1994 Ford Escort Reviews, Pricing & Specs

I LOVE my Escort! I've had mine for almost ten years, and has been reliable and can take a beating. I've used it for long road trips, transporting cargo and people, and pretty much everything in between. The manual has more power than the automatic, for sure. It's a good car for beginners who are learning to use a clutch. FABULOUS MPG, anywhere between 38 and 45 on the freeway and averages 35 MPG on windy country roads. It holds its lower gears really well, and on snowy/icy roads, that's a major plus. Add some good snow tires and beefy chains and it gives an AWD a run for the money. Basic maintenance is pretty easy on this car. I can change the oil, fix the battery cables, flush the radiator and change the air filter without a major amount of labor. I did have to replace the engine(after about 200k miles), but it was cheaper to replace the engine on the car than it was to get a new one, and everything else on the car was working just fine. :) That being said... Since the car is almost twenty years old and Ford quit making Escorts back in 2002, the parts are becoming harder to find and when found are costing more. Ford no longer makes the LX body kit(mine currently has the GT grille and it looks WRONG :P), the steering wheel counterweight, or the power steering cables. As far as I know Ford still makes the clutch kit, but what used to be a $300 repair has now spiked to $1200(labor included)! A new fuel pump is costly as well, around $400(DO NOT go aftermarket on the fuel pump, I learned this the hard way). My current mechanic had to make a new part for the shifter from scratch(although I won't complain about that one, the part he made was better than the one Ford made!), and had to modify the steering wheel counterweight since Ford no longer makes it and he was not liking what he was finding in terms of aftermarket parts. If I could change one thing about this car it would be the seatbelts. I have those lovely electronic seat belts that like to jam and cost a fortune to fix. They also don't work worth a darn in a crash. I was involved in a minor fender bender and I flew forward and caught the steering wheel because the belt didn't lock the way it's supposed to. Big safety flaw and I'm not thrilled about it, and am currently looking to get non-electric replacements. All in all it's been a wonderful car for me, and were it not for the rising scarcity of the parts I would highly recommend it. If you take care of it with the proper maintenance it will take care of you. :)May 28, 2013