1. Home
  2. Ford Trucks
  3. Might pick up a 93 Escort this weekend

Might pick up a 93 Escort this weekend

I realize this is a Truck ng, but....

Someone nearby is looking to sell a 93 Escort Hatchback, and I'll probably take a look at it this weekend. As they describe, the car might be a bit of a 'fixer-upper', but probably not any more so than a car of this vintage and around 120K miles. The price is attractive. We'll see if the car is too.

I'll pull the dipstick(s) and pop the filler caps to look for foaming/fluid contamination/metal flecks, but is there anything specific that Escorts ate a lot of? I've never owned one, but I've always heard of them being pretty stout little cars, if not a bit 'appliance-like' when it comes to creature comforts.

Not sure what engine or transmission are in it till I look at it, but I suppose that as long as no fluids are mixed, contaminated, or burnt smelling and it sounds ok I shouldn't expect any major component failure in the next couple o' months, right?

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

-p

Reply to
phaeton
Loading thread data ...

I used to have an 86 Escort which I bought new. After 35,000 miles the block cracked. It never ran right after that even though I had it fixed. I got rid of the car shortly afterwards.

Paul Bosselaers

Reply to
Paul J. Bosselaers

Overheated, maybe? Bad casting? If this was repaired under warranty @

35,000 miles, they should have dropped a whole new engine in the car. If it ran crappy after that, then they should have addressed that (under warranty) too.

-phaeton

Reply to
phaeton

A few observations..

Look for signs of an accident. Escorts dont have a whole lot of front end alignment options. Check front tire wear for the same. excessive inner or outer tire wear is a dead giveaway for a camber adjustmet issue. You cant get much adjustment out of the escort without expensive shock tower adapters, or some frame pulling. If its an automatic, I have seen many transmission shops take advantage of people with a blown planetary in the transmisson.

Look for anti freeze in the oil, or a froth at the very top of the dipstick. A sign of a possible head issue.

Lastly, at 13 years old, check the whole front end. Struts, lower balljoints, cv joints, inner and outer tie rod ends, rack, rotors, calipers, pads, and dont forget the brake hoses. I worked for a garage that did ALOT of used carlot work, fleet work, and 3rd party used car warranty work.

Good luck.

Reply to
djdave

I heard much later that the Escort engines of that time period had a problem with the head bolts coming loose. If I had known about that then I would have made sure they got tightened regularly.

Paul

Reply to
Paul J. Bosselaers

I bought an 89 escort off a lady at work for $500. It had a rebuilt transmission (Auto) and it was mech perfect beyond that. I have heard the Auto trans in these were not too reliable and it was used for a few years.

I was not excited about the milage either. I got 23 to 24. I have a 03 Mustang GT and the V8 gets the same and upto 28 mpg on the hiway. I guess the 3 speed auto in the escort vs the 5sp manual in the stang made a lot of difference. Doing 3000rpm at 60mpg with the escort probably didn't help. I have to be going 80 to do 3000 in my 4 cyl Ranger with 3.73 rear. To get to the point, Get a manual!

Another problem I saw was rust attacking only certain areas. The underbody was vitually rust free, but for some reason, rust attacked an area under the rear seat floor and completly rusted through.

John

Reply to
JohnR66

I had a 93 Escort, and it was a super little car. 2 girls learned to drive on a stick shift, and it cost me 1 clutch. That's a fair trade to have a new driver at least know how to drive a stick.

Your problem is cost of repairs. The car is worth $2000 depending on condition. New struts, brakes and muffler at a shop will cost you close to that. Have you considered a Corolla?

Reply to
Luba Papageorgio

Thanks! This is just the sort of tip I was looking for. I would've noticed the tires and thought "a simple alignment, no prob!" without realizing (or remembering?) that it's not just a shim-n-twist sort of fix. I spose a lot of budget compacts are like this?

Sure. I'd drive one of those too. I wasn't looking for any specific car to buy, but I happened to see this one in the paper for sale cheap. I've got latent gearhead syndrome, where I like wrenching on stuff. I used to do a fair bit of it about 10 or more years ago, but since I sold all my rods and project cars and bought a brand new Ranger I haven't needed to "fix anything up".

I was starting to get that itch again, and figured i'd ease into it with some minor stuff on a cheap car while I still had a very reliable daily driver. Plus, i figured that as long as it looked ok and didn't have any major issues, I could probably sell it for what I've got into it and buy something else to work on. A hobby. Or, if the planets align themselves correctly, I might have a potential Bandit-class purestock race car on my hands. Woohoo!

Funny you mention teaching the girls to drive a stick. My gf wants to learn how to drive a manual, but I'm a little nervous letting her beat my truck up. I was hoping the Escort would be a manual just for this reason.

Unfortunately, the guy who's selling the car is a bit flaky. Doesn't answer email or phone calls very often. Maybe he's not so motivated. Oh well.

Thanks again!

-phaeton

Reply to
phaeton

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.