1997 Ford Escort Si 1.8

Summary:

Best value Escort available

Faults:

Rear and front nearside wheel bearings needed replacing at 40K.

Front suspension bushes at 32K.

Otherwise fine.

General Comments:

A reliable solid car, good driving position, suspension provides a firm but sporty ride, excellent seats in the Si.

Performance is OK, but I think it's breathless under hard acceleration.

Cabin rattles more with age and cold weather.

Scheduled servicing reasonable, but as with all franchised dealers, watch for those little extra jobs, which can double the service charges.

Just get in and drive!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th December, 2000

8th Jun 2004, 07:42

I have a 95 ford escort Si 1.6 and find it a brilliant car, except it is starting to give a lot of trouble. diagnostics chip is gone which is the worst. bout 700 new. apparently ford knew there was a problem with these, but continued with this model for the si for 3 months, because of this this is the only ford I will ever buy.

2nd Jul 2004, 07:45

I have a 95 si, and it is my second escort I find nice to drive although a tad sluggish. at 58,000 miles it now needs a new fuse box and possibly immobiliser. although it has these problems I would recommend it; Jay.

8th Mar 2005, 05:21

I agree with everything said on previous comments, but beware I had an accident in mine at 85,000 miles and although the airbag light went off on starting the aurbag did not deploy at 40MPH glad I wasn't going any faster.

24th Sep 2006, 10:19

I have owned previous escorts and currently have a 96 Si. Performance wise from the 1600 isn't bad, but isn't great. Interior very nice and exterior has obviously been worked on. Smooth ride until I needed new rear shocks/springs and front lower arms. Keep them serviced and they seem fine would definitely recommend!

18th Feb 2007, 02:49

Great car, had it 3 months though, and its starting to cost loads to keep on the road. 85k on the clock and needs a new clutch also wheel bearing rumble is evident. Even so, still impressed with this sporty economy estate.

1997 Ford Escort Si 1.8i 16V petrol

Summary:

A good high-speed car with a crap dealer

Faults:

Door strips have fallen off.

Dealer took the locking wheelnuts off before I picked it up so I only had 3 wheelnuts on each alloy.

Exhaust backbox had a huge hole in the bottom of it.

General Comments:

I love the car! Do not get me wrong, I absolutely love this car but the dealer was absolutely crap. I bought the car and the dealer didn't want to know after the finance was paid. The service dept were brilliant and did everything in their power to help me out. I complained to Ford Customer Services in Halewood who gave the Sales Manager a good kicking and got the problems sorted.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 30th October, 2000

1st May 2001, 03:43

Write Ford about your Dealer.

1997 Ford Escort GTi 1.8 16v

Summary:

1.8 GLX with spoiler and GTi badge + costs

Faults:

Fuel filter.

New clutch.

Brakes seem to wear rapidly.

General Comments:

I was disappointed with this compared to my previous car, I thought that a GTi would be quick but it was hardly faster than my XR2i.

Also the handling was disappointing, it has firmer springs than a standard Escort but the ride height is same, lots of wallow through corners. My mate has a 1.8 16v GLX, and apart from the alloys and spoiler there was not much difference.

Considering the high insurance cost I would not say that this was a bargain, you pay a GTi premium for just a bit quicker than a family saloon.

If you want a proper GTi from Ford get an RS2000, now that is a "hot" hatch

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 25th September, 2000

1997 Ford Escort LX 1.6

Summary:

A complete bloody nightmare

Faults:

There is a fault with the automatic gearbox on Escorts of this year, so much so that they are no longer made. The car creeps forward in 'drive', and revs itself when you are not touching the pedal, this is not classed as dangerous by Ford, just a 'known fault'. This fault can be temporarily rectified at a cost of almost £1200 to the owner, although in the end, Ford did eventually pay half, they also stated that this problem will 'probably re-occur'. When I bought the car in March no-one knew anything about this fault, but now that I am trying to sell the whole world seems to know, and no-one will touch it with a barge pole.

BEWARE - DO NOT BUY A LATE REGISTERED FORD ESCORT WITH AN AUTOMATIC GEARBOX.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th July, 2000

25th Sep 2003, 21:37

Umm, automatics are supposed to creep forward. The engine idles at around 500-1000 rpm and this puts "just" enough force on the torque converter to make the car very slowly creep forward unless you put the brakes on lightly. Have you never driven an automatic before or what?

As for the revving, are you sure it isn't a sticky throttle cable? Or a dirty fuel filter. Surging (revving) can happen just as easily in any other car with any other engine.

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1997 Ford Escort Cabriolet 1.8i petrol

Faults:

Just had general servicing (which is a huge rip off).

Also had to have damage repairs by a Ford recognised repairer, nothing but loads of hassle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 3rd December, 1998