked like it was needing done then as the previous owner had tried to seal the leak with liquid metal... but this didn't hold, new tank cost £87 but I only had to pay £13 due to work paying a chunk.

Driving into work one day and the down-pipe came off which obviously started making a huge noise... cost to fix for parts and labour same day was £57.

The Ford belt kit I got given for free along with fuel/oil filters which saved me a ton of money as Ford wanted something stupid like £120 for the belts alone.

The new fuse box is going to cost around £120 - seems a lot, but been assured it's the right price.

Set of performance plugs is £50 fitted - quite happy with this, car is now starting first time on the key all the time.

The belts, tank and filters were all fitted for nothing, had I had to pay to get this work done and with what is going on now (alternator, fuse box etc..) I would have been somewhat reluctant to keep the car.

It is a very comfortable car to drive, performance is not startling, feels like it's taking an age to get up to 60mph, but then getting up to 90mph isn't too bad, it's not fast getting to those speeds, but it's very comfortable cruising at them.

The fuel economy is pretty good having been calculated at 49mpg over 700miles in a weekend being mostly motorway miles I'm happy with what I get and that's with a heavy foot if such a thing is possible in a diesel.

I would love to be able to get a bit of power out of it. The car will only be kept till next summer when the MOT is due so will not be looking to spend much. Perhaps a better air filter/induction kit or spill timing. Any other ideas??

It's a far superior car than the Fiat Panda I was driving before and the mk-iv Escort before that, both of which were parents cars.

If you can find one in decent condition, aren't looking for speedy motoring, but economical A to B travelling instead, then it's a good sensible choice with plenty of space for passengers (I'm 6'1" and well built) and an enormous load space, a good choice for cheap motoring.