1995 Ford Escort LX from North America - Comments

The following things happened within a period of 7 months:

Front end alignment got messed up - steering wheel had to be turned 30 degrees left for the car to drive straight. Had to replace the inner tie rod end/tie rod shoe and do a front end alignment.

A/C stopped working - the repair estimates I got from different mechanics ranged from $400 to $500 Canadian. Well, I guess I don't have A/C anymore...

Driver side door lock jammed. The lock assembly can be only purchased from a Ford dealer, and it costs $200 plus labour. That's OK, I can live without it...

And then it got really bad - the water pump has developed a leak that I didn't notice in time. As a result, the timing belt got soaked and snapped when I was on the highway in the middle of nowhere. $500+ in repairs and towing.

After that I started to get the transmission problems - sometimes it was really hard to shift into first, second and reverse gears.

Paint had started to peel off everywhere, but that's a typical Ford problem.

Ford factory CD player wouldn't eject the CD - I had to pry it out.

The car was really hard to start, especially in cold/hot weather.

And did I mention the small stuff? Like engine slowly leaking oil and coolant, passenger side door not closing properly (I had to slam it really hard. And I mean REALLY), allow wheels oxidizing to hell and clutch pedal not always going in all the way.

Finally, I found out that my rear struts were leaking and the springs were broken, strut mounts were no good, plus the flex pipe in the exhaust system had to be replaced. And the rear brakes were worn. A total of $1400+ to fix.

This car is just a maintenance disaster! Mechanics use Ford instead of the word crap because it breaks down so easily and is so damn expensive to fix.

It turns out that Ford parts are _super_ expensive! Escort's probably more expensive to fix than a 80's BMW. My mother has spent less money in repairs on her 1991 Acura Integra in 3 years than I did on my Ford in 7 months.

I ended up selling the car after seven months with a lot of new parts for less that half the price I paid for it, and I was darn happy to get rid of it.

Apart from having poor mechanical quality, this car has abysmal performance and handling is by far worse than average. Makes Civic EX feel like a sports car. Insurance costs are pretty high, too.

So, if you're looking for a cheap, high-quality used car, do yourself a favour and buy a Civic or a Corolla. They will end up being much cheaper than Ford Escort crap.

Now I have a brand anti-loyalty of sorts - I will NEVER EVER buy another Ford.

Hi you bought the car used maybe the car was abused or the millage turned back or lack of proper maintenance that's the problem with used car I bought a escort 95 brand new and 200,000 km later I'm driving the the car with original battery water pump radiator exhaust and so on only alternator, shocks were replace plus normal maintenance brakes once front and rear.

I bought my 1995 Escort Wagon 3 years ago for $1,500.

It now has 160,000 Miles on it.

I replaces the front (with mounts)

and rear struts (with springs). $700

Replaced brake pads. $25

Got Alignment for life (Firestone). $150

Optima Battery. $125

Basically $1,000 in repairs in 3 years.

Not bad.

This car will never die!

My Escort has 262 000km. Does anybody have more than that?

I agree with how expensive Escorts -- or any Ford -- are to repair in the area of OEM Ford parts. I went to a dealer's parts department to buy an oil drain plug, which is nothing more than a short little bolt, and they wanted US$17! I asked about the factory repair manual and they wanted almost US$200 per volume. A plastic heater control knob was US$40 if backordered. I then went to a major chain auto parts store and purchased substitutions for these items: US$26 total. An electronics repair shop gave me a knob that fit for free.

I don't know what the paint problem and rust situation is. I live in a sand pit (Southwestern US) and the average wind speeds around here are about 15-20 miles an hour. I've had the car 3-4 years, it has about 156000 miles (about 250000 km) on it, and I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon. Its bodywork is in great shape, and while the engine had some problems and I've put $1000 US dollars into it, at 150000, some things are going to go. Labour on these cars are expensive because the engine essentially has to be taken out of the car. When my clutch went out it was $750. $170 clutch, $580 labour.

7-15-2006 I have found that many of the 1.9l engines have problems with the valve seats coming loose. the valve seat breaks and the parts damage the piston, cylinder head, if you called any machine shop you would find out that they repair a lot of cylinder heads with this problem. the good news is that they do make a better cylinder head for this engine. my dads 1996 ford escort 1.9l has been fix twice for loose valve seats. the next time this happens either we get rid of the car or get that improved cylinder head. my dad likes the car so much we might get that improved head, that if I don't get tired of doing the work, third times a charm. p.s. the car had 96000 mile with no problems, until the seat broke.

7-15-2006 I have found that many of the 1.9l engines have problems with the valve seats coming loose. the valve seat breaks and the parts damage the piston, cylinder head, if you called any machine shop you would find out that they repair a lot of cylinder heads with this problem. the good news is that they do make a better cylinder head for this engine. my dads 1996 ford escort 1.9l has been fix twice for loose valve seats. the next time this happens either we get rid of the car or get that improved cylinder head. my dad likes the car so much we might get that improved head, that if I don't get tired of doing the work, third times a charm. p.s. the car had 96000 mile with no problems, until the seat broke.

I would agree that the Ford Escort is expensive to fix, but nothing could be more expensive than shop time. I have gone under my Escort myself rather than send it to the shop, just because the design is so tightly packed. It's a nightmare to work on, with the alternator buried deep in the engine and the oil filter over, under and behind wires and cables, to name a few examples. To do a (usually) simple repair took a few weeks, because of special tools needed. On our Volvo, there wasn't anything you couldn't reach, and there was no need for any special tools. I wish that were the case with the Escort.

To the 21st Sep 2004, 20:31 commenter... My 1991 Ford Escort had 346,000KM when I got rid of it.

I own a Ford Escort. I got it for 500. It had been in a front end collision, I went to the junk yard, got a new radiator, bumper, fenders, lights and grille, both airbags and paint for under £300.

Since then it needed an alignment because of the crash, a new exhaust and a rear control bar, which was only 50 bucks for the control bar and muffler, so you need to learn to do your own work, and the car won't die.