Faults:

When I got the car, I noticed I was pulling left and right on acceleration and De-acceleration . Problem solved x2 bottom arms.

Engine over heated, thought it was head gasket, the garage told me that the head had cracked in several places. So I had all new top end of engine. Even now when have it at a constant motorway speed e.g. 70-80mph the temp creeps up to the red. So I feel that the head is going again or gasket.

Replaced shockers on front and x2 read bearings on back for MOT.

General Comments:

I've had a 1.8 diesel ford van before and it took it's time getting up to speed, but this 1.8 turbo diesel is quite good for performance. A bit slow pulling off until turbo kicks in (1500-2000rpm). You get used to it though. I like the car, but I'm not happy with the garage that did the repair on the head.

Faults:

Alternator died at 170,000 miles.

Clutch went at 155,000 miles.

E-brake sticks once in awhile.

General Comments:

The car has been amazing to me. I have driven it out to Boston almost every weekend for the past 2 years, and it's great on gas, and is a very smooth and easy to control ride.

I was hit by another car back in January, it smashed in my driver side quarter panel, my hood, my bumper and my driver side headlight. I duct taped the bumper so it didn't have a huge hole in it, and the light so it would hold still, and drove it all the way from Western Massachusetts to Miami, and still got 38 mpg! What a great car!

Faults:

Frayed driver's side seat belt - expensive to replace. This car has been nearly perfect mechanically. A bulletproof design that has only needed minor maintainance issues such as tires, brakes, and fluids.

General Comments:

This is an update of a review that I had written last year, but now that I have had the chance to drive this car, I have some new things to say. I drive a lot, from driving to school in the morning to delivering pizza in the evening, this little vehicle is asked to do the work of three ordinary cars, and has excelled.

At 106,000 miles, the engine does not leak anywhere, nor does the clutch. Whatever they are paying the engineers at Mazda, it is not enough! It still runs as smooth as it ever has, and not a single puff of smoke from the exhaust.

It still passes emissions perfectly and gets 26-29 MPG around town - with the AC running in 115 degree weather - and around 36 on the highway. On a recent drive from Phoenix to LA, I averaged 38 during one stretch.

My complaints about this car are few, but should be noted. Any driver taller than 5'8" will not like this car on long trips. I am six feet tall, and have a 34 inch inseam, the center radio/AC/Cup holder console cuts considerably into my right-side legroom. I will surely break my leg against this in an accident.

Also, good luck finding factory-sized tires for this car. Ford in all of their genius decided to use a very unique sized tire for this car. It is a 185-60-R15 tire that is only available in the Goodyear Eagle line. This size is being phased out of their inventory, and is quite expensive. It is actually cheaper to go with a wider and lower profile tire, I now run 205-50-R15 tires which actually make the car look even sweeter, plus the wider tires have greatly improved on the car's handling. But tires are still quite pricey for a car of this size because they have to be a performance type to properly work with the GT sport suspension.

With that said, the escort is a durable ride that was clearly engineered for a lot of high-mileage city driving. The GT is Fast, cheap, reliable, and still extremely fun to drive.