1994 Ford Orion Ghia 1.6i 16V from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Great performer with a low price
Faults:
Offside balljoint and pinion bearing in the gearbox.
General Comments:
I LOVE this car! So far I haven't done any upgrades on her, but I plan to!
Handling is a dream, acceleration is what I would call pretty fast and she LOOKS good too!
I was a bit annoyed when my first service came up and they had to replace the balljoint, brake discs and pads (although the brakes were more wear and tear anyway) and then I was also rather annoyed when I was forced to get the whole gearbox reconditioned, but so far she's not let me down and hasn't once refused to get me from A to B.
Petrol consumption does seem to be rather high though. I've discovered it doesn't matter how I drive, the same amount of fuel is guzzled. I can get about 300 miles to a tank of petrol which at the time of writing (18 September 2000) costs me about £35. Not the most fuel efficient car you'll agree, but I still wouldn't trade her for the world!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th September, 2000
22nd Oct 2003, 08:24
Hi.
I wrote the original review above just over 3 years.
Since then unfortunately it all went down hill, I've had to have a suspension column changed because of creaking (rubbers worn), numerous wheel bearing changes as well as I've had to put in another new gearbox/clutch/exhaust although obviously a lot of this is wear and tear.
The final note was that unfortunately the car was stolen a few weeks back. Putting it simply the door locks/security on this car are pathetic. They just pierced a whole in the door and triggered the central locking. Unfortunately there is no immobiliser on this car as standard. Insurance deemed it a write off when recovered. If you do buy one of these, fit an immobiliser!