Ford Escort

ssmith6287

Going to look at a ford escort this evening, its a 98 but has had a lot of work done on it. I got it checked by the gards and its all clean. Is there anything i should look for on it. I love this shape of a car because theres so much you can do to modify it, so wud really like to buy it

3ps

those older engines are pretty heavy on fuel

Mr.David

What's Bad

Rear suspension trailing arms up to 1995 were too weak and twist when they're not supposed to.

Mid-life 'oval grille' facelift looks terrible and dated almost immediately.

Two-Star below-average performance in 1999 NCAP secondary safety tests.

Early diesels had overstrength valve springs which caused them to snap their cambelts.

Early Zetec engines from 1992 suffered sticky valves (see Mondeo).

Close to bottom in 'R' reg JD Power Customer Satisfaction Survey. 14th from Bottom of 100 models for reliability in Auto Express 2002 survey. 14th from Bottom in 144 car 2002 JD Power / What Car? Customer Satisfaction Survey of V and W reg cars. Rated average for breakdowns and problems, poor for faults in 2003 Which survey. 24th from bottom out of 137 models in 2003 Top Gear survey.

What to Watch Out For

Bodged rust repairs on early cars. Clocked mega-mile ex-fleet cars. Inadequate 'home servicing'. Poor quality aftermarket parts - especially brake parts.

Check for uneven tyre wear due to suspension damage from kerbing.

Electrics may play up (check for damp and/or rusting inside fusebox).

Rear suspension arms flex too much and may weaken as a result (16-valves were strengthened with rear anti-roll bar).

Some 1992/93 Escorts came out of the factory with misaligned front suspension which caused the insides of the front tyres to wear excessively.

Diesels should have had nylon timing belt idler replaced with a steel idler. These should both have been sorted out 'in service', but if the car was maintained 'in house' by a fleet or by a private owner, it may not have been done. Some fleets reckon on just 60,000 miles for Zetec timing belts and idler pulleys.

On Zetec E petrol engines, several reports of timing belt tensioner pulley heating up and shattering after 5 - 6 years and 60 - 80,000 miles. Essential to replace the pulley at the same time as the belt.

CVT automatic is prone to problems and is best avoided.

Fuse boxes rust out. Recalls

1994 (1.3 and 1.4CFi-92 VIN NE, NL, NY, NS, NT; 93 VIN PJ, PU, PM, PP, PB, PR, PA, PG, PC, PK): electrical check. 1995 (VIN: SE): brake lights may not work. 1995 (Escort diesels: VIN: SY, SS, ST): brake vacuum pump may not create enough vacuum for servo. 1995 (VIN: SE, SL): loose rear brake cylinders. 1995 (VIN: SC, SK, SD): possible damage to seatbelt webbing. 1998 Escorts with passenger airbags built Aug '96-Feb '98: passenger airbag may go off while car is stationary. 30-7-2002: Ppwer steering pump pulley may crack or break up leading to loss of power assistance. 2,860 Escorts recalled for modified pulley to be fitted.

Mr.David

How much are you thinking of paying? Tbh its a crap car and the price should reflect that. Also, as far as I can remember, the NCAP rating was so low you had to dig for it.

ssmith6287

My dad had 3 of them and never had a problem, as far as i was concerned looking in the used adds, the biggest thing was an NCT, this is certified till 2010.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Ford/Escort/1.4I-GHIA/1179830/

this is the exact car. Im in college so its a runabout for the next year or so till i get up on my feet like

Mr.David

Ya it looks good and clean, nice and cheap. Take your time examining it and good luck!

ssmith6287

cheers lad

Max_Damage

I have a '95 Escort 1.3L (the model with the pushrod engine), and there has been no problems with it so far. The engine itself is slow and underpowered (60BHP), but I find it's quite economical (roughly 40 - 50MPG).

The 1.4L onward engines are more refined from what I hear.

One thing I find with alot of Ford's (my Escort and my father's Fiesta included), is that the fuel gauge can be quite erratic, although I wouldn't say that's too much of a cause for concern.

fletch

I had an Escort for 2 years....loved it. Never had a problem with it.
Fuel consumption was probably the only downside...averaging 33mpg (1.4 '98), never managed over 38mpg :eek:
300 miles from a tank is about the maximum you can expect.

snowman707

looks a nice clean car

offer €700- €800 & see what happens

Um UMMMM u have enquired about insurance ? havn't you


best of luck if you purchase .

gofaster_s13

Rust, rust, rust, rust and when your finished looking for rust have another look because if you didnt find any there's something wrong

Max_Damage

^ Mine is 13 years old and their is no rust on it whatsoever.

The Mk3 and Mk4 Escorts, now they were a different story for rust...

snowman707

gofaster_s13 wrote: »

Rust, rust, rust, rust and when your finished looking for rust have another look because if you didnt find any there's something wrong

The op is looking for a car to get him by for a year or two while he's at college, if it's nct'd until 2010, he will hardl'y fall through a rust hole in the arse of the car in the meantime.

colsers22

It's a grand car for a grand!! Not bad at all for a first car.. The wheels are nasty though.

gyppo

ssmith6287 wrote: »

I got it checked by the gards and its all clean.

When did the guards start offering this service. I thought the data protection act would prohibit them from offering any information to a member of the public?

ssmith6287

gyppo wrote: »

When did the guards start offering this service. I thought the data protection act would prohibit them from offering any information to a member of the public?

You go in, you pay €25, they do a check on the car. whether it has been in a reporteds acceident, theres money owed, its stolen etc... highly recomended if yer buying privately, dnt wanna get stuck with something thatll mess ya up. Yeah i went on insure.ie, prov licence, third party f&t and its €1550 with an option to pay the volutary excess thing. so im lookin at 1800€ for insurance, not bad. cheers for the comments lads, very helpful..... Ive a set of alloys in my shed that ahem fell off a truck so If i get it, theyre the first thing im gonna change

maidhc

ssmith6287 wrote: »

You go in, you pay €25, they do a check on the car. whether it has been in a reporteds acceident, theres money owed, its stolen etc... highly recomended if yer buying privately, dnt wanna get stuck with something thatll mess ya up. Yeah i went on insure.ie, prov licence, third party f&t and its €1550 with an option to pay the volutary excess thing. so im lookin at 1800€ for insurance, not bad. cheers for the comments lads, very helpful..... Ive a set of alloys in my shed that ahem fell off a truck so If i get it, theyre the first thing im gonna change

The gardai cannot tell you if there is money owed on a car, because they just don't have that information. Interesting that they will give out that info though!

... not that there should be outstanding finance on a 10yo Escort!

ssmith6287

http://www.carsireland.ie/car-check.html

heres a site that will do it for you aswell, it works, i looked up my dads car.