Faults:

There is now a dent in the upper right of the car.

Finally, it needs new tires after 10 years of driving.

Also, it finally needs new brakes.

It is now grinding (where car was hit).

General Comments:

It will take right off faster than a new Acura (and other sport cars that are new).

I haven't had to perform many repairs on the car, even after 10 years or so.

Faults:

Serpentine belt broke

O2 sensor malfunctioned.

General Comments:

This little green wagon has got to be this man's best friend. Twice across country and back and twice to Florida if I do 55 mph on the highways in cruise I get 50 mpg. The only thing that doesn't work is the motor that drives the passenger mirror. That is because a tree fell on the car and sheared off the mirror. I glued it back together and now I am in business. The car is comfortable and reliable.

Faults:

I've had very little go wrong with this car. I've only done routine maintenance, replacing the brakes at 75k miles, the tires every 40 to 50k, the timing belt every 60k miles and so on.

Nothing outside of routinely replaced parts has broken.

General Comments:

The trim level leaves something to be desired, but all in all, the car has quality plastics and a decent look. Definitely less Euro-edgy than the Focus, which also means it appears less dated. My '98 Escort seems newer than an '04 Focus sometimes.

It handles great, accelerates fine and gets great gas mileage (about 30mpg with 70/30 city/highway miles).

Legroom is lacking in back, but what do you expect on a compact sedan?

Faults:

I have owned my 1998 Ford Escort ZX2 for just over 2 years. My boyfriend, who is a mechanic, has done regular maintenance on the vehicle (oil changes, filters, etc.) Those people who keep commenting on maintaining vehicles can shove it. I drive all highway and keep regular maintenance and do NOT race the car or have it pimped out. The fact of the matter is, Ford does not put enough time or effort into building their cars. At 120,000km, the serpentine belt needed to be replaced as one of the bearings blew up and wrecked the entire unit! At 130,000km I replaced the radiator which wasn't a huge deal except for the fact that the thermostat gauge stopped working entirely after working on and off for about a year. Since about 130,000km also, my transmission started slipping. When merging onto the hwy, the car would rev up no matter how much gas was given, but the car wouldn't go past 20km/h. Eventually it'd catch after a few seconds and run regular. In keeping up the maintenance, my boyfriend did a tranny flush in hopes of clearing the problem up temporarily. 2 weeks after the flush, my tranny died. I only have 148,000km on my car. My alternator is on it's way out as well. This car has cost me more than I paid for it. It was driven by an old lady before and she gave me the records on the car indicating regular maintenance as well.

General Comments:

From what I've read on previous comments, the trannys on the Ford Escort ZX2 (1997-2002) have serious defects. Some of you may be lucky enough to find one that was built by a professional, but most are lemons and I wouldn't suggest investing your money on these. I will be buying an import from now on.