As you well know, I’m not exactly a big fan of quite a bit that came from the Big Three during their declining decades (70s – 00s), especially their small cars. There of course exceptions, and the gen2 Escort is one of them. It managed to transcend much of perpetual downward descent of that genre, once it was apparent that most of their small cars weren’t really competitive with the market leaders, like the Corolla and Civic.
Of course, the fact that the gen2 Escort was essentially a domestically-built Mazda 323 with a Ford engine gave it a decided leg up on the domestic competition. And there was just something about it that made it acceptable to folks who would otherwise likely buy an import. Like my two sisters in law, who both bought wagons like this in the same year, and got superlative service from them until just a few years ago. And in Eugene, they’re seen as a legitimate Corolla substitute.
One of the things that made the wagon particularly popular was that during the years 1993-1995, Ford sold all four body styles (three door hatch, 5 door hatch, sedan, wagon) in a decently-equipped LX trim for the same no-haggle price ($10,899 with 5 speed; $11,631 with automatic). Obviously, the wagon was the best deal. Ford had to add alloys to the 3 door hatchback to keep its sales from not swooning.
That seemed like a reasonably good deal at the time. And they sold very well. Inflation-adjusted, that’s right about $20k for the automatic-equipped versions. I just bought a very decently equipped new Corolla LE for $14, 500, for my disabled daughter’s new group home. Who says cars are getting more expensive? Ok; that was with a big discount; the MSRP was right around $20k too. But who pays that for a car these days?
When my moms 1990 Club Wagon was involved in an accident in 93 the Ford dealership gave us 93 Escort wagon as a loner while the van was in the body shop. It was bright yellow and was a LX model. We called it the banana boat. I remember we all thought it was so much different than what we were used to. Dad always had either a Grand Marques or LTD Crown Victoria as a company car and Mom had the full size van, so to us the Escort seemed like a foreign car.
My aunt had one of these in light blue. It gave her many years of good service. She later traded her Escort for a Subaru Forrester.
It’s interesting to compare the small-car strategies of GM and Ford during the 1980s and 1990s. Both realized that they needed a new battle plan in order to more effectively compete with the Japanese (although I wouldn’t call the first-generation North American Escort a complete failure, despite a rough start).
GM spent billions to create an entirely new division to build an entirely new car in an entirely new factory. Ford suppressed the “not invented here” inclinations so common in Detroit during this era, and teamed up with Mazda to build the second-generation Escort for North America.
The resulting Escort was, in some ways, better than the resulting Saturns, and most likely made some money for Ford, unlike Saturn. And it didn’t divert development funds from corporate siblings, unlike Saturn.
The contrast to GM was very stark. GM did Saturn because they could, which is why they did lots of stupid things.
I may be mistaken but I don’t remember the price being “non-haggle”. They DID sticker at the same price across the variants though which I found remarkable. As you stated the wagon was obviously the best bank for the buck. In any case, they all appeared to be a good value and sold in good numbers in California (for a domestic).
Where were these built?
Jim,
Some Escorts during the 1991-96 generation were built at the Ford plant in Wayne, MI, but to my knowledge, most were manufactured in Hermosillo, Mexico.
IIRC Hermosillo built the sedans and Wayne the wagons and hatchbacks.
I had a ’95 four-door hatchback that was built at Wayne.
You’re right, it wasn’t strictly “no haggle”. But I think it was done in substantial part because of the popularity of Saturn’s no-haggle pricing. The whole concept of no-haggle pricing was very much in the air at the time, and several manufacturers toyed with it, including Ford with these. And given how well they sold, I don’t think there was much room for haggling at the time.
It’s quite possible that it wasn’t so much ‘no-haggle’ as the typical very small profit margin on these small cars when it’s a loss-leader without many options. The figure that used to be tossed around was something like markup was a low $300, which isn’t a whole lot of room to negotiate. At least that’s what the salesmen would tell customers who tried to haggle.
I had a 1991 and then a 1995 Escort 3-door hatchback, both manuals. I’ve had bigger, heavier cars since, but these were my favorites for being tossable, practical and fun in a slow-car-fast kind of way. I do remember thinking it would have been perfect with a contemporary VW 8-valve motor.
On longevity, a neighbor had a wagon from the final generation, maybe a ’98 or so, and just sold it about three years ago after long and faithful service.
These were great cars. Not only did Mazda do the mechanicals, but they were also styled by Ford of Japan, so they really were just a closet Japanese car. In Australia, they didn’t even bother with the Ford CVH engine. I wonder how the “Mazdascort” would’ve been received in Europe, where the Mk5 Escort was initially a failure with the press.
Ford made them in Aus and sold them as Lasers, nice if slightly dull machines that were not considered as lithe as their 323-based predecessor, but for the top of line 3 door “TX3” sporty models, Ford didn’t even bother to make them at all – Mazda did, in Japan. The 1.8 twin cam in the “Ford” Laser TX3 was one of Mazdas all-time sweetest engines, and the Japanese factor meant we also got the “Ford” in 4wd, turbo form. I drove both in the day. By the standards of the time, the turbo was scary fast. Just imagine your grannys’ Escort easily doing 0-60 in about 7.5 secs, in the wet.
There were a few differences between the Australian and JDM versions mostly in the structural safety area which made the JDM cars slightly lighter and a bit more lethal if you hit something all versions are still on the roads in NZ including the diesels we have the UK Escorts too in petrol and diesel they were here new and fairly rubbish my BIL had several when he worked for Ford some didnt even survive the warranty period before expiring, but nobody thought to add the US version Ford NZ was already suffering model overload
Bryce in that era JDM cars still wouldn’t have had door intrusion bars wouldn’t they? When imported to Australia they have to be added.
This generation car was seen as US-influenced with the size growth over the previous one (seen as the Mercury Tracer hatch) and a 1.8L engine instead of the previous 1.6. It grew more than the E90 Corolla and had more competition from other makes, so was not as successful as the earlier cars.
Also the previous generation wagon was sold alongside the new car, actually until 1995 .
But we never got the wagon in Australia.
I studied under Wayne Draper at RMIT. He was one of the design team for this generation.
He told us they added the little “bustle” to the hatchback to make it more palatable to US customers, who weren’t fans of hatchbacks. (Avoiding any reminders of the Pinto, maybe?)
Also, the American clay modellers used to “cheat” the package to make the design proposals look better, so the wheels had been pulled out further to give a better stance. The Aussie designers didn’t know about this custom, and designed the body allowing clearance around the widened track. Of course the production models have the correct track, giving the sunken wheels/fat body look.
What a well made and economical car. About the only thing that I remember going wrong with them was the engine mounts would go bad and vibrate you out of the seat at idle. They were extremely reliable with one of my coworkers racking up over 300k with very few if any mechanical repairs. I noticed a very smart looking metal roof on that house as well.
I remember reading some where that 1900 cc motor on these has the valve seat dropping issues.but it probably happened to high mileage ones.since i didn’t read any complains here.
Yes both the 1.9l engine(in the 91-96 Escort) and the later 2.0l SOHC engines dropped valve seats(usually in the# 2 or #4 cylinder)
There was no rhyme or reason why it did it and a well maintained engine dropped valve seats just like a beat to snot engine. When I worked at the local Ford dealer, the speculation was that it did it because of vibrations(these engines were vibration happy)
But who knows
I wish Ford had put balance shafts on these engines. Then they would have been superb and would not have had all the annoying/damaging vibrations.
Dont forget that the Mercury Tracer was essentially the same car, but with the very zippy Zetec twin cam engine
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-capsule-1992-mercury-tracer-lts-an-almost-forgotten-gem/
They were indeed superb
The 92 Mercury Tracer LTS AND….the 1992 Ford Escort LX-E BOTH used that MAZDA 1.8 liter twin-cam engine. IIRC, the Ford was launched a bit after the Mercury and the Mercury hung around a bit long.
BTW, that 1.8 liter engine is not part of the Zetec engine family.
I did manage to drive a Tracer LTS, but with an automatic transmission….it just seemed smoother than the single cam Escort engine. Apparently the automatic transmission really “settled down” that Mazda engine.
Correct, Zetecs were designed and manufactured by Ford and introduced to the U.S. on the ’95 Contour/Mystique.
My foster mother had one of these when I was growing up, replacing an old Astro van with a digital dash, and eventually to be replaced by a focus wagon.
The only thing I remember about that little escort Wagon was that the passenger front wheel flew off on the road one day with no warning.
I’ve often regretted not pulling the trigger on one of these back in late ’96 when I instead bought a ’96 Sentra. With 2 small kids at the time my commuter car had to pull double duty as the vehicle used for any long distance travel, since the other car in the household was a very high mileage, very worn out Jetta. An Escort wagon would have been a perfect fit for my needs at the time, but I couldn’t find one with a 5 speed. The wagons seemed to stay on my local dealer’s lot for a very short time, and by December of ’96 they were only getting ’97’s (obviously) in stock. It also seemed like every one that became available, besides being automatic, was that awful very 90’s green or the ubiquitous Ford Blah Beige. My well-earned fear of domestic cars coupled with a pretty great deal from the Nissan dealer on a 96 leftover swayed me, but these ultimately proved to be pretty bulletproof little cars. I did get over 200,000 miles out of that Sentra in just over 5 years, but in hindsight I might have done just as well with the Escort.
“the ubiquitous Ford Blah Beige”
Ah yes, the famous Ford Mocha Frost that seemed to be applied to every third car coming of the assembly line back then. That was the lower accent color on my 94 Club Wagon.
I wish I had paid more attention to these when they were more common. I have not usually gone swimming in the subcompact pool and certainly would not have at that time with young kids, but these would have made great used cars in the 90s and early 2000s when gas was dirt cheap and so were used small cars.
Of all the stupid things Ford did, killing their alliance with Mazda was the worst. Mazda was the small car R&D for Ford, and they made great small cars. Now, Toyotal has partnered with Mazda, and we shall see what becomes of that mashup. Staid and boring appliance maker buys into a company that makes cars for drivers. With the Skyactive X motor, they really may have a game changer, or they may have another engine that only enthusiasts love a la the rotary. With the probable death of any new small sedan/hatches from Ford US in the near future, who will develop something to put on the dealer lots beside the F150s and Mustangs?
The Ford Escape and Fusion are Ford of Europe vehicles adapted to American tastes – and quite successfully. The next-generation North American Focus will be built in China, and serve both the Chinese and North American markets. When it comes to their priorities in a car of that size, Americans have more in common with Chinese customers than with European ones. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Fiesta is discontinued for North America, and is replaced by the upcoming EcoSport.
Don’t like that much. I wish that Ford had proceeded with the factory in San Luis Potosi. I’d buy a Mexican built Focus but I don’t think I’d buy a Chinese one. At least with NAFTA there’s the potential for goods and services moving between the three countries, it’s a one way street with China.
For the Focus class of car, Chinese customers have the same priorities as American customers – low price, reliability, a roomy back seat and a reliable automatic transmission.
European customers place more emphasis on driving dynamics, will tolerate a slightly cramped back seat (like the one in the current Focus) and still buy manual transmissions versions in large numbers.
In the future, the Chinese market is going to have more influence on what the American manufacturers offer in certain classes, as GM and Ford design vehicles to satisfy both markets. Chinese customers are already helping to keep Cadillac and Lincoln viable.
…the Chinese market is going to have more influence on what the American manufacturers offer in certain classes, as GM and Ford design vehicles to satisfy both markets.
GM having sold Opel, and the expectation that GM Korea is next for the chop, makes it a pretty sure bet that future small to mid size GM models will be designed in China.
Which is a shame, as it’s my understanding that GM Korea took the lead in engineering both the previous and current Chevy Cruze.
I agree with your analysis geeber, with the added comment that European customers also want a better specified car overall, as the C-segment is the ‘mainstream’ size (or could say B/C with size creep) rather than D/E in North America.
Australia used to be D/E but is now C, 3 of the top 10 selling cars are in this segment. Australian customers are probably half-way in between, there are some who want all the latest safety tech, infotainment, leather trim, premium feel etc.
Tolerance of a cramped back seat can partly be explained by pressure on size to fit in tight roads and parking in European cities, which also applies to inner city areas in Australia.
I saw a small car comparison recently and overall length varied by about 300mm, which would be the difference between parking or not in some circumstances.
Toyota is selling the Yaris iA, which is really a rebadged Mazda 2. It gets accolades as an affordable small car with fun driving dynamics from the buff mags and kudos from Consumer Reports as well. They’re on my radar for my next car.
I assume Toyota is also partnering with Subaru because of the FT 86
A neighbor is still driving his…a 5 speed wagon very similar to the one pictured.
The car has 34x,000 miles. It was the car he taught all four of his children to drive in. It has been the recipient of a few replacement sensors, two clutches, a radiator…but mostly just routine maintenance stuff. The engine sounds somewhat tappetty now, but remains the reliable tool it has always been. In this regard, it is what most Americans attribute to a Japanese economy car–dead reliable even if the hood only gets opened annually.
I had a ’96 Escort wagon – best car I ever had! Bought it when it was 9 yrs old and kept it until it was 17 yrs old! Just couldn’t kill it and I wore it out by lugging a lot of wood for my small custom rocking chair business. In the end the body just rusted thru so badly I had to get rid of it and replaced it with a 2004 Focus wagon. Now I drive an ’07 Focus wagon and they are almost as good, but somehow just don’t have the character of the Escort. I miss that car!
These were a breath of fresh air after their predecessors, the dumpy “World Car” (that weren’t) Escorts!
90s Escorts were the roaches of the road here for a long time. In the early 2000s, in my 8 mile drive to/from work, I would see about 10 of them, not counting the three owned by coworkers (one white, one mocha frost, one blue)
Hermosillo continued making Escort sedans for fleet sales, after the Focus came out. I picked up a two year old CPO 02 sedan in fancy trim: auto, power windows/mirrors/locks, air, ABS and cruise. I was driving across the state every couple weeks at that time. The Escort became my road car, making the trip in the winter, when my Civic was put up, and in the summer because it had air and cruise, which the Civic lacked. I dug out my 70s vintage mix cassettes and probably put more hours on the Escort’s cassette player than 95% of them ever saw.
I suspect the engine didn’t like that high speed running as it developed a nasty bearing knock by 60,000 miles. Only heard it first thing in the morning. On start, the engine would be quiet for a moment, then the knock would start and run for a minute or so, until the oil pressure built up. After that, the engine would sound fine for the rest of the day. Had an adventure with the ABS: the ring on the front left CV joint, which the ABS used to detect wheel rotation, fell off. The result was, with no rotation detected, the ABS would cycle the left front brake at maximum rate, resulting in a severe pull to the right. The fix was a new halfshaft as the ring was a press fit on the CV joint so could not be reinstalled. The idle air valve also went funky and tripped the CEL once in a while. Parted with the car in 2010, It only had about 85K on it, but between the bearing knock, the CEL from the leaking idle air valve and the occasional ABS fault light, the ‘new” had worn off of it.
Never took a pic of mine while I had it. Wondering what ever happened to it, I pulled up a Carfax and saw that a salvage title had been issued about 4 months after I sold it. A search for the car’s VIN yielded this pic from a salvage yard.
My dad had a 1995 wagon that was painted that particular shade of bright teal that every compact seemed to be available in during the mid nineties. He referred to that car as the chick magnet because young women would often approach him to tell him they loved the color of his car. He traded that Escort in for a Ford Ranger a couple years later, a vehicle that ended up being so unreliable he has driven exclusively products of Asian car brands since.
Well, all I can say about this Ford is that I totally agree with you, Paul. These were pretty good cars for the time.
I bought a new ’92 Escort sedan because it was the only compact I knew of that had a 4 speed automatic overdrive transmission. It also looked like a miniature Taurus. I donated it after 14 years and 174,000 miles.
My dad had a maroon LX 4-door hatch for more than a decade. It was the most reliable car he ever owned.
We had a 95 four door hatchback, other than an accursed automatic transaxle (exorcised by a used replacment) and a habit of spitting out the rubber insert in the crank pulley every 60,000 miles (which meant a new timing belt while it was apart) it was very reliable and cheap to run. We could also cram a surprising amount of stuff in it after we added the bike rack on the roof. I remember going to Willamette Mission State Park and the amazed stares of the people in the Suburban next to us as we produced a Burley trailer, a tag along bike, 2 kids and a picnic, plus 2 bikes on the roof.
We eventually scrapped it in 2012 when I looked at the repair estimate for cv joints and other worn out stuff versus buying a monthly transit pass and biking to the station.
Even in Great Lakes salt-belt territory here, there are still a fair number of these on Craigslist always, and they often tempt me as a “cheap miles” kind of car. I’ve talked to several long-term owners who got more than 200K without cata$trophic maintenance troubles of any sort. Most of what’s on the market here are automatics, but a 5-speed might be fun in a “drive a slow car fast” way on the nearby rural roads, or even to use as a winter “beater” (a Northern/Eastern phenomena perhaps worthy of a CC essay sometime).
There seem to be an almost disproportionate number of survivor Mercury Tracers; perhaps they were “the wife’s car” where the household spend a few hundred more for the Mercury, then didn’t drive them hard or run up too many miles, either.
… they often tempt me as a “cheap miles” kind of car. I’ve talked to several long-term owners who got more than 200K without cata$trophic maintenance troubles of any sort.
A co-worker ignored the 60,000 mile timing belt replacement, by a lot, on his 96. Drove the car until the belt broke, and got away with it. The shop installed a new belt, and an extra charge for getting the crank and cam back in sync, and he was on his way again. The automatic tranny expired on his way home from work one day, at something like 215,000. Engine was running, but no drive to the wheels.
By the time I retired, he had over 200,000 on the Neon that replaced the Escort, but the Neon was more replacement parts in formation than a car by then: junkyard salvage engine, junkyard salvage trans and who knows what else.
…or even to use as a winter “beater” (a Northern/Eastern phenomena perhaps worthy of a CC essay sometime).
That was the primary role of my Escort. It was only 2 years old, with 23,500 miles on it when I got it, but it was only about $7,400. Cheap wheels for being that new and low mile.
My present beater is an 06 Focus, bottom trim, manual trans, manual locks and crank windows. Somewhat battered, with 109K on it. It would like a new exhaust and struts, but it isn’t going to get them.
I have always liked this generation of Escort. I still think it looks better then the following(and last) generation of Escort. Despite the 1990’s being a era of lower gas prices (in the USA at least) Ford actually offered a full line up of Escorts. 3 door hatch, 5 door hatch, wagon and 4 door sedan, there was something for everybody. At the time 1993-1996 when my folks took their 1993 Taurus wagon to the local dealer for oil changes and warranty repairs, I would get a brochure for several of the cars including the Escort(which I still have) and I was always struck by the fact that there were so many attractive colors offered(including teal).
Even today a well taken care of Escort looks good.
There are plenty of wagons still around over my way but I have not seen a hatch or sedan in years.
Ah yes, the BG Mazda platform. I have plenty of love for these cars. The 1.9 CVH and very similar 2.0 SPFI Ford engines did (do) in fact have issues with dropping valve seats, but most seem to last quite a while before it happens. Awesome cars, these are, but really, I’m quite biased as I daily drive a 1993 Mazda MX-3 RS with a 1.8 DOHC BP swap from an Escort GT and actually bought one of my sisters a 1994 Mazda Protégé DX since she needed some cheap wheels. Better yet, I gave a close friend a 1993 Ford Escort GT (which was made in Hermosillo) and convinced another friend to buy a 1995 Escort GT (which was made in Wayne, MI). All four of these cars are still roaming the roads here in the Portland Metro Area. I have pondered making a COAL for my MX-3 as it’s not a common car, even in Portland, OR nowadays, but might have to write up my 1982 Honda Accord first. Thank you, Paul for giving the BG Ford Escort some notoriety it deserves.
My mechanic buddy has a guy with a 97/98 Escort wagon that he services. Said the guy has rustproofed the hell out of it and gets it professionally detailed monthly so the body is holding up. He said they have no idea of mileage as the odometer quit years ago but he is guessing a half a million km ( 300,000+ miles)would not be out of line.
The guy that drives it says it’s his first and last car as he has no intention of replacing it…ever!
My brother had one of these, which he gave to my sister. At one point it was on a trailer, being prepped for that last run to the scrapyard, but my brother never could let it die. Parts were too cheap and the car was too easy to fix. Timing belts are apparently a weak point, in that they break regularly, but without any damage to the components. My sister is still driving the thing around. On an unrelated note, the 5 speed had the worst shifter I ever touched.
I daily drive a ’96 LX Wagon. I’ve owned it for about 13 months now, and I love it. I paid $1500 for mine with 165K miles. Seven thousand miles later it has been a pleasure to own. Besides two oil changes, I had the front & rear brakes done. It needs front struts, and those motor mounts are ready for replacement too. But the car is clean with no rust. The AC works, and it has never failed to start or left me stranded. I couldn’t be happier.
A good buddy of mine, of the sort that went through an already old used car every year or two, had a ’95 wagon, in white, for several years. Of all the cars he’s had in the 12 or 13 years I’ve known him (I think he’s on number 6 now), the Escort was the best. He had it for 5-6 years, and it gave him pretty faithful service overall. It idled a bit rough, and it became pretty unpleasant after the muffler rotted away, but that car regularly hauled around five adults all weighing in at 300 pounds or more without missing a beat.
Toward the end it developed an interesting electrical gremlin that made the gauges freak out most of the time. Whatever the electrical gremlin was, it ended up killing the car. By then the deferred maintenance made figuring out whatever the electrical issue was not even worth it. That car definitely did its bit for king and country.
Paul , what would be your favorite Eclipse vehicle for the upcoming event in Oregon. A they VW bus or an open bed pickup truck?
These did seem to have disporportionately long service lives, with many more left than comparable year examples of Cavaliers or Neons. It also saddens me that Ford killed off the Focus wagon after the 1st generation; if they were still making it, one would be in my driveway right now. The only small wagon left is the Jetta sport wagon, which I can’t afford new and wouldn’t touch used.
The 1981-90 American built Ford Escort was absolute junk! I mean sheer rubbish! When Ford realized that they couldn’t build a decent, refined and reliable small car on their own, they resorted to building the next generation Escort around the superior Mazda 323. The 323 was a sparkling gem. Not only was the 323 better looking than the Escort, it had a substantially better quality interior than the cheap looking interiors Ford was peddling at the time.
I had an ’84 that would disagree with you. Yea, it cracked a head at 103k but I had that fixed and continued to drive the piss out of that car. Used that car during my years in home repair, wouldn’t think twice of throwing, say, 10, 12 bundles of shingles or an equal number of bags of ready-mix in the back of it and head off to a job site. I beat that car mercilessly and it never gave up. When I got out of the home repair business the car became surplus and I sold it to a Mexican guy for $100.00 with over 260k miles on it. BTW, that cylinder head repair was the only major repair to that car, I sold it with the original trans, alternator, rack, etc. Great little car.
My mom’s last car was a ’96 Escort 5spd wagon that was about as flawless a car as one could want. It never, ever broke, all it ever needed was LOFs and an occasional brake job. Alas the dreaded Northern Ohio tin worm got to the rear strut towers four years ago and it had to be junked. Did I mention that my mom was 81 at the time we had too junk the Escort? Yep, 81 and still driving stick 🙂 .