Guys I have an opportunity of getting a 95 Ford Escort GT, here is the info:

Only 52,000 miles!!!
Has been a non-smoking car and in the family since brand new.
- Manual 5-Speed Transmission
- Air Conditioning
- Dual Front Airbags
- AM/FM/Cassette Audio System
- Power Steering
- ABS
- Cruise Control
- Rear Spoiler

I am taking a look at it next week, but how is the reliability on this thing? Will it give me problems? I can get it for about a g as a beater, Low miles, it was the mother's car before she died, so that is why they are getting rid of it.

 

free, yes, not free, no

 

It has the same powertrain as the Mazda Protege (DOHC) of the same year. As my wife's uncle has the Protege, I've driven it and can say that it's acceleration is pretty brisk.

As a former Hertz employee though, I have driven the 95 Escort LX several times and it has a pretty cheap interior. However, it's good on gas and makes a good beater. DONT pay more than a grand for it though.

 

The Ford Escort does well in Consumer Reports and is one of their "CR Good Bets." If you can get it real cheap then I'd say go for it.

 

That is exactly my point, it would be a good beater for 50 mile round trip to brooklyn everyday!! Well considering the low miles, it might still be good for a while? Not to sure if parts are cheap, mostly likely it is, it is a FORD.

 

''And now, onto the best car ever made... Mazda Protege, 1995''

Mental rep points to whoever could tell me where that's from.

And as for the Escort, I'd say go for it for a thousand bucks. If you know it was well-maintained and you are only using it for a beater I'd say there's far worse options.

 

depends on how cheap it is. if it's under a grand and in good condition maybe.
my friend(i know call him retarded) Loves to soup up and mod Escort GTs. he has a early 90s Escort GT. he turboed one.
then he has a stock one.
the stock one is his "daily driver" but he still works on it every weekend.
it's a POS dude.
I'd personally try to save a little more and get a mid 90's Accord(like what I got as my beater) it has 275.000 miles(i'm orginal owner) and you can't go wrong with it.

 

I would perfer an Accord or Integra, but everything is HIGH miles, this one is 10years old and only 52k miles!! that is the ONLY reason I would consider this!

 

Especially in the NYC metro area. And if the mileage isnt high, the price is. If those four letters (V T E C) are tagged anywhere on said Accord or Integra, the retail commands a premium.

Bottomline: The only Accord you can get with similar miles for $1k or less is the 3G Accord (86-89); likewise, the 1G Integra (90-93). Anything beyond will cost a few thousand...independent of mileage.

 

Could be a good little car, one of my cousins has one (hand me down) very similar to that one and it has well over 100K and she doesn't have any trouble with it to speak of. IIRC they had some fuel tank issues. That is one of those cars that when taken car of (and makes it past 30K without major issues) will usually go quite a while, but although cheap to fix they tend to completely fall apart when it starts, big downhill slide. However, if the car is clean and solid they won't sell if for 1K unless they are just giving it away. 1k is probably around wholesale for that car, maybe even low there. In the end I would rather get a Sentra, Corolla or a Civic for commuter duty even given you will pay more for them. Any of those should give you 200K with few problems if the car has been taken car of. Although I have always been a Ford fan of the domestics, I have had much better luck with Chevy for commuter car type duty. I put 40-50K a year on my "road beater" and usually get Chevy's with as few power options as possible and drive them until they drop, my current road beater is a 96 Chevy Corsica the only options to speak of is the V6/auto powertrain. It has 184K on the clock and it does 7.5k on synthetic oil with no burning or leaking. The only thing I have done is tires, shocks, battery and an alternator. Point being I like to buy beaters with NO power options and solid proven powertrains, I have had good luck betting on simple, the main reason I have not gone import for this is the cheap imports are too small for my needs.

Vandy

 

I had a tempo, pertty reliable. I'd say that is a good find if you can get a fair price, especailly as a beater. Looks like it is in good shape, and not kid owned so was prob not beat on. Manual trans a plus too. It's domestic, cheaper to fix than imports, I'd say if the price is right snatch this one up before someone else does.

 

ok, looking at the car on sat morning. She live in the city and willing to drive up to me to look like it, she was asking 1500, if I put say $9 ben franklins in front of her I am sure she will jump with the offer, I hope! If not I am not sure I want to really spend that much for an Escort, but under a g I will !!!! So I have the extra $$$ to buy some CT headers for my 6-speed

 

mtv cribs

 

If it's not called the Ford Escort "Cosworth", I wouldn't buy it.

 

Man when I was like 14 or so I wanted this car sooo bad . I would not give more than 1g though.

 

52K miles is the thing that jumps out at me. You should be able to milk it for another 50K miles, so for under a grand it looks like a decent beater...

 

exactly my point!

 

I'm cracking up - many, many moons ago, I actually owned a '92 Green Escort GT - Auto for about a year. Looks identical, I hated the auto seatbelts though. For a grand, def a decent beater. As long as the oil has been changed regularly, the Mazda 1.8 engine should be reliable for you.