1995 Ford Escort LX review from UK and Ireland

Intermittent central locking fault. If the key is turned in the lock in an attempt to unlock the car, the car will unlock and then immediately lock itself again.

Intermittent electric windows fault. The windows will occasionally stick down and fail to come up when the button is pressed.

The 1.4 Escort is okay for driving around town and short journeys, but it's a heavy car with a small engine, so really lacks power for anything more.

It's slow to accelerate and is no fun to drive.

There is a lot of engine and wind noise at motorway speeds and the interior starts to rattle if you go much above 70 mph.

The electrics seem to be a problem. Both the electric windows and the central locking have gone wrong.

The engine uses old technology and it's a heavy car with a small motor so it's not as economical as you might think. The best you can expect to get from it is around 32 mpg combined.

But it's not all bad. The boot is very roomy compared to most of the other small hatches available.

Escorts are all cheap now so you may as well get the 1.6 16 valve. It's not much more expensive to insure and is actually more economical than the 1.4 due to the newer technology in the engine. It's also far quicker to accelerate, less noisy and feels less strained at higher speeds and when overtaking.