[john112deere]

So I just got this Escort from my Grandmother in July. It sat a lot the last four years, but was driven regularly before that. Got 81k miles on it now, had 79k when I got it at the beginning of July, and around 74k when Grandpa died in '05.

Just seems like it's one thing after another as long as I've had it...and as I've repaired them, I've been, uh, less than impressed with the way Ford did a lot of things on this vehicle. It's not awful, but it's not as well engineered, or built with as high-quality parts, as my Ranger, IMO.

So far I've given it a basic tune-up, put in a radiator and new hoses, new rear coils, and rear sway bar mounts. It's not a lot, all in all, and I've been able to do it all myself which cuts down on costs a lot, but it IS kind of a lot for a car with under 100k miles, in just over a month (and 2k miles) of ownership, IMO.

My Ranger, I'm fond enough of that I'm ok with the "joys" of living with a worn-out vehicle...but it's also got a ton of miles on it. This Escort, well, I don't like it anywhere near as much as the Ranger and never will, and it doesn't have enough miles for me to "forgive" it's imperfections quite as easily.

I'm not trying to bash Escorts- it's got a lot of good qualities, and if it was a stick, I'd probably be a lot more tolerant of the rest. I'm not in love with it, never will be, but it's decent transportation.

But I AM wondering if I've hit (or fallen into, I guess) that point where it's just a never-ending stream of repairs. The Ranger's been there for pretty well as long as I've owned it (since 200k), and I had rather hoped to get away from that. So far, I've done more work per mile of driving than I ever did with the Ranger, though...

Seems like there's a lot of people who figure an Escort is good for 120k or so, and then there's the people who get WAY over 200k out of 'em. I'm a "run it 'til the wheels fall off" kinda guy, I'm just trying to get a handle on how long I've got 'til they do, and how bumpy a road it'll be to get there.

Thanks!

 

[EscortLX97]

Ive always said it, gamdpa car for a grands slow driver.
If the car was used for very short trips, was slow driven and sat most of the time, things like that will happen, its not the cars fault. Use the car it will wear, dont use the car it will deteriorate. Its how it works.

Also is a period of breaking for the car so treat it gently, race the engine and it may end up breaking a compression ring or damaging a bearing.

I know people that have acquired a car the way you did and lasted a month because of harsh driving a car that was driven nice and slow.

Remember that rubber deteriorates use it or not.

 

[madmatt2024]

All cars have a period of time when a bunch of stuff breaks. The rear spring are known for breaking, the bolt in the swaybar endlinks rust and break occasionally, and the radiators are known to leak between the core and plastic endcaps. The Escort isn't a bad car, its just a bunch of the common problems seems to have hit you at the same time.

 

[john112deere]

The Escort isn't a bad car, its just a bunch of the common problems seems to have hit you at the same time.

Awright...I'll cross my fingers it'll improve from here on out.

*Rear springs are a common failure- what about the fronts?

*Escort97LX- I am, unfortunately, well aware of the problems that arise when vehicles sit. And I do not beat on my vehicles. I expect them to last effectively forever, and drive and maintain them with that goal. I'm pretty sure all these problems were pre-existing...I'm just slowly finding them as I drive and work on the thing.

 

[madmatt2024]

Only the rear springs are known to break.

 

[john112deere]

Only the rear springs are known to break.

That's good to know...I was wondering whether I ought to replace them as a precaution, but if they're not known for breaking, I'll just wait until it needs front struts and decide whether to go whole-hog on 'em them or not.