Faults:

Bought the car quite cheap at eight-hundred pounds and spent two-hundred on a new head gasket. Other than that, nothing major, just 'old car' loose parts etc.

General Comments:

This is a late MKIII XR3i in absolutely fantastic condition. Less rust than my previous 1999 Vectra! I absolutely love this car. It could do with a little more power at times, but still keeps up with the traffic.

By far the best handling car I have ever driven bar-none. The more modern than some cars which were built ten years after my Escort. I have used the car as a daily driver and it is as reliable as any other car I have owned - loads of fun - buy one!

Faults:

The bodywork developed major rusting after just 5 years.

The diaphragm in the carb was always breaking, causing the car to stall when declutching.

The cam belt blew after 50000 miles, leaving the driver stranded in morning rush-hour traffic at a busy town junction.

It needed new dampers all round after 5 years.

Engine began to smoke like an old hack not too long after the cam belt blew. It needed valve seals, rings, and bearings. It also needed a new distributor and carburetor.

General Comments:

The car was bought from new and stayed in the family for 7 years.

It was quite a pleasant car to look at, both inside and out, and drove reasonably well. Running costs were modest, and would have continued to be if it hadn't started to fall apart at the seams.

Unfortunately, the pleasant experiences of its early years were overshadowed by the succession of failures and deterioration.

I would never have bought another Escort after this, and replaced it with a Peugeot 205.

Faults:

Replaced the disk brakes after a couple of heart stopping moments.

Wiper switch suspect, I expect the light switch to burn out soon.

Replaced the seats as the paddings was long gone in both front seats.

Replaced a few hydraulic followers.

General Comments:

No where near as comfortable as the MK4 XR3i.

German built, Original battery tray!

Nervous handling on all, but the perfect roads. (not many of them around)

Noisy and uncomfortable.

GREAT FUN to drive!!

On that good bit of road, NOTHING would go round the corner faster!!

Faults:

Engine is sound, but unfortunately my passenger side door pillar has been killed by rust, so a bit of welding is needed.

Old Escorts are very prone to the brown stuff.

General Comments:

Not the quickest of machines, but sound as a first car or cheap runabout.

Nice inside for its age.

Very stable at speed, good for 110mph with a bit of a tail wind!