Faults:

The car had a loose cable in the dashboard at around 60,000 miles that would make a noise until it was fixed.

At 65,000 miles, the dummy light for the airbag went on and would never turn off. This repair cost $1,200.

I replaced the rotors at about 112,000 miles, but that was because I waited too long to replace the brake pads (and I abuse brakes pretty badly).

The tie rod was replaced at the same time the brakes were worked on.

After getting the brakes worked on, my car would make loud whistling noises on windy days and at speeds over 50 mph.

At around 116,000 miles, the speedometer started acting up. It would stay stuck at 30 mph until I got up to 45 or 50, and then the arm started swinging back and forth.

The struts started going at about 119,000 miles.

Around 120,000 miles, the timing belt went.

General Comments:

I loved this car! My parents bought it brand new in 1994, and it had good speakers and AC. Everything was in perfect shape when I bought it from them. The only thing is that I bought it for what they had to pay for getting that pesky dummy light to turn off!

A thing to keep in mind is that repairs to anything in an Escort's dashboard will be expensive due to how much labor it takes to even get to the broken part.

For a college student, this is the perfect car. It's a wagon, making it roomy, but you won't feel like you're driving a boat at all. Also, you can take it on those long trips pretty frequently and not worry about being stranded. I was only stranded once, at 120,000 miles, but that's not too bad for a high-mileage car.

The handling on this car is also good. For a wagon, it takes turns pretty well. Icy conditions are not a problem unless you have really bad tires.

My only complaint is that the 4 Cyl engine is slow. It does not accelerate very quickly. Big hills are it's worst enemy, especially while the AC is on! Don't plan on driving up any steep roads if you are running the AC.

Faults:

Engine needed minor work at 140,000 miles.

Ignition switch.

Automatic seat belts don't always work.

General Comments:

I love this little car! I purchased it used it was in excellent condition. It had a minor exhaust leak and needed rear brakes. I bought the car for $1100 but the book value was $4000. "Freedom" has power steering, air that works, and a power moon roof!!! It just came out of the shop for a minor engine (gasket leak?) and now the mileage is awesome! I am getting like 31 miles to a gallon, city! It is comfortable and reliable.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

This car was bought for £600 as a stopgap measure after our last car was sold.

After running a 2001 Vectra 2.2, it came as a bit of a shock, but not as much as I thought it might.

The motoring press universally slated these cars when they were launched in 1990, but I think it was OK.

The engine was a bit coarse, but performed alright for a 1.6 (bravo Ford for putting a 16 valve engine in a small family car this early on), it was quite comfy, except for a seating position that was too low, and it seemed to handle reasonably. Also the boot was a good size, everything worked on this 100,000 mile example, and for 7 months it was used every day and didn't let us down.

Before we owned this car I was always prejudiced against Escorts, I thought they were boring and dull, and while I can't say it would be my main choice if I had to run one permanantly (maybe a 306 or Golf), and the Focus is a vastly better car as a replacement, they're not too bad.