1997 Ford Escort Wagon
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SPI or Zetec engine? The SPI engine is known to drop valves religiously over 100K miles.
Tons of info in the forums at http://www.feoa.net
Ford Escort Owner's website.
Ford Escort Owner's website.
What are they asking for it? Last summer I bought a really clean 1997 Escort Wagon with only 36,000 miles on it for $3500. Had new brakes, tuneup including plugs and wires, and new tires too. Great little car, but too small for me.
We loved our 97 Escort. Many 200k Escorts out there still driving around. In my area, the winters destroy them. They rot out quickly.
My sister had one years ago. I hated the engine and shifter but I liked the rest of the wagon
For the record, the engine was reliable. It was just unpleasant and underpowered. My '94 Civic EX sedan and my wife's '96 Saturn SC2 were smoother and felt considerably more powerful. Yeah, the Saturn was smoother. The shifter was sloppy but useable.
For the record, the engine was reliable. It was just unpleasant and underpowered. My '94 Civic EX sedan and my wife's '96 Saturn SC2 were smoother and felt considerably more powerful. Yeah, the Saturn was smoother. The shifter was sloppy but useable.
If it is a '97, it is the SPI...Zetec was '98 I think.
Ford's reliability was all over the place in the late 90s, but would say it was better than some early 2000 marks. My brother's ex-gf had the 2000 ZX2 which was not bad but it made odd noises in odd times. I would say if it check out, it would be "ok" but other makes were better at the time it was made.
The Mrs. had a 2003 Focus Wagon company vehicle that was junk after 75K
Ford's reliability was all over the place in the late 90s, but would say it was better than some early 2000 marks. My brother's ex-gf had the 2000 ZX2 which was not bad but it made odd noises in odd times. I would say if it check out, it would be "ok" but other makes were better at the time it was made.
The Mrs. had a 2003 Focus Wagon company vehicle that was junk after 75K
Originally Posted By: Miller88
The SPI engine is known to drop valves religiously over 100K miles.
100k is a bit low. 300k was more typical from what I've seen, but they did that. Ford and their crummy springs... cheap people ignoring busted springs...
The SPI engine is known to drop valves religiously over 100K miles.
100k is a bit low. 300k was more typical from what I've seen, but they did that. Ford and their crummy springs... cheap people ignoring busted springs...
Originally Posted By: NHGUY
The underbody rusts around the mounting points for the front suspension,leading to a junked car.This generation was Mazda 323 based whereas the 1980s original version was a "World" car from Ford.
It may have been based on the Euro model, but it was a very bad copy.
They came from the factory with too much positive camber on the front wheels and too much negative camber on the rear. Made it handle like it was walking on stilts. And it had a lot of structural problems. Door frames would crack and break where the striker was. There was a problem with the structural integrity by the gas tank.... It was a junk car. They gradually improved it but never got it to the Euro market car level.
The European Escort was a legitimate competitor to the Volkswagen Golf. The US market Escort was not even a legitimate competitor to the "Malibu-ized" Pennsylvania made VW Rabbits. Not a good car at anything. In the unlikely event that you see one surviving to this day, it almost assuredly has at least one of the rear wheels at 10° negative camber.
The Mazda B-platform used in the 2nd gen was used for a lot of cars. It can be tuned a lot of different ways.
The 2nd gen Escort was actually chassis tuned pretty well. It wasn't as quick steering and taut as a Protegè, but it wasn't as loose and undersprung as the Kia Sephia. Ford Australia actually got pretty close to Mazda chassis tuning with the Capri.
The rust issues are Ford's fault alone. They were built in Mexico and Michigan. No Mazdas built on those assembly lines.
The underbody rusts around the mounting points for the front suspension,leading to a junked car.This generation was Mazda 323 based whereas the 1980s original version was a "World" car from Ford.
It may have been based on the Euro model, but it was a very bad copy.
They came from the factory with too much positive camber on the front wheels and too much negative camber on the rear. Made it handle like it was walking on stilts. And it had a lot of structural problems. Door frames would crack and break where the striker was. There was a problem with the structural integrity by the gas tank.... It was a junk car. They gradually improved it but never got it to the Euro market car level.
The European Escort was a legitimate competitor to the Volkswagen Golf. The US market Escort was not even a legitimate competitor to the "Malibu-ized" Pennsylvania made VW Rabbits. Not a good car at anything. In the unlikely event that you see one surviving to this day, it almost assuredly has at least one of the rear wheels at 10° negative camber.
The Mazda B-platform used in the 2nd gen was used for a lot of cars. It can be tuned a lot of different ways.
The 2nd gen Escort was actually chassis tuned pretty well. It wasn't as quick steering and taut as a Protegè, but it wasn't as loose and undersprung as the Kia Sephia. Ford Australia actually got pretty close to Mazda chassis tuning with the Capri.
The rust issues are Ford's fault alone. They were built in Mexico and Michigan. No Mazdas built on those assembly lines.
This was our 98 Escort wagon from about 7 years ago. It was WONDERFUL! Very reliable and clean car. I find myself missing its simplicity and reliability at times.
97's didn't drop the valve seats as much as later years. Bet if the body is in good condition it could go 300k easily. 97's did have a unique EFI/emissions vs the 98. Parts could be hard to find but you probably won't need them.
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