Faults:

Driver's seat belt wore out.

Transmission was replaced, but only after teaching (5) five teenagers how to drive a manual.

General Comments:

A wonder car that I have used hard as a work truck. She still continues to go on strong. But not the most smooth ride; you do feel all the potholes in the roads, even the very small ones.

Faults:

Usual wear and tear; nothing significant.

General Comments:

I bought my Escort off the lot. It has always been maintained well. The air conditioning is still cold, the heat is still hot! I can't believe this car still acts like it did 17 years ago. Everything works. AND, it handles better than our truck in the snow!

Faults:

Alternator.

Air conditioning.

General Comments:

I read Car Survey often as I like buying and experiencing used cars. The Escort I bought a couple years ago has really been one of the best cars I've owned. Some of the comments may seem to go "over the top" but it really is a great little car. The Mazda 1.8 is a stellar engine that over achieves and is ultra reliable with great high revving power. It is a non-interference motor, so serious damage will never occur should the belt let go. It handles great and stops very well too.

My cars air conditioning never worked from the time I bought it (for $800 with only 105,000 kilometers)... Sure this may seem like a car too old to review, as very few are still on the road, but it was one of Fords better efforts and should be recognized as such. I now have 190,000 on it and it's still going strong.

Faults:

Coolant level light came on - Hmmm, cleaned the contacts.

Some light surface rust (It's Ohio.. Lucky it's not rotted away)

Radiator fan relay stopped working... - Hard wired it to the ignition so it kicks on.

The rear hatch shocks are starting to not hold it up.

General Comments:

So far with the miles it has on it.. I am not unhappy with the vehicle. Purchased it cheap, and it is actually a quiet car. Runs much better than most 16 year old cars.

Faults:

Broke down 10 miles away from the dealer I bought it from. Hadn't even owned it an hour.

General Comments:

I bought this vehicle a long time ago, but when I found this site I wanted to warn people of this horrible vehicle.

I bought the car BRAND NEW from the Ford dealership in my town. When I ordered the first one, there was a chip in the paint, so I asked the dealership to touch it up. When I came back the next day, there was paint EVERYWHERE. On the windows, hubcaps, lights, mirrors, everything, covered in black paint speckles. So I ordered ANOTHER one that the dealer paid for because of their horrid paint touch-up on the last one.

When that one I arrived, I signed the paperwork and drove off the lot. About 8 miles down the road, my "CHECK ENGINE" light came on, so I turned around to head back to the dealer.

As I drove back, it began to jerk and lurch, and then it finally died directly in front of a Honda dealership. The Honda dealership offered to give me a FREE tow back to the Ford dealership. They didn't even hint towards me buying a car from them. But I told them that I'd like to make a trade-in. So the salesman helped me push my shiny new Ford into the lot where I preceded to buy a used Honda Civic.

You can choose to believe this or not, but IT DID happen. When I purchased my Escort I thought I was getting a reliable, safe vehicle that would be suitable for me and my (then) unborn son. But boy was I wrong. I'm just glad it did break-down when and where it did, and not when my son was in the car with me.