I just graduated from college, moved to a new city, and needed a car. I didn't want very much: just a cheap car with good gas mileage. I was willing to sacrifice looks, endure insults from friends, even deal with some visits to the shop...in short I would have settled for a Hyundai, Kia, or a Yugo if they still made them. I thought that with such standards finding a car would be easy, but as I did my research I realized that it wasn't.

The gas mileage most economy cars get was a big surprise to me. Considering the lack of size and horsepower that defines most economy car engines I expected my high gas mileage requirement to be easily filled however no car under $13K did that. Granted I want more than most people seem to from reading other opinions on numerous cars. I am fairly environmentally conscious and I would buy the Honda Insight in a second if I could afford it. I expected a car with at least 30 miles a gallon in the city and in the 40s on the highway. If you want that too don't bother looking under $13K. Echo, Corolla or Civic are your only options (about 33 city/41 high way). Golf and Jetta as well if you raise the price bar a bit more. Most economy cars are rated about mid 20s in the city and high 20s/low 30s on the highway. I am not sure why people are impressed with this gas mileage...my '92 Buick Skylark was getting about 22/30 and that thing is old, heavy, and had (I think) 2.2L I4 that was definitely not multi-valve. Some of my friends have SUVs that get low 20s/high 20s. Anyway, another way to think about it: if the weight is light and the engine is small what accounts for gas mileage that is 30% less than something like a Corolla? I'd call it bad engineering. May be engine timing isn't as good, may be compression ration is low, may be transmission sucks. Probably all of the above and more.

I was seriously considering getting a Corolla. (Echo gets expensive quick after you add some necessary 'options') It is a great car, my dad owns one and I drive it a lot. Reliable, great resale value, great gas mileage, quiet, etc. I didn't really want to spend 13K though. I probably would have gotten one (or a Hyundai Accent) if my friend didn't work at Ford. Because I could get a good deal I decided to check out some Ford cars. I am not the biggest fan of Ford and even though I own one now I definitely can't say I trust it. But with dealer and factory incentives thrown in the Escort was the best deal I found (believe me, I looked at every economy car more times than I ever thought I'd need to) and it is definitely one of the best looking compacts out there.

I don't want to bore you with the details of everything you get in this car. I would recommend that you go to the Ford site and check it out. But here is a short list of things that Escort had that many others didn't: rear defogger (yeah, really), 15" tires, aluminum wheels, cassette deck, remote trunk, 60/40 seats, spoiler, power mirrors, tachometer, intermittent wipers, etc. Also, you get keyless entry if you opt for the power group. In no other car I found do you get as much included and after all is said and done the car was less than 10500 withOUT the college rebate (i didn't end up using my friend at ford...this was a lower a price than he could get).

I also think it is the best looking car under $13K and it holds its own for higher priced cars. Most people compliment me on the car and everyone thinks it cost a lot more. So I didn't have to deal with insults from friends after all. :) And it doesn't say Escort on it anywhere if you get the 2001 model.

I had the car for about 2 months and 2600 miles including some long road trips. One thing to note is that it is a four seater. There is no middle seat belt. Check the roominess stats on your favorite car web site...it isn't much (even Corolla has more hip room in the back) but it is enough. Four people are comfortable and five people is manageable. There was no complaining from three passengers in the back after over eight hours in the car (and I got my share back there too).

Also, the trunk is small. Coupes are not hatchbacks. As far as trunk room you'd do better with almost anything else (Echo, Focus, Corolla, Civic) except may be for the Accent. But again, I think the trunk is sufficient. 5 people fit their stuff for a 5 days trip with no problems (including sleeping bags).

OK, now for actual driving.

The car is noisy. Perhaps not too noisy if you are used to driving Ferrari’s but it is very noisy if you are used to Corollas. Noise is definitely hard to ignore...if the radio is off it is virtually impossible. Having a conversation with someone is hard with normal voice. Road and wind noise are enough but the engine also makes a lot more noise after about 3000 RPMs. And then there is a lot more noise after about 5000 RPMs. My recommendation is test drive it, take it on the highway roll the windows up and see if its managable. Oh, turn the radio and the sales person off until you want them back on.

The engine is pretty fast and the tranny is responsive. Unfortunately this is my first manual transmission car so my opinion is fairly unsubstantiated. Somewhere I saw the acceleration stat of 0-60 in 7.8 seconds. It seems about right and this is fast for a compact. Its on par with cars like the Eclipse. The other day I left a 300ZX in the dust...yeah yeah...you don't have to tell me he was probably asleep, but it still felt nice. Seriously though, this car is fast enough to be fun. No old lady will pass you as you are trying to merge.

You will need to shift a little more...the gear ratio is definitely shifted to the low end. Expect to shift out of first almost immediately and expect to be in 5th at about 45 (if you want power though 2nd gear will carry you into the 60s). Oh...and a huge disappointment to me...the transmission is not overdrive. It is listed as overdrive on a number of websites and I thought it was but it isn't. Expect about 3000RPMs at 70mph. My guess is this is largely responsible for low gas mileage (reported 27/33 although I've been getting more like 24/29 though its still early to count).

As far as raw speed/passing power. Rest assured there is enough of it. I was a little concerned with the engine being at 3000RPMs at 70mph but there is no reason to be. I trust you'll keep this a secret but on a recent road trip I took the car up to about 110mph with a full trunk and 5 people in the car. And the engine was still comfortable at around 5000RPMs (red line is at 6500). Assuming there is no governor on it this car will easily top out the speedometer (120). Now the point isn't that you should drive that fast (the tires are only B rated :)) but to convince you that there is plenty of extra power to pass even at high speeds.

As far as reliability I still don't really trust it. It doesn't really feel like a solidly built car although I am sure (don't know though) that it compares very well with cars in the 10K range. And supposedly the reliability ratings for new escorts have been decent. One example of questionable cost cutting is that the alternator is rated at 48AMPS and is a heavy duty model. Most cars, in fact all other cars I saw, use at least an 80AMP alternator. Odds are the thing will need replacement early especially if you are using lots of utilities on the car.

I think this review is getting pretty long but hopefully I gave you more than a re-listing of features you can find anywhere else. For the money it was a good car. I sacrificed gas mileage and reliability to get this deal. If those things are very important go with a Corolla or a Civic...you will make up the difference in price when you sell (I checked blue book values). If you want bottom priced car and can get this car for around $11K without options I think you are getting a better deal than you would with an Accent or a Kia Rio. If above else you want a good looking car with some pep for cheap this is definitely among the strongest contenders especially if they offer $1500 back again. However, if you see yourself spending $13K or so on this car I would definitely say give some other cars a very close look.

Another thing to remember is that this is either the last year or close to it for the Escort. The Focus is replacing this car and the ZX3 has the same engine but is a much better overall car. Without cash back the two cars cost almost the same.

Amount Paid (US$): 10488
Condition: New
Model Year: 2001
Model and Options: Standard