Faults:

Needed new front windscreen immediately after purchasing car.

Front brake discs and pads needed replacing at 115,000 miles.

Original equipment radio didn't work. (Since replaced with aftermarket unit)

General Comments:

Well, the Ford Orion is not a car you'd buy for cool image or to impress your friends.

However, if you can live with the pipe and slippers image, it's a great car to drive. Acceleration is awesome, especially for a car this size, and can have tears in the eyes of a few supposedly fast hatchback owners. And that's despite tall gear ratios, which give the car good fuel mileage on long journeys and the ability to cruise happily at over 100 miles per hour.

It's a roomy car, too, with an incredible amount of boot space. As a student, I recently had to move most of my possessions to a new residence, and the Orion coped admirably, even keeping up nicely with other traffic (no need to thrash the engine) despite being fully laden.

The car is more comfortable over bumps than the hatchback Escort, and has quite a nice ride if nothing particularly special. The LX model is also fairly well equipped; mine has a sunroof, electric front windows, central locking, rev counter and various other small luxuries. No power steering is a little bit of a let-down, but the steering isn't very heavy at all.

Costs are also good; almost all the servicing and parts have cost less than I've expected. The economy takes a bit of a dive in traffic, but out on the open road it doesn't get through fuel excessively, and is quite good considering the 1600 engine.

The car handles tidily and has plenty of grip, even in the wet, although you're still reminded that it's quite a big car if going fast. The engine also has a nice note under acceleration.

I was expecting to be disappointed (remembering a 1.4 Escort of the same generation), but in fact the Orion has been a pleasant surprise to own and drive. I'd recommend one to anyone who needs a solid motorway cruiser or family machine and doesn't want to give up performance or spend a mint.

Faults:

Needed new starter motor - kept sticking.

Key stuck in petrol cap.

Juddering e windows.

General Comments:

Sold sporty Peugeot to get Family car after birth of daughter. Does the trick on a low budget.

Steady on the road.

Fast enough on the motorway when needed.

Less people seem to tailgate.

A man's car!!

Faults:

Both front suspension arms were rotten.

The front heated windscreen doesn't work properly.

The carburetter does not allow good enough air intake when an air-filter is fitted.

General Comments:

Cracking looking car.

Even small additions make all the difference though.

Surprisingly good acceleration and top speed.

Faults:

Boot lock jammed.

Brake discs warped and shattered (at high speed!)

Fuel Injector Needle snapped.

Central locking faults (after a break-in)

Camshaft needed replacing at 60000 miles.

Valve stem oil seals needed replacing at 64000.

General Comments:

I can't really moan too much about this car as it served me well for 4 years, however there were a few problems.

For some reason, fords do not particularly like the cold weather very much. My Orion was no exception to this rule. It would refuse to start on many a cold morning, meaning I was spending quite a few pennies on trying to fix this rather annoying problem.

The central locking was totally screwed by a youth, who tried, but failed to break in to my car.

On the plus side, the Orion is an ideal car for someone who wants cheap insurance (group 9) and a quick car. Lets face it, the 1600i is basically and xr3i with a boot, so its not slow!

I kept the car fairly standard (ford alloys and boot spoiler) and it still looked the business when I sold it, however I heard that the person I sold the car to crashed it soon after, never mind...