high mileage escort

[dllewell]

Hi folks,
I really want to buy an escort wagon,
One just came up for sale in my area for 3000$ canadian and 195000 kms.
I was wondering what sort of maintenance to expect from higer mileage escorts and what sort of life expectancy i can expect from the car (ie. how far will it go).
This car is a 5 speed, so no auto tranny problems.
Most of my experience is with Honda accords, and with them they will pretty much run until rust kills them (well over 300 000).
thanks for any advice/ ecperience

Dave

[panzees36]

I have a 1993 with almost 300 thousand miles.I also have 2 other Escorts.They are known for running forever.

[Jet-Lee]

damn near $6k USD?! I'll sell you my 99 LX for that. It's got 149k miles.

[TheStang00]

canadian money is worth less than american money... its not 6k

[A. Souphound]

Originally Posted by dllewell

Hi folks,
I really want to buy an escort wagon,
One just came up for sale in my area for 3000$ canadian and 195000 kms.
I was wondering what sort of maintenance to expect from higer mileage escorts and what sort of life expectancy i can expect from the car (ie. how far will it go).
This car is a 5 speed, so no auto tranny problems.
Most of my experience is with Honda accords, and with them they will pretty much run until rust kills them (well over 300 000).
thanks for any advice/ ecperience

Dave

Details i.e. Year, engine size, mileage?

[Arnoldtheskier]

In terms of durability/longevity..the award goes to(drum roll)...

The Escort..over the Hondas etc.The Honda's,Toyota's may APPEAR to be better..but let's be fair here.They both go a few hundred thou.The Honda's etc., are "nice" cars..regarded as such.TREATED as such.Pamperred/babied(for the most part)/MAINTAINED EXPENSIVELY!..Again..I have to be fair here.PERHAPS the reason that they are treated so well is that they are SO EXPENSIVE to fix in the first place.Escorts are CHEAP! and consequentlly get treated as such..LOL..BAD! I'ld like to see the average "nice" Honda..get the Escort treatment..and JUST SEE how long it would last HAHA.OR the Escort get the "Honda" treatment.Hey..don't get me wrong here.There are "nice" Escorts and treated as such..BUT there ain't too many "nice" Japanese cars that get treated like the vast majority of Escorts.

It'd be stupid to compare the Escort to the Japanese in terms or repair costs/parts.Price some common parts for an Escort(a used one)(( I did before I bought mine))..NOW price the same parts(used/wreckers is ok too) for Japanese cars.Now..grab your ankles.

New..here in Canada..go check out a new Focus wagon.$23,000 list(I don't know what they sell for)Spend about an hr reading the option list that COMES with this $23,000 car and say..HEY! I don't want all this junk..why can't I just buy the car for $10 bucks eh?

$23,000 for a lot of Japanese cars here(selling often over list) Check out the option list and you'll soon be wonderring whether they come with a powertrain is an option.

I actually thnk that they are probablly about equal in terms of quality(I really have nothing against Japanese cars) but the cost of driving Japanese cars..especially used ones can be shocking.Listen to a few car shows..do a few internet searches..they are not as great as a lot of people think.

Used Escort wagons..Toronto area.91-96 around 200k Nice! shape..looking,auto,air,certified,emmission tested 1200-1300 Cdn(91ish) to about 2200-2300Cdn 96ish Figger about 2g's for about a nice 94..They are always available..you might have to look online,used car publications,newspapers for a few weeks..but they are there.
Price goes up sharply 97,8,9..you'll have to lay out..2700 and up or so for a 97,3500-4500 for a 98,some 98's lower k's..5,000..99's..5,000 to 6,000

Hope this helps you out..

[TheStang00]

lol i have to agree on the treatment... me and my bro both beat the sh*t out of our escort, for christs sake i used to hop curbs lol. that thing still runs to, just needs a new starter. its got over 240k on it. its a 1990. one time we tried to run over a huge snowdrift... lol that didnt work very well. lots of memories in that thing.

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by TheStang00

lol i have to agree on the treatment... me and my bro both beat the sh*t out of our escort, for christs sake i used to hop curbs lol. that thing still runs to, just needs a new starter. its got over 240k on it. its a 1990. one time we tried to run over a huge snowdrift... lol that didnt work very well. lots of memories in that thing.

When I started looking into my escort the consumer reports gave the car a very good rateing as did most report sheets on the internet. Seems the later the years with the escort the better it became. Strange how they stopped makeing them once they got it right.

[escort317]

i would rather have a japanese car over an escort any day for one i hate fords but drive one isnt that ironic plus they are so hard to work on everything in the engine compartment so close together you almost have to disassemble it to to work on it this car is the biggest pain in the ass i have ever had even though it will take quite a beating i hate the damn thing

[flatire]

Originally Posted by escort317

i would rather have a japanese car over an escort any day for one i hate fords but drive one isnt that ironic plus they are so hard to work on everything in the engine compartment so close together you almost have to disassemble it to to work on it this car is the biggest pain in the ass i have ever had even though it will take quite a beating i hate the damn thing

ditto

[UnexplodedCow]

I'll stick with an Escort, cheaper to work on. just took mine out of being completely overhauled and remachined....for 700 bucks, which isn't bad. That includes a new head that came with the car (guy tried to work on it, but sucked, so I got the car cheap, and have been fixing it up). My parents drive an '88 Honda Accord, and I hate the thing. It's got Either 178k on it....no power whatsoever, until you get above 2500 rpm. When I drove my escort with leaky cylinders I did better...no joke. It was 155 psi, should've been 210...and I could shred the tires way better than that honda.

[lgroulx2000]

Hi,
We have a 92 Escort GT with 327000 km. It has the original engine. Burns no oil - leaks some. The body is a little rusty. Bottom line, great car.

[escort357]

Escorts will run forever, no matter bad you beat them. I got mine about a year ago(when I destroyed my 91 VW Jetta) , and its previous owner did no maintainence other than changing the oil and filter. She beat the hell out of that poor car(liked to go about 95mph). It had 70,000 miles and still had the original spark plugs. Other than replacing the automatic tranny, I haven't had to make any repairs that cost me more than $20. They're amazing little cars.

[OverBoardProject]

Originally Posted by escort317

i would rather have a japanese car over an escort any day for one i hate fords but drive one isnt that ironic plus they are so hard to work on everything in the engine compartment so close together you almost have to disassemble it to to work on it this car is the biggest pain in the ass i have ever had even though it will take quite a beating i hate the damn thing

I'm the opposite.
The only car that I like better than Fords are V.W.'s.

I own 1 Ford at the moment and love it, but I own 2 Chevy powered vehicles (my motorhome has a 350 in it) and I hate them both

No Ford has ever left me down, and I sure can't say that for Toyota (actually no Chevy has ever left me down either)

[Escort_Service]

Dude if you want the final word on escorts I have two. One for city driving and another for Rally racing. I have the GT 94 for Rally and you can drive the crud out of them and they will take it all. Im not too nice to my 93 Lx-e either. My buddy has the wagon and he has about 400 000 on it. Still runs well dispite constant abuse.