1984 Ford Laser review from Trinidad and Tobago

The only things out of the ordinary are:

Front shock burst through after hitting a huge hole in the road.

Broke crankshaft racing a truck on the highway. I had to change the engine after that.

Seats wore out.

Headlights faded and had to be replaced.

Windshield started to leak.

Worst of all the steering rack mount detached from the front sub frame resulting in expensive repair job. This seems to be a common problem on these cars.

Although considered a "granny's" car by the less informed, the ford laser is screaming with potential.

It is quite zippy for a car of its power class. Braking and handling are both exceptional. You need to have the 5-forward gearbox though as the the 4-forward and the 3 speed automatic are just too weak and slow.

As with any car as old as this, it needs to be reguraly maintained in order to keep it working properly. Parts are hard to find and I've had to substitute parts from other cars on many occasions.

The chassis has also become rather floppy and needs to be braced.

As stock... the laser is not such a fantastic car, but give it a good work over, maintain it regularly and it will perform as good as any brand new modern car, for a tenth of the cost.