I am looking for a Ford and see alot of Ford Escorts that are affordable I was wondering how many miles per galon they usually get. Are they reliable, and how many miles they can have before they start to have problems, I just need a reliable car with good gas milage...
2007-07-17 16:38:07 · 6 answers · asked by Moose 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ Ford
I have a '91 Ford Escort, it gets about 28 m/gal. I haven't had a lot of problems with it in the 7 years I've owned it. I consider it reliable. The more major: struts and springs once, some coolant leaks. The minor ones: passenger automatic shoulder belt doesn't always open and close properly (I consider this minor as I rarely have anyone else in the car with me and most of the time when it is acting up it just won't open, so you just have to crawl under it), visors broken (were that way when I got it, and every Escort I've seen, they were broken in). Most other problems I have had with it are because I don't take the best care of it, like batteries dieing because they are corroded so they can't get charged.
The biggest everyday issue I have with it, is that I live in MN and it is VERY efficient at dissipating heat from the engine, so the car rarely gets above 50 degrees inside from about Oct. to April. I have a ceramic heater made to be wired into the car (the reason I can get near fifty in Jan.), also I wear my snow pants and boots if I have to go a long way. I don't ever have to worry about it overheating though, on one of the hottest days in the summer a few years ago (about 90), I had a coolant leak (found out later I was almost bone dry) but as long as I was going above 35 m/h it was reading a normal temp.
Hope this helps, happy shopping.
Oh, two more things, it's getting harder to find unusual parts for the older ones, like wiper switches, and because the engine is cramped into a small space, repairs can be difficult.
2007-07-17 16:58:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have a small fleet of '94's. The primary has just under 400k miles and still gets into the 40's mpg @ 55 and 38
mpg @ 75. The others get similar mpg and all are over
180k miles. We have found this model to be reliable
and inexpensive to maintain. None of the engines have been
touched except for the usual--cam belts etc. The one w/
nearly 400k miles has never had the starter or alternator
dismounted. It has the original clutch, water pump, fuel
pump. oil pump, and on and on. Ditto the others. All are
1.9L 5-speed manual. Guess where we'll go when we need to replace our fleet, if that ever happens.
2007-07-19 16:16:59 · answer #2 · answered by belate 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh boy, you're opening a big ol' can o' worms on this one....
The Escort was an economically built car. It was economic on your wallet, economic to drive and built with, well....economic parts.
As far as reliable, I have worked on ones with 50,000 miles and ones with over 200,000 miles. All with varying degrees of problems. I can't say exactly why but some cars just last longer than others and some have fewer problems than others.
At best, it's a crap shoot....in other words, if you roll the dice you may get a good car that lasts a long time or you can get one that breaks down at every stop sign. Good luck with your decision!
P.S. Take a look at the Toyota Corolla....
2007-07-17 16:50:12 · answer #3 · answered by k.t. W 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They are a nice reliable car with very decent gas mileage.
2007-07-17 17:12:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You will have better luck with a chevy cavalier.The escorts break alot and are a reliable as the weather.Hope this helps.
2007-07-17 16:46:23 · answer #5 · answered by HyperGforce 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
escorts are as good as any modern car ...mileage in the low to mid 30's buy the lowest mileage example you can find...problems are more a reflection of owner abuse and lack of preventive maintence...
2007-07-18 19:48:43 · answer #6 · answered by grasshoppah 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋