Car problems 1996 ford escort is my car cursed? i need advice?

Question

i bought this car 2 years ago with 78,000 miles on it. the car now has 101,000 miles on it. in that amount of time ive had to have the following problems in order fixed some of them may be related. My uncle did some of the work on this car so its less expensive the normal and i dont remeber exactly how much everything cost but ive put atleast $2325 in maintenence into this car since ive bought it.($3825 with work that needs to be done now) 1. timing belt had to be replaced (about $400? it was a long time ago) 2. spark plug wires had to be replaced(aprox.$100) engine ran on 3 cylinders and caused 4. engine had to be replaced (atleast $1400) 5. somekind of vacuum tube/line problem(aprox.$100) 6. tie rods had to be changed(aprox.$200) caused- 7 two tires which i purchased when it got the car were worn down had to be replaced($125) which led to my uncle noticing the bad tie rods 8. transmission has to be replaced. (1500). Is my car cursed or would this be my last major problem 4 a while?

Answer 1

You pretty much covered it all, except for the water pump exploding at any given moment, a roller lifter locking up and wiping out the cam, canister purge solenoid malfunction, transmission problems from the 4EAT, and I hope you installed new timing belt idler pulleys and tensioner when that was replaced or you will have problems later. 150,000 miles is the best I have seen from the 2.0 liter SPI engine. After that it falls to pieces and drops valve seats and looses compression,etc. If it is running, and you want something else, get rid of it now, while it is still running. Just a thought. They are good cars, but fall apart after 150,000 miles.

Answer 2

Ford Escort Problems

Answer 3

You're not being cursed or neither your car is. The thing is that when you bought this car 2 years ago, you may not have carried out any repairs or replacement of parts but you carried on using it
until most of the problems occur. Now that you have to carry out
major repairs and replacements of parts to your car all at once,
it's draining on your finance and you feel the pinch.
Since you have done most of the major works, I would suggest
that you be patient and think positive, because things will be
fine with your car after the repairs.

Answer 4

Hmm. the 96 Escort wasn't the best. They're not terrible, but Fords are notorious for weak tie rod ends. Drive it gently; no hard "the fast and the furious" cornering. Also, timing belts should be replaced every 60,000 miles, so you'll need to do that again in the near future. As far as making the engine and tranny last, keep them serviced, and drive it easily. I see people "driving it like they stole it" and that leads to blue smoke and big red Mercon fluid spots in the driveway. Good luck.

Answer 5

No your car is not cursed. I have had 4 of these stupid things. They are cheap to buy. Thats the problem. You will always have problems with old cars. Once it costs you more then a car payment in maintance 2 or 3 months in a row its time to go.
Matter of fact i have an escort i will sell you. I put more money into that thing then you would imagine in one trip alone to the shop.

Answer 6

you've replaced just about everything that can go wrong with a car. i think you are in the clear now. Just keep checking your fluids and your tire treads. You should be fine

Answer 7

sounds to me like you need a new car,but i see you got so much money in it that it wouldnt pay you to get rid of it now.

Answer 8

you got what i call a dollar you to death car. get rid of it take the loss and go on with your life.