1994 Ford Escort LX from UK and Ireland - Comments

Everything. When I bought the car from a Ford Dealer (Laidlaw in Bexley, who are losers), it had:

Broken steering rack.

Dashboard lights did not work.

Paint was a different colour where it was involved in a rear end shunt (I later got accused by Ford of parking the car in direct sunlight, how poor can you get!)

The rear windscreen wiper never worked.

Rear heater didn't work.

Speedo needle rattled as I accelerated.

The biggest scratch across the bonnet (after it had been resprayed by them) and much more of which I can't remember.

I got all the parts fixed by Ford, but it took a total of two years before everything was fixed.

In May this year, I noticed rust around the rear offside wheel arch and where the spoiler meets the tailgate, Swales in Sittingbourne fixed this under the warranty, but it took them three weeks to fix (and no courtesy car in the meantime). It had to go back to them again because water was leaking where they had welded on a new quarter panel.

Every service I have had done by Ford (I wanted to keep the Full Ford Service History), each service has cost me over £250.

Laidlaw said that I had a serious oil leak, of which they would charge me £200 to investigate (no work, just to look). I left it because I could not afford to pay that. The next service, there was no sign of a major oil leak.

I had a service carried out last Monday, which cost me £285 (parts £50, labour £215, rest VAT), it needed new driveshaft rubbers and something done to the power steering pump. I was informed that the rest of the car was OK. Took the car for an MOT later, and it failed on the back brakes. Ford had not even bothered to examine the brakes when the car was in for a service. I took it back to them, where they tightened up one side, because one drum was not braking at all. Went back to the MOT centre, who stripped the brakes and have done it properly for me.

If it wasn't for the fact I bought this car on finance over 4 years, I wish that I could just sell it and start again. The amount the car is worth does not even cover what I owe on it (negative equity). This has put me off Fords completely. My old car was a 1988 Escort 1.6 LX, and the only problem I had was that it was rusty. Ford main dealers are the most unhelpful, sarcastic people I have ever met. I think my next vehicle should be a motorbike!

In response this article, can I just say that as a motor mechanic that worked in a Ford franchised dealer for 8 years, my view is that why did you not go to another Ford dealer if you were so dissatisfied? I know I would.

It's garages and poor workmanship from their employee's that give the rest of us hard working mechanics a bad name. I do and have always done, treat customer's cars as if they were my own so don't let this garage cloud your perception that all garages and mechanics are the same.

If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself...

It doesn't matter which Ford garage you go to, they all seem unhelpful. They even stiff you when making deals. I made deal with them and in consequence canceled another deal with another car company. When I went back to Ford to buy the car they said that they could no longer make the deal. I have since gone back to where I made the previous deal. The car had been sold but I was able to make a similar deal with no hassle (dealer other than Ford.)

If the car was in such a bad state and had all those problems with it, why did you buy it in the first place? Surely you must have noticed it was knackered before you bought it?

When I bought the car there was problems, but more arose when I bought the car and drove it. You can't notice all problems at once, especially if the problems are internal. I am not a mechanic so I do not know everything that goes on with a car.

Have a 1994 1.6 LX estate. Owned from new, 135,000 miles on the clock and in all that time has needed just routine servicing, a battery and an exhaust rear section. Clutch will need doing soon, but at 135k it's to be expected. It's only ever failed to start once (when the battery died), and has never broken down, or failed the MOT. Still rust free as well.

Granted it's not exactly a rush to drive, but then it was never meant to be. Besides which I have a Honda Fireblade which would make your average Ferrari feel gutless, so it's never going to compare. No, the Escort is usually a good, practical and reliable workhorse which does exactly what it says on the tin - I have no complaints at all. Sounds like you got a Friday afternoon car.