1991 Ford Orion Reviews - Page 2 of 3

Needed new starter motor - kept sticking.

Key stuck in petrol cap.

Juddering e windows.

Sold sporty Peugeot to get Family car after birth of daughter. Does the trick on a low budget.

Steady on the road.

Fast enough on the motorway when needed.

Less people seem to tailgate.

A man's car!!

Both front suspension arms were rotten.

The front heated windscreen doesn't work properly.

The carburetter does not allow good enough air intake when an air-filter is fitted.

Cracking looking car.

Even small additions make all the difference though.

Surprisingly good acceleration and top speed.

Boot lock jammed.

Brake discs warped and shattered (at high speed!)

Fuel Injector Needle snapped.

Central locking faults (after a break-in)

Camshaft needed replacing at 60000 miles.

Valve stem oil seals needed replacing at 64000.

I can't really moan too much about this car as it served me well for 4 years, however there were a few problems.

For some reason, fords do not particularly like the cold weather very much. My Orion was no exception to this rule. It would refuse to start on many a cold morning, meaning I was spending quite a few pennies on trying to fix this rather annoying problem.

The central locking was totally screwed by a youth, who tried, but failed to break in to my car.

On the plus side, the Orion is an ideal car for someone who wants cheap insurance (group 9) and a quick car. Lets face it, the 1600i is basically and xr3i with a boot, so its not slow!

I kept the car fairly standard (ford alloys and boot spoiler) and it still looked the business when I sold it, however I heard that the person I sold the car to crashed it soon after, never mind...

Electric door locks failed and the plastic switch on the end of the ignition key died, failing to activate the starter motor.

The alternator was replaced just before I got it. It has a oil leak on the top of the rocker cover that I cannot get rid of. Looks like there should be an attachment there as it has a blocked hole and the oil seeps around it.

My first diesel, after a life time of petrol and propane motors. Apart from being unbelievable in fuel consumption it seems to have not much else going for it. The wait for the diesel light to go out, the lack of power and the noise are against it, but it runs forever on a single tank.

It seems a bit small in the front and the key is hard to get to, especially as you have to access it twice, once to start warmers and the next to start. So far I like it though.

Damp was getting onto the spark plugs which was causing them not to fire resulting in loss of power when the weather was rainy/wet. Solved with new H.T. leads.

Rear fog lights won't stay on most of the time. Even changing the switch didn't cure the problem.

1.4 engine too slow and not enough power to negotiate hills, would recommend 1.6 minimum.

L.X. spec at this age is very basic. You don't get electric windows or power steering.

Sunroof leaves you with no headroom. I'm 6ft 1 and can't comfortably sit up straight.

Handles very well, grips the road on corners although would benefit from power steering.

Not had a service for 25,000 and it's still going strong.

Overall a nice sized car, with enough room for 4 adults on a long journey. A shame it tends to get poor reviews as a car. Still looks impressive too.