From a 2021 to 1998

J

JoelB

Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
1,349
Location
Minnesota
Well I went ahead and sold my 2021 Ford Ecosport and purchased a 1998 Ford Escort. I couldn't live with the inefficiency of the Ecosport and SUV life really wasn't for me. I paid $27k out the door for it and Vroom offered me $26,400 which i knew would be my best shot to get out of it.

Around the same time i got that offer i found a little 1998 Ford Escort LX (SOHC) for sale locally. We all know the car market is just nuts right now so my hobby of looking around for deals has been pretty bleak. But this little guy looked super clean in the pictures. 58k miles, I believe it's a single owner car. Power everything along with cruise which is pretty uncommon for these. Nearly new tires, no body rot. I was able to get it for $3k and couldn't pass it up after driving it. These cars are few and far between here in the rust belt. I suspect most just melted away after too many salty winters.

It's been eye opening making the switch. I drove beaters like this most of my youth so it's not totally new to me. But we've come a long way in how good cheap cars are. I'll drive this one for 6-8 weeks until the salt is gone then pick up a better suited new car.
Ford escort 1.JPG
Ford escort 2.JPG
 
I have been taking care of a friend's 1998 Ford Explorer while he has been at a foreign university and while I certainly love my 2021 model year vehicle, I love the simplicity of vehicles from the 90's both in technological terms and in terms of how easily many are able to be worked on.

The funny thing is that be it that 98 Explorer or subject Escort, those would have been brand new model year vehicles when I got my driver's license in 1998. I would have loved to have had either one instead of the 1984 Ford Thunderbird that I had as a first car, now that was a beater! 🤣
 
Had a 1997 Escort wagon, same chassis and front end as that 1998 sedan. It was a great car. Got 300,000 miles out of it before the valve seat inserts failed and pounded the pistons into submission. That was a common problem on the 2.0 engine after many miles. You're not likely to have that problem for another 200K or so.

I had posted here years back about using Red Line oil and how clean everything was under the valve cover. Shaddup, don't laugh.

That vintage of Escort and Mercury Tracer is still around here. They were not particularly rust-prone. The late 1990s was when Ford did a lot of things right.
 
Always liked that style of Escort. Nice find!
Buddy had a black 1998 Escort ZX-2 he beat the snot out of for 9 years; it never let him down. Great car.
 
Way to go dumping that new car at these prices! Vroom’s stock price has gone down like 90% from recent highs. They are burning money.
 
You would have paid at least 50% of.that for 200,000 mi and a lot worse cosmetic condition in today's market. As long as it doesn't have any major issues you did get a deal in todays market.
 
JoelB said:
Well I went ahead and sold my 2021 Ford Ecosport and purchased a 1998 Ford Escort. I couldn't live with the inefficiency of the Ecosport and SUV life really wasn't for me. I paid $27k out the door for it and Vroom offered me $26,400 which i knew would be my best shot to get out of it.

Around the same time i got that offer i found a little 1998 Ford Escort LX (SOHC) for sale locally. We all know the car market is just nuts right now so my hobby of looking around for deals has been pretty bleak. But this little guy looked super clean in the pictures. 58k miles, I believe it's a single owner car. Power everything along with cruise which is pretty uncommon for these. Nearly new tires, no body rot. I was able to get it for $3k and couldn't pass it up after driving it. These cars are few and far between here in the rust belt. I suspect most just melted away after too many salty winters.

It's been eye opening making the switch. I drove beaters like this most of my youth so it's not totally new to me. But we've come a long way in how good cheap cars are. I'll drive this one for 6-8 weeks until the salt is gone then pick up a better suited new car. View attachment 91173View attachment 91174
Click to expand...
Is it too buzzy inside? That one even has power windows. The Escort wouldn't be my first choice of 90's compact cars but its better than walking! That interior reminds me of my 1995 Neon, which I do kind of miss.
 
That's a nice little car. I bet it's way better on gas than the Ecosport too.

No shame in driving it, drive the wheels off of it. Wait for car prices to come back to Earth maybe next year and sell it. Or keep as a winter beater.
 
JoelB said:
Well I went ahead and sold my 2021 Ford Ecosport and purchased a 1998 Ford Escort. I couldn't live with the inefficiency of the Ecosport and SUV life really wasn't for me. I paid $27k out the door for it and Vroom offered me $26,400 which i knew would be my best shot to get out of it.

Around the same time i got that offer i found a little 1998 Ford Escort LX (SOHC) for sale locally. We all know the car market is just nuts right now so my hobby of looking around for deals has been pretty bleak. But this little guy looked super clean in the pictures. 58k miles, I believe it's a single owner car. Power everything along with cruise which is pretty uncommon for these. Nearly new tires, no body rot. I was able to get it for $3k and couldn't pass it up after driving it. These cars are few and far between here in the rust belt. I suspect most just melted away after too many salty winters.

It's been eye opening making the switch. I drove beaters like this most of my youth so it's not totally new to me. But we've come a long way in how good cheap cars are. I'll drive this one for 6-8 weeks until the salt is gone then pick up a better suited new car. View attachment 91173View attachment 91174
Click to expand...
Seeing how the EcoSport is one of the worst vehicles manufactured today-I see this as an upgrade. It's not too often you can get out of a mistake and have it not cost you some money.
However-I know you belong to the more "mature group" and getting in and out of an Escort is NOT AS EASY as an EcoSport. That was about the only upsize to your previous vehicle.
 
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How do you drive that thing? there’s no lcd in the dash! that’s like so 1980’s man.

Hardest part for me stepping back was the dome light. Leave rhe door open, dead battery to follow. I forgot about that”feature” from back in the day.

What I don’t get is how each generation of car I have is harder to get out of. Still. Use it or lose it, and my crv is still the worst for me getting in and out of. My truck though was easiest.
 
I've been driving the car for a few days now and it's definitely eye opening. Totally adequate to get you from A to B, but ergonomics in cheap cars have come a long way in 20 years. As some have mentioned getting in and out of it is interesting. The seat is noticeably lower to the ground than my wife's spark.

It's a pretty unrefined engine which is most noticeable sitting at stop lights. The engine shakes and vibrates a decent amount. But it goes down the road straight and at speed the engine is pretty smooth. Overall it's a solid little car, I don't regret buying it.

In April I'll be looking for something brand new and likely sell the Escort to my Brother for what I have into it. But before that I want to do a mega detail on it and see how new I can make it look.
 
Last edited:
JoelB said:
It's a pretty unrefined engine which is most noticeable sitting at stop lights. The engine shakes and vibrates a decent amount.
Click to expand...

By way of comparison, so is the KA24DE in '98 Nissan Frontier. It's quite a buzzy little engine. OK in a pickup. Nissan also used this engine in cars.
 
JoelB said:
Its a pretty unrefined engine which is most noticeable sitting at stop lights. The engine shakes and vibrates a decent amount.
Click to expand...

If it has an external fuel filter, swap that out, run some Techron through it and change the plugs. Sometimes that's all it takes to make these MPFI engines idle better.
 
Had a 98 Escort as first "newer" car in 99 or 2000. Went from a old junk s15 with no AC and terrible on the highway. I put 30-40k on it the first year driving it everywhere. I truly regret trading it on the 00 F150. Didn't have the valve seat issue at least like the current Focus.
 
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