Faults:

Purchased at 170k. Only essential repairs were done:

New fuel and brake lines (fixed, $400).

Rear suspension low and kinda stiff (not fixed).

Dehumidifier not doing its job when it's wet outside (not fixed).

Manifold exhaust pipe needs change (not fixed).

General Comments:

Bought it for $1,500 at 170k, now at 220 and still pretty solid. Five speed, 2.5 SE, DOHC V6.

This car's greatest asset is it's handling. It's got an unbelievable grip on the pavement, especially in snow (I'm from Canada). The leather seats are very comfy, and the heater/defrost are great. The car is pretty reliable, though some friends who own Accords and Civics with much higher mileage have cars in better condition.

The manual stick is sweet, and feels tight and sporty even after so many kilometers. The car is nice for cruising, but has a completely different and aggressive personality after 3000 RPMs (guess that's where the second cam profile kicks in).

The only thing that bothers me about it is its gas consumption. The manifold pipe is expensive to install and hard to find, so I didn't fix it. That resulted in very poor gas mileage (9kms for every liter). However I should mention that I briefly had a 91 Mazda Protege before this, and it was the same crappy mileage. So don't expect efficiency from a 1,500 car. But reliability and comfort for sure.

Overall, I am very impressed with this car and Ford in general. I'm considering a Ford Fusion after my nice experience, and I'm just waiting to find a clean one for a good price.

Faults:

Normal wear and tear, like brakes, rotors, starter, battery, tires etc.. nothing major.

Replacing heater blower motor at 135,000 miles, actually today as a matter of fact.

General Comments:

This car has been extremely reliable, I have the 6 cylinder with manual transmission. Motor is very powerful.

Faults:

I just bought the car 2 weeks ago.

The check engine light comes on and off. I am having it checked out now. The mechanic said it is a vacuum leak.

Outside that it runs great.

Faults:

The car needed all sorts of mechanical corrections.

I must have spent more than $2,100 to fix it in the three years I owed it.

If finally died when the casket blew and it only had 97,000 miles. Also, the car was unreliable with respect to the brakes. I will never buy a Ford again.

Faults:

I bought it from my neighbor with a blown head gasket, bad water pump and bad radiator. The kid that drove it, got the car so hot it killed the water pump and radiator, not to say the head gasket.

General Comments:

I have driven the car for 3 months now and it's the best yet. I did the head gasket and everything else, and it runs and drives like a Neon; it's better than a Neon almost. The 5s peed makes it even better.

The only one complaint I have is who in their right mind came up with the cup holders? They don't hold crap. And there's only one of them anyway (on the 5 speed).

Other than that, I love my car and it's the best.

General Comments:

I have had this car since 2002. I have put a lot of work in it. It seems to run REALLY good then one day BOOM it needs $800 dollars put in it. Then runs really good then BOOM another $900. And there major problems. I have had pretty good luck with this car, but I would NEVER AGAIN buy from Ford. I was always quoted huge amounts from people to fix it. I got in a small fender bender and my entire CD deck came flying out and my rear-view mirror flew off. I think this car was poorly made.