Ford Escort 1997Change

Basic Car, no air conditioning, has 5-speed. Bought it in 1998 with 32000km on it to haul my kids everywhere..lol. For 14 year through Ontario/Alberta Winters to driving across Canada twice packed to the gills with packed moving boxes.. this little car never ever let me down...Religiously did the oil change every 5000km, only major repair was a ball joint..Absolutely fantastic car...I just sold it in 2013 with 280km on it to a student driving back & forth to school. Now I gotta find another car that will last me as long with the great perfomance I got from my Escort

I purchased this vehicle used when it was about 4 years old. It has been a very reliable vehicle and I've had no major problems with it, just the usual repairs that are needed brakes etc. It did have a recall because of a possible problem with the airbags, but it was fixed quickly. The ride is comfortable although it seems small inside for our family of five. The interior seems basic but okay.

Pretty impressive car considering its age, not real complaints parts wise. Nearly 17 years old and I'm only starting to replace the original parts. I have lost daytime running lights but its not a necessity since you can just use your headlights. It's age really shows in fuel consumption though.

After owning this car for nearly 250,000km, I feel I have become very acquainted with it. I purchased it off lease from a Ford dealer in 2000 with only 25,000 km on the clock. The car has only needed oil changes, brakes, and rear shocks/struts replaced once in the time I've owned it. There has been no other maintenance required. Even the timing belt is still original - this is a non-interference engine so there isn't any damaged caused when the timing belt finally goes. I would recommend the 1997+ Escorts to anyone.

I had mine for the past 4 years and it is a great little car. Very light, decent on gas, low cost to buy for someone looking for a first car. I have had some issues with mine but it is things that could happen to any car and was well worth the money I put up for it. I would keep it longer if I wasn't working full time and wanting to treat myself to something nicer. I will miss it

My old Ford Escort was originally purchased new in 1997 by my parents, and I bought it off them in 2001. I still own it and it has generally been so incredibly reliable over the years.

Aside from a few minor things, the only real issue with this car that keeps cropping up is that the brake rotors seem to get warped easily. I am not hard on my cars and others cars I've owned are fine in this regard. The rotors don't get so bad that you need to replace them immediately, but you will get a bit of shaking at really high speeds if you don't rotate or replace them.

The car drives nice enough. It's a bit underpowered for me but gets me around. I've certainly driven worse handling vehicles. There's no electric assist on the steering so the steering feels pretty good with nice resistance.

I have no rust on it, unlike many others I've seen. People must really not take care of their vehicles. I went from the south coast of BC to northern BC in 2002 and there's no rusting.

I'd say this vehicle could still be sold to a student in 2012 and they could use it get to school or work for years to come with a little TLC (but not even that much!). I just get my regular oil and filter changes and other than that don't put much money into at all, and it's late 2012 now! Overall, good value. I plan on replacing it soon, though, and will likely go back to Ford to get a Focus or Fusion or something like that.

car is amazing on gas, never given me any problems.Would serve greatly as someone's first car. Insurance for it also very cheap

I've owned this car for 5 years. Bought it with 134,000kms and now have 228,000kms. It has needed minor repairs, but overall this has certainly been the best car I could have imagined buying. None of the repairs have been major, and for a car that was 10 years old when I bought it (now it's 15 years old) minor repairs are expected. The motor runs just like it did the day I bought it. It's never left me stranded. It's driven nearly every single day in the city, and for two years now, once a month or so, I make the trip from Sarnia to Oshawa and back again the next day, a 700km round trip. Excellent highway mileage, between 6L and 6.5L/100kms. Performance is fine. Remember, this is an economy car, so understanding that, I have no complaints about the performance at all. Perfect automobile for students (like myself.) Not too difficult to work on, I've done almost everything myself so far.

I would recommend the 5 speed standard, as it improves performance and makes this car much more fun and actually quite enjoyable to drive still. Also recommend snow tires. The first winter I had this car, it wasn't good in the snow. Ofcourse snow tires are much better no matter what you drive, but without them, I found this car had a harder time with the snow compared to my first car. Now I own snow tires, so it rocks in the snow now!

There is one thing which was predictable: add 8-10 years to the make of the vehicle. That will be the final year of its life. There is a reason why you don't see any of these on the streets anymore, and haven't seen them for a good few years. The only positive: it had a bit of a "nimble" feeling while driving. In our case, the engine went. While I admit there could have been some additional preventative maintenance, the outcome would have been the same. Considering the top dollar we paid for it, this was by far the worst car investment we've made to date.