1991 Ford Orion LX 1.6 petrol from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Just an Escort with a boot
Faults:
Fuel leak, oil leaks, exhaust center section, suspension rattles.
Inside many interior plastics broke, usually at the air vents.
Apart from the above wear and tear, there were no major issues and the car was fairly reliable as any car if looked after. In its final year with me I found oil was mixing with coolant and the head gasket was suspected to be going. Also the gearbox was making funny noises. At this point the car was not worth much and decided best it was scrapped.
General Comments:
1991 Ford Orion LX - dark red, a lovely wine red in-fact, good looking and smart car that I bought used for very cheap.
Surprisingly good to drive, and comfortable and spacious. The interior on LX models had nice seats. About town or on motorways the car was OK to drive and I made many drives up and down the UK throughout the 1990's. Good memories.
1.6 did around 35 mpg, about right for a petrol engine in this size of car. Fast enough when needed.
Overall reliability was good, just a shame it really went to bits at ten years old and past the infamous 100,000 mile mark. But this was about the average lifespan for one of these cars.
And yes, it really was just an Escort with a boot, nothing much else different about it. But the Orion nameplate was actually dropped in later years so that says it all, later booted Escorts were badged Escorts. I think they offered more equipment options over equivalent Escorts at the time the Orion was around, plus a lot of drivers traditionally like a saloon/sedan (myself included) so I guess it had some appeal. Not a great car, but not a bad one either, fondly remembered by many drivers in the UK. It used to be a very common sight on the roads.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 11th September, 2026
15th Sep 2026, 15:33
Brings back memories. I worked down south in the UK at a dealership way back in the early 1990's, and the Orion believe it or not, being a saloon, was aimed at cars like the BMW 3 Series saloon at the time, certainly higher trimmed versions (Ghia, GLX, etc).
Or so our sales department boss kept trying to tell us anyway. What a joke - the Orion (for the price) could be a decent car, but a BMW competitor it was not.
I ran an H reg one all the way up till the end of 2002 when rust got the better of it, seemed to be this car's main problem. It was otherwise surprisingly reliable. But even at a very cheap price new and used, I wouldn't buy another even at the time; there were better cars for the money.