1995 Ford Escort L 1.6i from UK and Ireland

Summary:

I hate it

Faults:

The boot doesn't open.

The rear view mirror fell off.

The alarm has a mind of its own.

Changed a brake light.

New suspension bush required.

Rust built up on rear arches.

2 new front tires.

The handbrake (P) light shows indefinitely.

Plastic from interior trim broke.

Cigarette lighter launches like a projectile missile. Now doesn't work.

General Comments:

This car is the worst car I have ever owned.

It handles like a boat. The suspension is too soft, which is good for tackling speed bumps at high speeds, but bad for cornering.

The performance is dismal. It sounds like a washing machine in high revs. It does have a twin cam DOHC engine, which is an improvement on the SOHC on the Mark 4.

The reliability is average. I will give it some credit here for not leaving me stuck on the hard shoulder of the M25. Yet.

The interior is cheap. Parts of it are scattered around the inside of my car including the rear view mirror, which after several attempts to glue it back on, I have left on the back seat.

Exterior.. Thunderbirds are go! Who designed this car? Was it some kind of promotional competition I missed out on in the early 90s?

Ford were on drugs when they designed this car.

Avoid like the plague.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th May, 2007

9th May 2007, 12:28

I agree. Worst car money can buy. I would rather be thrown in front of a moving train then buy one of these.

If your thinking of buying this car. Kill yourself first.

9th May 2007, 16:17

Why buy it then? Duh!

15th Jun 2010, 13:13

You bought a 12 year old cheap car then complain that it has a few minor faults?

Why didn't you to go to a windscreen fitters and get them to glue the mirror back on with their special glue?

1995 Ford Escort LX 1.6 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Looks and feels old fashioned, but mechanically great

Faults:

Headlights go quite regularly.

General minor electrical problems such as rear wash/wipe stopped working, indicators broke.

Found the rear wheel barrings problematic, had to replace both during ownership.

General Comments:

Despite its age, this car never let me down. It looked rubbish, drove rubbish, sounded rubbish, but it's like a tank, never had a mechanical problem with the car. The engine provided good acceleration and power in lower gears, but lacked real bite from 50mph upwards.

Under its dour shell, my Escort always provided me with a reliable, reasonably quick and easy to drive car, which is exactly what I needed out of my first car.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 5th March, 2007

1995 Ford Escort from North America

Summary:

Does the job for the price

Faults:

Well...the brakes, front strut, heater blower motor.

General Comments:

I love this car as I bought it dirt cheap. It is not a whole lot to look at, but gets helps me to get the pizzas to customers doors.

I only paid $300 for the car and it has exceeded my expectations.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th February, 2007

1995 Ford Escort LX wagon 1.9 from North America

Summary:

Until now it was an awesome car

Faults:

Replaced tie rod ends at around 150,000.

Overheated and had fan motor replaced at around 170,000.

At 187,000 started knocking extremely bad. car died on me. I am auto student at local community college. I pulled the head, found that valve seat on intake of #4cylinder had came out. had to replace seat and valve and also the piston. this did not fix the knocking! I am still investigating this. the timing is fine. there is oil on #4 cylinder. going to do manual oil pressure check and possibly take head back off.

General Comments:

Until recent problem the car has been great.

I am single mom going to school full time and the car was excellent on gas.

Handled well.

Sufficient power. I mean its not a v8 but it got me where I needed to go.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th January, 2007

24th Jan 2007, 18:08

I think that you should be counting your lucky stars!!! It is an old car with a pile of miles on it. Consider what you purchased this car for and what you got out of it, and I think that it has certainly served its purpose. No doubt though, it is unfortunate that your trusty little bomb has died, I am not disputing that, but I have the same kind of car, approximately the same amount of miles and the car's brake lines need replacing, tie rod ends and the radio stopped working (its the cheap old radio deck which is OK, getting a new Panasonic). I am happy and will willingly repair all that is wrong, the key is to find a junk yard or somewhere where you can get parts cheap. the dealerships WILL rob you! Good luck!

24th Jan 2007, 18:43

A few years back when I went back to school I bought an old '79 Pinto with 180,000 miles on it for $300. All I had to do was replace the valve cover gasket. I drove it 3 years and sold it for twice what I paid for it. Like the last commenter pointed out, finding a good salvage yard and buying used parts can help keep it going for a while, however I'd be tempted to just find another old car that ran for 3 or 4 hundred bucks to get you thru school. Just be sure to get something cheap to fix, preferably with rear drive if you can find it, and steer clear of imports. Repairs on them cost 5 times as much.

25th Jan 2007, 16:40

I own a '94 Escort and I have written my Love & troubles in this web (I'm IN LOVE WITH THIS CAR) and I have to agree with the above statements, But, invest at least a $1000 dollars and ask for repair records!

30th Jan 2007, 16:27

Sounds like you dropped a valve. That's a $700-$800 repair assuming you go to an independent shop that doesn't outsource jobs like this. Same thing happened to my moms 1992 Escort. Two of the valves went affecting two of the cylinders (which meant she was getting only 1/2 of the normal power).

She got this fixed because her car is in excellent condition and recently got it repainted.

You should only fix this if your Escort is in good overall condition. If it's rusted or there are other issues, it makes more sense to dump it and buy another Escort for $1500.