Faults:

The exhaust backbox fell off about 2 months after getting the car, a new backbox was needed.

Spark plugs needed replacing in January 2004.

General Comments:

For the £1600 I paid for the car I think it was quite a good deal considering it had only done 55000 miles. The salesman forgot to mention that the spark plugs had been in there a long time and would need replacing soon (see above), but apart from that hardly anything has gone wrong with the car during the first 8 months I've had it.

Fuel economy isn't the best considering it's a 1.4 litre engine, and even according to the Ford Escort manual the 1.8 Escort gets more miles per gallon than the 1.4 Escort! I probably get around 30 miles per gallon travelling to and from work every day, as it is along mostly urban roads.

For my Christmas 2003 present I had the car fitted with a 'chrome surface sports exhaust backbox' which really makes it sound like a more powerful car. What I found amazing was that even though we were told it would only increase engine power by around 3%, I can actually really notice the improvement in performance, as the 0-60 time is down to between 9 and 10 seconds. Maybe the exhaust will be worth the £350 extra insurance costs I had to pay (I am only 19 after all).

I find the Escort a large improvement over my previous Fiesta 1.8D.

Faults:

Headlamps Broke after 38000

Locks Had to be replaced just before I got rid of it.

General Comments:

A brilliant car for its price, it lasts for ages and if I hadnt have got rid of it, It would still be going now. The cabin is fairly basic, however its has a nifty cd player and tape radio. the seat fabric was very comfortable and hard wearing, but the plastics felt cheap and tacky, and parts started to fall off.

Faults:

Having only owned the car for the past month, I haven't given the car sufficient time to show any defects.

However I did encounter problems with the driver's side electric window. However this was down to dirty contacts in the center console and was easily repairable.

The front seats on my escort and also on many others that I have looked at had/have wearing on the front seats. This is annoying as it not only looks ugly, but is also sharp where the plastic protrudes.

General Comments:

As it is still early days in my experience with this car I am not really able to comment on it's reliability.

It performs well in the higher gears, but does however seem a little dead in the first three.

The interior is tidy and well laid out. I am a tall driver and decided on a escort due to the space it offers.

The insurance is a blessing. Performance wise the escort is not that far behind my old 1.7 Renault 19 and yet is three insurance groups lower. If you are a young male driver such as myself then you can't do much better than a Ford.

Faults:

Front Crank Shaft - sprayed oil every where.

Due to above problem contaminated brake pads.

Front O/S headlamp.

General Comments:

The ZETEC engine in this car is suppose to other high performance at a low cost, but this car compared too many older CVH and DOHC engines is sluggish in comparison, at some points this car would have trouble beating a Lada, this is a true lemon with exccesive fuel consumption.

The steering is to light, the brakes are poor at best and lock up at any opportunity of heavy (not excessive) breaking. This car is a death trap on wheels. I would feel safer driving a coffin.

The only good thing is that it comes with white dials and green dashboard lights as standard.