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.

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

Faults:

Tires wear unevenly, car stalls all the time in traffic. Insides are falling apart.

General Comments:

It was cheap and now I see why.

Faults:

Head gasket blown twice now, front rotors warped causing front brakes to go out constantly.

Electrical short in wiring harness causing A/C to malfunction.

General Comments:

Thank god for the warranty, I'm getting rid of this thing as soon as I can.

Faults:

Replaced the brakes.

General Comments:

This is by far the best car that I have ever owned or have ever driven. I love my car, I liked it so much that I just traded it in on the new ZX2 S/R, I hope that the reliablity comes with me.

Great car, better than all the cars in its class.

Faults:

Nothing but regular maintenance.

General Comments:

This car is great.

0-60 in 8 seconds (manual transmission) is enough to beat most cars in its class in a drag race, if you're into that sort of thing. Very confident handling and excellent brake feel. The shifter is a little notchy, but it's never hard to find and hit the gears. Very sporty design. Variable camshaft timing allows the engine to produce most of its torque at low rpm, so it pulls great throughout its entire range.

Tall drivers (6'0 or taller) might feel a little uncomfortable driving this car, though.

Excellent cargo space due to split-folding rear seats.

Good gas mileage (26/33 EPA). I've gone up to 310 miles with one gallon left in the tank once (12.8 gallon tank).

Stay away from the automatic, though. Fords are known for having problematic automatic transmissions.

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.

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.