Faults:

Alternator and radiator hose leak.

Dashboard recently cracked from sun/heat exposure.

A/C stopped working.

General Comments:

Yes, I am writing this review in 2010 on a car that for all intents and purposes is a 20 year old car. The car has just over 100,000 miles on it. I beat the hell out of this car because it is extremely fun to drive. I used to have a 1988 Mustang GT 5.0 HO about 10 years ago, and this car is just as fun, if not a little more fun to drive. It's a little snot rocket. I haven't done anything to the car other than to add brakes, rotors, alternator, etc routine maintenance. Would recommend it to anyone. As long as you keep changing the oil every three months or 3,000 miles, you can beat this car into the ground.

Steering and handling is very balanced. The acceleration at top end of RPM is pretty fast. Low torque of course, but good torque at high end. Braking is good and the rear has independent rear suspension. Yes on this car. Seats are somewhat comfortable and the suspension overall is good for sport style.

Faults:

Starter motor.

Ignition switch safety.

Wheel bearing.

CV joint.

Alternator (kept blowing these, which is why I scrapped it).

Wipers (still worked randomly by themselves).

Brakes (front right still worked).

Rings (clouds of smoke on hard acceleration).

Rear springs.

Struts.

General Comments:

Depending on you're idea of reliability, this car could be either very reliable, or a piece of crap. It started for me in the very first few seconds of cranking it over. This was the only feature of the car that actually worked like it was supposed to. The starter control box broke, and was replaced by a toggle switch to save hundreds of dollars.

The problem is, the things that did work, didn't work like they were supposed to. The fan speeds consisted of off-lo-med-low; not very nice on hot or cold days. The wipers worked sometimes, sometimes they'd just randomly start wiping. The fuel gauge sort of works, it would read full or empty, and empty was truly empty. The radio stopped working, so I replaced it and this is the only electrical bit to work like it was supposed to.

Driving this car was no treat either. Loud on the highway, crashing over bumps, and overall obviously cheap in every way imaginable. This car was SLOW to say the least, but at least it returned with good gas mileage.. j/k I averaged 18-22 mpg, unacceptable for such a tiny, slow car. It also ate oil, about a quart/100 miles highway quart/50 miles city.

The best part of this car is the low price of replacement parts. The Escort has some of the lowest priced parts of any car out there, which you will quickly learn to appreciate, considering the speed at which it devours them.

Faults:

Exterior - drivers side door lock, hatch lock, hatch struts, left headlight bulb.

Interior - gas gauge and speedo lights dim, passenger side window.

General Comments:

Have had the car for about a month, paid only 900 bucks for it and it seems like a good buy. Has power steering, mirrors and locks and an aftermarket old school Sony cassette.

It rides great, handles good, seems good on gas and is pretty quiet inside, though it is noisy at idle.

It does start every time and likes the freeway - just hope I can get 200k out of it.

Faults:

I received it needing a new windshield wiper part of some kind on the driver's side.

The gas gauge always reads full.

It needed new fuses.

It needed major general maintenance work done.

General Comments:

I went from a Chevy Suburban to the Ford Escort Pony due to an accident. I was without a car and my thoughtful son bought it for me from a friend who finished college and needed money to go home with. I heard he got a bus ticket with the 150 bucks my son gave him.

That said, I must admit I am impressed with the little car. It was suppose to be something to kick around in until I bought something else. At first, I was really nervous driving it. I now realize I wasn't used to small cars.

No doubt about it, the Suburban has it beat in the comfort area hands down. However, the Suburban uses a lot more gas too. With the price of gas these days, it's nice having a car that gets around 30 miles to the gallon.

This car just goes and goes. I can assure you it wasn't taken care of by the previous owner. Of course the very first thing I did was bring it to my mechanic to get the windshield wiper fixed. The car most likely hadn't had an oil change since the kid started college four years earlier. What little oil was in it was like black tar. The radiator was completely empty. The list was endless.

I put 500 dollars into it, and I am not sorry I did. I had a complete tune-up done, had the radiator flushed, the windshield wiper part fixed, wheels rotated, new fuses and the like. I guess I consider this maintenance work to be honest, and believe me this car's maintenance work was WAY OVERDUE!

I live up in northern Maine and this little friend (as I am starting to think of it) has started faithfully everyday without fail. It handles really good in the snow. I guess if it had 4WD it would handle better. LOL I got stuck a couple of times after the first major snowstorm. It took the guy that pushed me out the last time to realize the car's capabilities and limitations. "Hey lady what do you think you are driving?" " A Hummer or what?"

I have taken it on three trips (600 miles each way) with no problems. I never ran out of gas thankfully. I fill it up and set the mile counter to zero. When it reaches 350 miles I fill it up again.

The hatch back is great. Really for it's size it can carry an amazing amount. I have plans on driving it all summer long and into the the fall. My son asks when am I getting a new car. Hmmmm - Do I plan on getting a big new car? I guess I must admit that depends on the price of gas. I ask myself why - this little car goes great.