Opinions on this Escort?

Cianos

Hi,
Am trying to find a first car for myself. I like the look of this escort and the price seems fairly reasonable aswell. As it would be my first car, dyou think this would be a good buy? I got a quote on it and it was within my budget too.

Thanks

alias no.9

It's a 10 year old escort. It's the less desireable saloon model. While it's not necessarily a bad car, it's barely mediocre. There's no market for this car, I'd be surprised if the seller has had a single caller. If you must have it, bring €1000 cash with you and no more.

Cianos

alias no.9 wrote:

It's a 10 year old escort. It's the less desireable saloon model. While it's not necessarily a bad car, it's barely mediocre. There's no market for this car, I'd be surprised if the seller has had a single caller. If you must have it, bring €1000 cash with you and no more.

When you say its a mediocre car, would that be regarding reliability etc? Any thoughts about it as a first car?

kluivert

When I was looking for my first car I picked a car that was easy to maintain and wouldnt cost me much to run.

Opel Corsa.

Two a penny around the North East Area anyway, easy to service, loads of spare parts available, ideal for learning and strong engines.

In regards to the Ford Escort, not as reliable as the Focus is. Mid 90's not a could decade for Ford reliability.

Thats just my opinion.

road_high

He means mediocre as in an ancient design, dating back to the 1980s.
The price seems a bit outrageous to me, I would be thinkin more on the lines of hundreds of euro rather than thousands for an old model escort..

cjs

Way too dear
not reliable
ugly as sin

DO NOT BUY

alias no.9

Cianos wrote:

When you say its a mediocre car, would that be regarding reliability etc? Any thoughts about it as a first car?

It's got no redeeming features other than it's price, they were cheap to make new and felt that way, I see no reason to suspect they improve with age, we're not talking fine wine. There's no particularly bad points but I would check for rust. It should be cheap to run but don't pay too much unless you've got a field somewhere you can let it decompose, because no one wants them now and there'll be even less interest in a year or two when you've had enough of it.

Chuchu

Would you consider a Fiat Punto? If c€2k is your budget there are plenty of 98/99 models around for under that, I was recently looking but settled for a newer model. They're cheap to run, reliable and a nice 'first car'.

junkyard

A Punto this age, or any age in fact, has headgasket, gearbox and back axel issues. Spend your money wisely and buy a Toyota Corolla, at best the Ford Escort is only adequate.

Cianos

Strange, aesthetically I think the Escort shown is quite nice!

I came across this Corsa after kluivert suggesting.

To be honest I am not too fussy what I get as long as it doesnt cause me much grief. I'd rather get something sooner rather than later and dont have much intention of waiting and extensively searching for the very best deal.

bazz26

That model Escort was introducted in 1990 and was sold until 2000. The saloon was originally called the Orion but later changed back to Escort. This model Escort was a dog for Ford, it was slated by almost every motoring magazine at the time including a usually very Ford biased J Clarkson. Mechanics, dynamics and build quality were all weak points in this model Escort.

The bread and butter engines were carried over from the previous Escort though they were replaced by 16 valve Zetec units in 1994. The 1995 heavily facelifted model was much improved but the basic weaknesses were still there. These days they are totally unwanted and most are well knackered by now. In comparision the Escort and replacement Focus were like night and day.

You could pick up a similar vintage 1.6 litre MkI Mondeo for less money. A much better car in every aspect.

unkel

As the others said. Worth a thousand at best for a good one. If you want reliable get the early 90s Corolla. Around a grand for a '94 / '95 in good condition with NCT. They last forever, just look around you

bazz26

unkel wrote:

As the others said. Worth a thousand at best for a good one. If you want reliable get the early 90s Corolla. Around a grand for a '94 / '95 in good condition with NCT. They last forever, just look around you

Agree, a girl working here with me has a 1994 Corolla with 170k miles on it. She does a 50 mile round trip to and from work every week day in it and it keeps going.

Paul (MN)

i'm pretty sure those Escorts were very very thirsty

Cianos

From what I can see there is only one Corolla that is within my budget (2k). Shown here

maidhc

If you are looking for a cheap car the Buyandsell is the way to go.

Anan1

That car has two big things going for it - one owner from new and a full service history. They're also pretty cheap to work on if something does go wrong. As a first car, it looks good to me. I'd pay more than €1,000 but definitely not €2,000 for it. Have a look at the car and a chat with the owner, see what his bottom line is.

JoeA3

I think those Escorts of the mid-late '90's were not as bad as some people would lead you to believe. My dad ran a '96 one for 3-4 years, nice car at the time - admittedly though it was a nicer colour+spec than the one in that pic. Never had an ounce of trouble with it. The 1995/96 facelift that Bazz mentioned improved the interior quality significantly at the time. He replaced it with a new Focus, which gave no end of trouble!!

That said, it really is an ancient car now, seriously uncool... Any time I see one on the roads now, they are generally very tired and unloved looking. But hey, if its very cheap...

cargrouch

bazz26 wrote:

That model Escort was introducted in 1990 and was sold until 2000. The saloon was originally called the Orion but later changed back to Escort. This model Escort was a dog for Ford, ...

I have seen grown men almost reduced to tears on being reminded of when they owned an Orion. And not tears of joy. Is this technically an Orion - were they made in another factory or something? (by drunken baboons if you believe past owners of Orions?) Were they known for problems with the oil spraybar over the camshaft?

maidhc

JoeA3 wrote:

I think those Escorts of the mid-late '90's were not as bad as some people would lead you to believe.

Ford's history in recent years can be divided into pre-mondeo and post-mondeo. Pretty much every significant update they made to their cars after 1993 was a huge improvment (1995, Excort; 1996, Fiesta; Ka, etc). The reviews for the 1995 facelift were very positive iirc.

The Escort, while very dated looking now (except in estate form imo) should be a good buy so long as you get it for the right money.

fletch

I bought a '98 Escort as my first car (still have it although tradin in very soon)
Pros

• Car has been ultra reliable for me. Had it nearly 2 years now and not one single thing has gone wrong with it, save for a bulb or two blowing. It's done over 100,000 miles now and has never once not started in the morning, I even had to use it to jump start my mams '04 Fiat
• Car is easy to service, I do it all myself (having no mechanical experience)
• It handles well
• I've a ghia model so a fair few toys, remote central lockin,sunroof,front fogs, cd player, alloys, electric windows etc
• Parts/Servicing is cheap
• Ford dealers are everywhere

Cons

• 1.4 is very underpowered making it very difficult to overtake/maintain speed on motorway
• 1.4 is very thirsty...I average 33mpg to work (50% stop-start traffic, 50% M50), best I've ever seen has been 38mpg on a 50mph straight run
• It ain't the most stylish car on the road!

All that said I'm not sure I'd advise you buying one....get a nice 1.25 Fiesta.

PauloMN

Surprised at some of the comments on this. Anan is correct in that a very important - and rare - feature of this particular car is the one owner aspect. You can be pretty certain that the car has been cared for well given the same person that picked it up from the showroom in 1996 still owns it.

You will get that car for €1500 no problem. Do try and batter down the price, but IMO it is a better car than any Jap car you'll pick up here for the same price.

Guys - it's a first car, it's obviously an A to B motor for the OP. Anything up to €1500 is a fair price for the car assuming it drives well and is in good shape inside and out.

ninty9er

PauloMN wrote:

Surprised at some of the comments on this. Anan is correct in that a very important - and rare - feature of this particular car is the one owner aspect. You can be pretty certain that the car has been cared for well given the same person that picked it up from the showroom in 1996 still owns it.

Not necessarily true. My neighbour picked up his Fiesta new in 97 and it was spurting blue smoke for the last 3 years. The 06 Focus he bought 6 months ago is already starting to sound like a tractor.

The Corsa is a good price. My dad sold his 3 door with a few noticible dents and 120k on the clock for €1850 in March