1985 Ford Escort GL from North America - Comments

Needed a head gasket at 65,000 miles - a $600 repair after paying $700 for it to get me through a few months.

Demise of car was that rust ate away at the rear right wheel and wheel well. Nothing really to fix, because you can't bolt or weld to rust. Wheel started to splay outward. Driving over bumps eventually would have caused car to literally break in two. Ended up buying a late model Pontiac Grand Prix with low miles.

There are still a lot of old Escorts out there, and if you can find a good one, it may serve you well as basic transportation. Parts are cheap and a rookie can repair them. Look for a car driven a lot on the highway. Mine was driven to and from work in harsh conditions, no highway driving.

Stay away from the 1.6L with the 2 barrel carb. The 1.8L fuel injection which came in "1985-1/2" was 150x better, I'm told.

I don't know, I own an 1984 ford escort that I bought back in October. and it has been great I paid $300 dollars for it and put 0n 10,000 miles, it has only had one major problem a month after I bought it the water pump went out and I had to get it replaced, but that was only $200 dollars. It is a 1.6 liter and has a 2 barrel carburater it gets about 35 miles a gallon and is still going strong with 300000 miles on the motor, and it starts every time. I've liked my escort so much now I own 2 more. On the highway i've had it going a 120 miles an hour and it sounded like a new car at those speeds and other speeds. But I'm selling it so I can get a ford ranger a much better ford in my opinion.

I have one escort 1.3L from 85. I have only problem with this, it "eat" a lot of money. today I get the decision to sell it.

I found a 1985 EscortL 1.6 in a barn last year with 20k. I did have to up date belts and hoses plus replace the front brakes and timing belt because of age. but over all it a fun and really doesn't cost that much to drive, parts are still easy to get. this is my second escort I've owned. I hope this one gives me as much fun as the last one I had. If you take care of a car, 99% of the time it will take care of you.