Ford Escort : 'Credit Crunch Car'

Advantages: Cheap to run, plenty of room, 5 seats, good first car, cheap parts, widely available, large boot
Disadvantages: no power steering, slow going up a steep hill

...The 1.4 Ford Escort is quite a car in many ways. Featuring 5 doors, a large boot and a sun roof, this spacious car certainly has all the features. It pretty much has everything you find in a standard car, except power steering which can make moving when stationary a hard task. Being quite an old car means the Ford Escort is an ideal first car because the insurance is only around £60-£70 a month for someone aged 20-22. I was fully insured for my first year, as this is when most people have a few minor scrapes and bumps as they're new to the road. Then I moved onto third party fire and theft for my second year, as I had gained good experience and confidence from driving solidly for a year. The insurance came down to around £50 a month for my second year of driving. The windows are manual along with the doors, which require a key to...

f1insidetrack 29.10.2009 (25.11.2009) · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.4 Hatchback

Ford Escort Finesse

Advantages: spacious family car
Disadvantages: RUST(common Ford problem) not very safe

...FORD ESCORT FINESSE This review is based on a Finesse model of an escort, this model is a 1.6 16v, and it was first registered in 2000 on a 'W' plate. PERSONAL OWNING I owned one of these cars from 2000 till 2006 unfortunately it was an insurance write off so had to be replaced. In the time I owned this car it had a few problems such as the head gasket going along with the cylinder head but this was at around 90,000 miles. It had general ware and tear bits replaced throughout its life but no other major engine problems, suspension problems etc. Being a ford they are prone to rust and at around about 4-5 years old this car did suffer quite badly from rust mainly noticeable around the arches or the car. I used this car as a family car in the time I had it I found it spacious for things such as family transporting, shopping...

raregreyastra 03.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.6 Hatchback

Escort Agency

Advantages: Reliability, build quality, running costs
Disadvantages: Wont exactly make you an individual...

...The Escort 1.6 Finesse was one of the last in a long line of great cars bearing the Escort badge, from the earliest MK1 RS1600 right up to the latest MK6 RS2000 and GTi models. When the last Escort rolled off the production line to be replaced by the Focus, Ford had been making Escorts for at least 25 years so you would think it would be fairly safe to assume that they would have got it right by then. Well did they? I personally would have to say yes, they did. Although it's difficult to get that excited about (it is really a family car after all), the Finesse is a rather good little car which does exactly what it says on the tin perfectly well and a whole lot more. The engine sitting in the front of the Escort is the well known and well proven Zetec 16 valve. The Zetec family of engines range from the 1.25 litre in Fiestas right...

rockandrollstar 23.01.2003 (24.02.2003) · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort Finesse 1.6 Estate

A tale of two Escort Cosworths

Advantages: Image, Performance, Practicality
Disadvantages: Expensive to maintain, Difficult to source parts, Suspect reliability on earlier models

...a cheap 2nd hand replacement (£50) and it was fine again. So good was this car that I had it converted to stage 1 - 260bhp, which makes a difference, but you soon get used to the extra power! When I sold it, it had done 60,000 miles, and I got back £12,000 - as I said having the aircon makes a big difference. All in all, to summarise owning these vehicles you should consider the following points: - The big turbo model is easier to tune, but is not a particularly sorted car. The later small turbo ones incoroporate many relaibility fixes which were found to be problems on the earlier engines. - Go for as many luxuries as you can afford. Standard/motorsport cars, or lux's without leather/aircon do not fetch as much money when you come to sell them. - Budget a lot for servicing and repairs. Some parts are shared with the standard escort...

137699 20.01.2003 · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort Cosworth

MK4 Escort Review

Advantages: No power steering, nice clutch and good gear stick
Disadvantages: Bad in cold weather, fan belt wears easily.

...This is my very first car. Not even passed my driving test yet however during my <1 year of driving I can honestly say this is the best car I have driven. With most other cars there is something wrong with driving the car however this is the ultimate driving experience. My car is a Mk4 1987 Ford Escort Popular 1.3 Petrol. It has 4 gears + reverse and is a basic 3 door hatchback. It had done just under 30,000 miles when I got it which is practically nothing for a car that age and was in mint condition as my uncle rarely drove it. The petrol usage is average. I can put about £10 per week and it runs well. I go out a fair bit when someone has the time to take me out. At first I could not drive it, not because I am a terrible driver but because my dad took a spark plug out so I could not drive it before I turned 17. It took be...

xsamix 16.12.2007 (10.01.2008) · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.3

Ford escort 1.4 LX 1991

Advantages: Cheap on parts, cheap on road tax, cheap and chearful
Disadvantages: Poor handling, sluggish, prone to rust.

...I bought this car a couple of years ago when I was in between cars, I have a van that is used for my Business during the day, but you cant realy use it for pleasure, or trips out to places. So I bought this car .. cheap ( £100) with no MOT, and in need of a few mechanical repairs. ***First thoughts*** The escort I got had a bent rear axle, ( probably due to the poor handling !! ) and was in need of some welding. , MOT and tax later , the car was back on the road. I must admit I had a very low view of this car , compaired to other cars I've owned, but I have to say this car was a pleasure to own, it did all that was required of it, was reliable transport, cheap on all it's running costs, and does exactly what it says on the tin. The interior is comfortable, seats adjustable, has inbuilt security, by way of a standard alarm...

cashman44 30.06.2004 (06.08.2004) · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.4 Hatchback

Ford Escort 1.6 16v Estate mkV

Advantages: Cheap to buy, cheap enough to run, cheap insurance, space.
Disadvantages: Rust, comfort and looks

...I thought this was a fantastic car after moving up from a 1.3 to 1.6, the car itself is very bland even for an LX model. It is much better equipped and more comfortable than the mk 4 and slightly safer with the addition of driver airbag and better seats. The car itself is as I stated an estate, not the best car to look at but easy to keep as it's an Escort. My one in particular was white and an L reg. It came as standard with 4 doors and hatch at back. It had standard 14" steel wheels that had 185 R14 T60 tyres on, not sure if they are standard but if you know your tyres you will know you can put almost any on as long as they are in pairs. The interior is better than the MK4 in regards to quality and looks, not so grey or brown, more of a pattern styling and softer better shaped seats. It didn't have any gadgets on it such as...

lostsworld 13.05.2006 (12.06.2006) · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.6 Hatchback

Ford Escort Eclipse 1.3

Advantages: Extras
Disadvantages: Power, electric window switches

...I owned a Ford Escort Eclipse 1.3 (H plate) for around 2 years. I used to do 50 miles a day in it during this time and so I am in a position to comment on its reliabilty and driveablity. The pros of this car were that it was the last in that particular model that were produced so it came with electric windows, metallic paint, a sunroof, body colour bumpers and a spoiler. The cons were that due ot the window switches being in a poor position on the door handles they got water in them from the rain etc and used to stop working. The engine was an overhead cam and so made a strange noise rather like a sewing machine. After owning the car for just over a year and washing it every weekend, the paint started to flake off. Th Overall this car was a nice run around but it lacked power and wasnt really built to a high standard....

Bren801 14.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.3

Yet another ford escort review

Advantages: Nice engine, cheap, insurable
Disadvantages: offset drivers seat, fuel economy

...Yet another car that I bought on the eastern edge of the M25, this was actually a good one. A 1994 M plate ford escort 1.6 LX. Coming from a very basic 1984 1.3 golf, it was amazing. It had a fews toys - power steering, electric windows. It had a 5 speed gearbox, decent headlights, proper electrics, reasonable speakers. It didn't smell of death. It accelerated. All these things my old golf didn't do. I ran this car for 6 months - 5000 miles. It was subjected to my usual servicing schedule of a 10000 mile service with a 5000 mile interim oil change, and fully synthetic oil. It responded very well to this, the oil I was dropping out at 5000 miles was still quite clear and light brown. Fuel economy was constant at 30mpg, no matter how I drove it. Even on a motorway journey to bristol and back from kent. This is also...

robachamings1 10.02.2005 · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.6 Hatchback

Ford Escort 1.8i Zetec Mark 6 (Si / LX)

Advantages: Sporty Look, Nice engine, cheap to run, good modding car
Disadvantages: Reliability, not made anymore, common, not the quickest car around

...I have owned my Ford Escort now for about five months and all-in-all I have been satisfied with it. I have had previous experiences with Ford cars and I have been quite impressed by their cars reliability, performance and practicalities. This review is on both the LX and Si model as the two cars are almost identical. The only differences I know of are that the Si has a slightly different interior with White Dials and more sportier seats. Performance First of all, after purchasing the car and giving it the 'Ive just bought a new car, lets see what it can do' drive I was pleasantly suprised on how the car picks up speed after 3000 revs. Being a Zetec engine it is set for economy between 1000-3000 revs, but as soon as you go over 3000 revs the car realises you are going for performance and the car starts picking up...

lunaticrik 28.06.2004 (18.01.2005) · Read review
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Review of Ford Escort 1.8