We are aware of the login problems affecting the forums, and appreciate your patience as we work on a fix.
Did you recently purchase a new Tesla, Rivian or Lucid vehicle directly from the manufacturer and willing to share how your experience compared to previous vehicle purchases made through a traditional dealer? A reporter would like to speak with you; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 2/19 for details.
Comments
I did not like the Escort at all. Impreza was a bit better. In fact, I think the Saturn was better than either of these two. The Legacy is the nicest and roomiest of the bunch. It is also the most spendy, but we went with it.
Speaking as a Double Income No Kids type, What is Ford thinking? I have owned only Ford Economy Cars, the last two being an 87 and a 93 Escort hatch back. I liked the fuel economy, and for the price, there is no kind of car that has that kind of room for carrying stuff around.
Since they discontinued the escort hatchback, I was excited to hear about the Focus Wagon. Yesterday, I went to the dealer in St. Paul and went through it thoroughly. Lots of vertical room, front to back. We sat in the front seats, the back seats. Adequate room for all. We pulled out the cargo cover and laid in the back. Much bigger than the Saturn Wagons, and a better price.
Much quieter drive than the Escorts. But, I am crushed to hear they will not offer it in a 5 speed manual.
I'm going to be buying in the next couple of months and unless Ford offers it in a manaul, I'm going to be getting a Volkswagen 4 door golf hatchback.
Can anyone tell me who these Focus groups consist of? Aren't these cars being targeted at me? Middle Income, Economy minded in mileage and price, who want to have a little bit of fun, and a lot of space for an active life style.
They are blowing it by not offering it in the manual.
There are many that argue the opposite, that all cars should have automatics standard. I am not here to put down the proevious post, though.
I just think that a 5 speed wagon would be nice to have. But, Focus wagon sales will be fine without it, i believe.
experienced many problems before 120, 000km?
Thanks
Rob
rfantaske@allelix.com
P.S. Has anyone else ever owned, seen or heard of the EXP w/ the H.O. engine? Mine was the only one I ever saw in the 12 years I owned it. I should have fixed it and kept it.
Thanks for your comments and help, I am busy working and don't know a lot about cars so don't want to have to shop around getting no where.
Nell
of routine inspection checked the coolant.Well
the engine started rattling after driving a few
miles.Assuming that it was not a coolant problem
I did not check that and drove it to be diagnosed
but it died on the freeway with an overheated
engine although the temperature gauge read barely
on scale.The engine had to be replaced at 132k miles and the mechanic said that the gauge read wrong because there was just air at the sensor.
So since I never saw any leaks I have to assume
that it was an internal coolant leak.
The oxygen sensor is a comsumable item. They are recommended to be changed every 60K miles. If yours is bad, it might explain your poor mileage, as the computer will run open loop and will probably run very rich. I haven't checked on an Escort, but last summer I changed them out on an '87 Bronco II (sensor was $50 at NAPA) and an '89 Festiva ($25). The Festiva was a breeze and I paid a local mechanic $12 to change the one on the BII (tight V6 and a real pain), so you might check around, i.e not a dealer.
I bought a '99 Escort Wagon last Aug. It was loaded (except auto and ABS), plus they threw in the mags for free, for $12500. It's been a great car (8k miles so far) and was an excellent snow car on stock tires. I've also gotten between 33 and 40 mpg in rural driving. I am curious if anyone has towed with a '97-'99 wagon. The manual says 1000 pounds but I have only been able to find hitches for the sedan, not the wagon.
Ryan
When I purchased the car a year ago, it had almost 60,000 miles on it - now, it has 74,000. It has served me very well, except for some computer chip of sorts that controls the air intake - and that cost over $200.00 with the labor. For this problem, I initially started to get the "Check Engine" light. I am getting this warning light again and thought that, before I pay $50.00 for a computer diagnostic, to just get an oil change, tune up, and possibly a timing belt while I was at it, hoping that the warning light might go away. Well, was I in for a surprise!!!
I stopped by an All Tune & Lube yesterday to check on their specials. I was told that the $29.95 for a tune-up special would not apply, because the Escort takes the more expensive spark plugs that cost $10.00 a piece - an additional $40.00. Then, they were guessing at whether the Escort has a timing chain or belt - and I could not help out, because I never got a manual to go with my used Escort from the used car dealer. They assumed it would take a belt - cost: $26.00 - plus the labor for timing belt installation, an additional $200.00. Needless to say, I told them to forget the whole "special." I have seen timing belt ads for $139.00 plus parts.
My question is: how many miles have you all had before you had to replace your timing belt? Has anyone else experienced this "Check Engine" light? I see in two earlier messages that it has happened to others. However, it seems that nobody had any suggestions for that. What would be a reasonable price to pay for timing belt replacement and a tune up?
One more thing: I never liked station wagons before - but this little Escort has changed my mind - and the gas mileage is just terrific. I drive this Escort more than my other two cars - because they just guzzle that gas.
I am afraid my experience with a 96 ford escort wagon bought since new has been poor. It currently has 112,000 kms.(70,000 miles) most of it highway in the last 2 years. All problems happened after the 60 km. warranty.
Engine light on, yes it was the actual sensor. Leaky seal somewhere upfront (velocity joint area),one rear spring broken (again i drive on a smooth highway), today they tell me my speedometer needs replacement($500 for part only). It has made some noise for a while and in very cold weather was bouncing when driving fast. Have you priced the rotors for these things? Not that the brakes are any good coming down from high speed.
All in all I enjoy driving, especially in town, but label it as a piece of junk and will stay away from Ford for some time. Get an extended warranty for sure!
I am happy to hear that your timing belt lasted this long.....I will see how long mine lasts. (After all, I have a cell phone and AAA and they can tow the car for me once it dies!).
It's good to see that mostly everyone seems very pleased with their Escorts. Since the resale value of this car is lousy, I am planning to keep mine until it falls apart(it's a third car for me, mainly to transport my dog around, haul stuff, and drive when I want to save gasoline money). The fuel efficiency on this car is terrific (compared to my Mustang GT and 6-cylinder Isuzu Amigo!) And yes, the Excort has no power and takes some getting used to. The other day, my daughter was in the Escort with me and she said: Mom, you can pass this truck in front of you, the road is all clear. And I said: I would like to pass, I am standing on that gas pedal as far as it will go down, but I can't.
ispringer
It's got 68k, manual trans, sadly no tachometer.
Seems to be in relatively good condition. I had my mechanic check it out before I bought it and everything checked out ok. He did say that I should have the timing belt changed soon because it was an "interference engine". I had never heard of such a thing before. But the way he explained it was that if the timing belt should break while I'm driving, the pistons could interfere with the valves resulting in serious damage. If anyone has any info on this topic or any suggestion I'd be happy to hear them. He gave me an estimate of $425 which includes timing belt, water pump thermostat and maintenance. I'd like to put this off as long as possible, but am worried about the risk. I'm also curious if anyone has had problems with their rack & pinion. Someone had commented once that this was a recurring problem on their escort. I would appreciate any comments. Thank you.
My brother had a 1991 and drove it to 100K miles in 3 years. Only had to get a new alternator at 80K. He wished he had kept it longer!
their s/w? My wife had an aftermarket unit put
in her civic and has had no probs. I'm
wondering if anyone has had any experience w/
these. I need as much sun as I can get up here
in the Northeast.
It is just recently (this week) that Ford has finally decieded to buy back my car and let me pick a new one. I have decieded to pick a 2000 Focus since ford doesnt make escort wagons anymore. Not only has It been an inconvenience, but now its costing me an extra 1000.00 to upgrade. The lemon law in New Jersey is 3 times fixing the problem or 18000 miles or 2 years, which ever comes first. So if you are having problems with ford, dont wait 7 months like I did, fight after the third time and Ford will eventually cave in. Im very upset because this is my 4th escort and I have never had any problems. I guess this has made up for all the other cars.
There appears to be some sort of intermittent problem with the starter. Shortly after I had the transmission work completed, it simply would not start/turn over without encouragement on rare occasions. Finally, it became more and more frequent and then wouldn't start, so into the dealership she went. Of course, she started for them under all conditions and she was given a clean bill of health. Since then, it takes even more fiddling to make her start when she won't (i.e., pressing and holding the brake, putting it into neutral), and additionally, it will now turn over but not catch without lightly pumping the gas pedal or the previously mentioned tricks above. Any ideas?
Additionally, ever since I had the timing belt replaced in '98 or '97, the check coolant light has remained illuminated. The only time that it went out was when I had a new battery dropped into her, and then it illuminated again after the transmission work. Mind you, she needs no coolant, so just some weird wiring going on, I would suppose.
In spite of all that, I'd still recommend her; she's done right by me.
I am thinking about getting used '93-'96 Escort/Tracer Wagon, so I got a couple of questions.
1. I've heard that some models have motorized seatbelt and some don't. Is it true (hate it)? Is it a standart equipment or an option? Can it be changed to usual three-point seatbelt?
2. Is it true that airbag became standard only in 1994?
3. Were any wagons built with 1.8DOHS from Mazda?
The second problem is when I am sitting at a traffic light or just letting the car idle, I get this nasty smell which seems to come from under the hood. The engine is clean, I am not burning any oil or fluids and I don't have an exhaust leak. Anyone have any ideas what could be causing the smell?
a 95 2-door with 56000 miles on it. Both of them seem to be burning oil. Every 700 miles or so I have to add a quart. They both were consuming oil normally up to few months ago. I never had had to add oil between changes before. Can any tell me why this happens and if there is an in-expensive cure ?
Thanks !
The Tracer I just picked up last week. It has a slight hesitation when accelerating from stop. Any idea what that could be? Another stuck valve?My first pass is run some high octane gas in it for a few tanks with some STP treatment to see if it will clean up anything fouled. Both cars are in immaculate condition and my kids love 'em. I have an option to pick up a 24 mo. extended warranty on the Tracer for $1000, but I don't think I'm going to need that much in repairs over the next 2 years. Any thoughts?
go over the basic's, tune-up, fuel filter , etc.
there are a lot of things i would check before i turned my daughter loose in the car!!!
ford must have added that shimmy as standard equipment. mine has one (95 lx) also. balance and new tires did not help....
good luck,
lee
how clean are your engines & compartments looking under the hood??
are you sure you are not overfilling the crankcase? 4.5 quarts of oil in my 95 lx (1.9l)
puts the level about 2/3 way up between add and the top line on the dipstick. that 1.9liter engine will blow out any overfill.
its odd that two cars with similar mileage with that kind of oil usage. before the 1985 lx i had an 86 escort pony. it had a bunnnch of miles on it, and never required any add oil between 3000 mile changes...
my 2 cents..
good luck & best wishes,
lee
however, it is now may of 2000, and unfortunately i have'nt won the piggly wiggly (a grocery chain in the south for all you northerners - affectionately refered to as the hoggly woggly by us suthern folk) "free cash lotto" yet. i went lookin at used cars today because the 88 baretta we have is really a piece of junk that has produced nuthin but headaches. i have run across a 93 ford escort that appears to be a good deal at $1990, but it is now two years after the earliest letter posted on this site.
my question is......do ya'll think it might still be a good purchase?
thanx for any input,
Eminor2