I am looking into buying an '01 Escort sedan. Has AT, AC, 4-DR, 80K miles for $3450. A very affordable price. Going by Consumer Reports, Escort is the only Ford make that is well-engineered, reliable. Actually its the ZX2 that they reviewed and say is a 'good bet". This one is not an ZX2, and I don't know what the difference is. For the '01 XS2, there were 5 out of 14 different "trouble spot" points that rated only "average", and so that year did not get an overall reliability check-mark. The '02 ZX2 Escort DID get a reliability check-mark because all 14 points were above average for that year.
If this info can only be applied to the ZX2 model, than I can't make an evaluation on this data....do both models have the same powertrain/systems?
Does the reliability of these cars compare with Toyota Corolla or Hyundai Elantra? Trannys prone to failure?
Also, when is it due timing belt change? If not done and it breaks, does it screw up the valves and pistons? Geronimo