Faults:

Clutch judder, replaced it before it failed.

Central locking stopped working, never bothered to fix.

Alternator and battery replaced.

Signs of rust under the doors in my final years with it, but never an MOT failure.

I serviced the car by the book and changed any belts as required. The car also went through the usual consumables as the age and miles went on - suspension components, exhaust, brakes, etc.

General Comments:

The Escort was such a common sight on the roads in the UK back in the 1990's. Mine was a dependable and economical car, and looking back I had good times with this car.

In the 10 years I had it this car took me up and down UK roads without any hassle. Comfortable on long trips, the Ghia model is the one to have, nice seats and plenty of electrical equipment (for its time). Inside was spacious enough and quiet enough. 1996 model was the first of the newer oval grille "Frog face" shaped cars.

1.6 petrol was faster than smaller engined options, probably the best all rounder; I dare say the 1.8 is probably better though, but if you want a balance of power and economy, the 1.6 was a safe bet. I calculated the fuel consumption accurately at one time and it returned 39 MPG with mixed driving, not bad for its time.

I sold it in 2009. At 13 years old with over 140K on it, the guy I sold it to was most likely its last owner. These were however reliable and durable cars if looked after, and was actually more reliable than my old 1980's VW Golf I had before. I have since moved on to a Honda Civic, which is a nice enough modern car. I do like the newer Ford Focus, but there will always be a soft spot of nostalgia for the Escort.

Faults:

New alternator and battery at around 90,000 miles.

Locks can be temperamental.

General consumables - oil changes, brakes, tyres, etc.

General Comments:

What can be said about the 90s Escort that hasn't been said already? Probably not much, but the van version of the car does not seem to have too many reviews on here, so here is my experience of one many years ago.

The classic frog shaped white van was bought at 3 years old with already some mileage on it, to be used by my electrical company for heavy work. I wasn't expecting much, as I'd heard these vans were not that great, however this van turned out better than expected - for over 4 years it covered many miles up and down the country from Inverness to London and all over, carrying heavy loads, and it did not let me down once, except for a flat battery that was replaced twice before figuring out the alternator was on the way out.

The 1.8 diesel gave good economy, but was very, very slow. The 55 horse power version was what I had if I remember correctly, and it was proudly displayed on the wings for some reason (why boast such a low HP?!?!). Later 75 BHP versions were better from what I heard. 0-60MPH in this one must have taken nearly 20 seconds, especially when fully loaded, not ideal for merging on motorways!

Interior was pretty dull with classic 90s Ford grey/black plastic everywhere, but what do you expect from a basic van, it is what it is. I found it comfortable enough mind you, and was not bad to drive with average ride and handling. Road noise was pretty bad however, not very quiet and had to shout at 70 MPH (when it eventually got there) to have a conversation with someone next to me in the passenger seat. Not as bad as my 80s Transit I had though back in the day, which was deafening on the motorway. I had to fit more powerful speakers for the radio just to hear it, and thought about doing the same with this van if I was going to have it any longer.

In conclusion though, the van was sold on with well over 100,000 miles on it (the odometer didn't actually display that though, only had 5 digits), so after turning the clock as they say, my company decided to sell it on. I have to give credit where credit is due though, it was a very dependable van (more reliable than some newer ones I've had recently believe it or not, even in the year 2016) and I'll always look back on these vans with good memories, as it got the job done and apart from the slow performance, they were not as bad as people said they were.