Bexlee

My bro dreams of Scoob ownership- meanwhile he is looking to buy one of these Escorts as a cheap & reliable step towards a performance motor. 0-60 9.3s, 115bhp. Personally I think there must be better alternatives for about 5k & Group 13 insurance, such as Saxo VTR/S being top of the list- but that is too small for his needs. I was trying to steer him to a 200SX but that is Group 17 insurance.

Any current/ past Escort owners out there who can pass opinion; + suggestions of other alternatives would be welcome.

Bex

mk2escortcossie

A couple my mates got these Escorts, Cheap enough to buy run and maintain, He could do alot worse

LG John

The VTS/106 GTI are very quick and I found there was plenty of space for me. Very big boot for its class and can seat 4 adults relativly comfortably. Footwell space takes a bit of getting used to.

What about the Honda CRX, still quite a cool looking car and very fast - don't know about insurance though?

MattN

what's the point buying a 5k escort whilst saving for a scoob?

Buy a cheap car, like a normal escort for 2k.

A 5k escort will still lose a lot of money in the months to come.

Bexlee

MattN- he's got a 'normal' car already & wants a bit more. Anyway, I said he was dreaming of owning a Scoob- not saving for one
Let's just say he is after some cheap but reliable performance, in no more than a 5 yr old car, for the foseeable future.

Thanks for the responses, Saxo Boy & Mk2escortcossie. Your user names speak volumes for your enthusiasm of your respective vehicles!

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

He can have my 97 Sport for £6k



[Edited by DJ Dunk - 6/28/2002 8:47:28 PM]

MattN

why <5 years?

not trying to be funny but most decent cars built in the last decade should be reliable enough for a daily use.

People seem to obsessed with driniving a 'newer' inferior car rather than an decent car.

Let's face it the escort is now discontinued. They depreciate faster than most other cars, the GTi carries a grp 13 rating whilst the other models in the range are 10 even though the power output is the same - paying so much for the letters GTi.

I have nothing against escorts or GTi's but for 5k you can get a really decent motor.

mbc

never had a gti but had a 1.8 si think it was 115ps,did 70k in 3 years and apart from usual tyres pads servicing etc the only thing that went wrong was the off side rear wheel bearing and thats it,sound cars in my opinion and you can pick them up so cheap its unreal

mike

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Buy an RS2000, better car IMHO and just the same sort of cash

Tony

Bexlee

MattN- I quite agree, but I can only advize as I'm not the buyer. As I said in the original post, personally I would be looking at a VTS or a 200SX. Good point about the 'GTi' bit though.

mbc- is the badge the only difference between an Si and GTi ?

Tony- what insurance group is an RS2000? (16?)

Thanks guys

nigelward

The GTI gets the RS side skirts, 5-spoke alloys (including spare), and a half-leather interior (OK it looks more like vinyl but if looked after it will wear well). It *may* have stiffer suspension over the S but I am not sure about this.

If your mate gets a 98R or later then it should come with a basic air-con system as well, pre 98 did not have air-con as standard.

When I got my scooby last year the trade price for a 98R GTI was around £3.5K, so a year on this should have dropped a little and it should be possible to get one for less than £5K, especially with the second hand prices of Focus's starting to soften a little.

I had mine for 3 years and took it to 56K miles, the first 15K miles of its life was as a rental car, look for something like BRAC (Budget Rent-a-Car on the V5).

In this time had no problems with the car, never used oil between the 10K services, and my mother now has it.

The only thing that needed doing over and above the usual service stuff is to have the air-con system recharged after 3.5 years (which is normal anyway).

Insurance cost around £500 for a 25-27 year old with DirectLine, with a 20K miles a year allowance.

Fuel economy, if interested, average 38mpg for mainly motorway driving which was normally done at around 85mph, around town this dropped to 32mpg.

Probably also due to the motorway driving I got 50K miles out of the Continental tyres (by rotating).

Nigel

mbc

as far as i know the engines are the same,its only cosmetics that are differant

K30

pants pants pants, its still just an escort with a bodykit.
for £5K, you can get a hell of a lot of car, don't buy an escort.
is he a hairdresser?? - its ok if he is!!!!

Adam

audio g man

I got a 1998R reg 1.8I LX ZETEC. It hasn't let us down yet, it's a good everyday car and yes it does have the same 115ps lump as the GTI.

Some poeple seem to be very narrow minded.

[Edited by audio g man - 6/30/2002 10:55:01 PM]

mk2escortcossie

I have just given my mate his back after borrowing for the weekend, Very sounfd indeed, Looks well, went well on the motorway (90-100mph)and the seats are comfy.
Plus you can sell it as a "future classic" as it is the only GTi Ford have made.
You can pick up 98 R plates for around £4K

Ian E

iTrader: (1)

The firm I work for had about 10 Escort 97 'R' 1.8LXs on three year lease. There were no major problems with them at all. They used to handle reasonably well. Ours were sold off a year ago for £2500 each - not bad value.

Cheers,

Ian.

Jerry*

Hmm.. not too sure about whether its worth getting a GTI Escort.

Like the blokes have all said, the only thing different about a GTI and the 1.8 LX & Si 16v versions is the bodykit, wheels and half-leather seats. Why pay for an extra 3 insurance groups just for that ??

The other year I was looking to get one of these and borrowed a 1996 Si whilst my own crappy Orion Ghia 1.6 mk3 was in the garage. I have to say that I wasn't very impressed. Sure, it did the basics right, but that was about it. It didn't excel in any area and didn't give you a smile on your face.

The interior rattled, the build quality and materials weren't much of an improvement over my own MY91 Orion, and when pushed it understeered like a good'un. Whilst I really wanted one I found myself being put off by the few days I had in this one.

My experience of used Fords has been that they are not very reliable. Generally you will be faced with a bill every couple of months once the mileage stacks up.. silly things like suspension arms, alternators, petrol caps, leccy windows, speakers etc.. The engines generally are tough and whilst being a bit smoky and rough they do keep going... but ownership is not without its silly niggles which you think Ford should have ironed out by now...

Anyway, I ended up getting a Rover 218iS, which I snapped up for just under £6k. I have to say that it was loads better in every department (build, materials, performance, handling, comfort, looks etc..) and I would recommend one to anybody looking for an affordable, fun run about in this price bracket.

124 mph flat out and 0-60 in 8.5secs, a bit bigger than a Saxo inside, nice 15in 5-spoke rims, leccy windows and sunroof, and a very tweakable engine (same as MGF and Elise) - all falling into Group 9 insurance - Very nice if you like that sort of thing...

Have to say that you could do alot better than an Escort GTI for around £5k IMO.

Hope this helps..

Cheers,

John

jjones

can't get much better value for money than a primera GT

oi stop laughing!

excellent handling/reliability, for that money - probalby aircon and half leather as well.

group 13

150bhp
0-160 8.8
137 top end.

nice to drive/comfortable, plenty of room (go for the 5 door hatch)

or maybe an almera (if he can stomach the styling!) GTi.

Frazer

0-160 in 8.8 hehe i dont even think my sri can do that. The P11 GT is a group 14 insurance and has 148 hp (150 ps) they are very cheap 2nd hand or even better get a P11 SRi (128 hp) and with a few mods you can get 162 hp/144 lb ft like mine! Think you can get a 98 sri for about 4,000 and it will be more reliable than any Ford Escort.

R1916v

/anorak mode on

They didnt make a MK V GTi, it was Mk 7 i think, cant remember (RS2000 was MK V and IV)

R1916v

What were the 4x4 rs2000's like?

K30

tell him to get a calibra for now.

about 2500 will get you a k reg
150bhp
0-60 in 8 seconds
145+mph

group 14 insurance

Ive got one for now till i turn 25 and can get a proper car.

Adam

RichardPON

The MkV thing always gets people confused.

The Escort MkV only had a few "performance" models. Top of the range (cosworth excluded) was the RS2000. This model had the twin bonnet bulges, square rear lights, and was 150bhp, using the I4 engine.

The only other MkV cars with decent performance were the XR3i which came in 105 and 130 brake variants. The range was facelifted in 92 to include different trim options etc etc.

The MkVI was released in 1995, with a different front end. MY95 Escort Si had the 105 engine from the earlier cars, and later that year, the Si received the 115 engine as in the GTi, and various Ghia models. The 130 engine was still availabe in the cabriolet and ghia Si models.

MkVII is actually a myth. There was no such thing, but refers to MY97 on MkVI models.

I had an MY95 Escort Si for two years, which was quite modified. The GTi has very little over the Si apart from the aforementioned sideskirts, rear bumper extensions, half-vinyl (sorry, leather ) trim, 15" alloys (some Si's came with 14s.

Here's a little pic of mine......



It was a lovely car that served me really well. I thought it looked nice, went okay etc etc, but it's seriously not quick. Was cheap to maintain, fuel costs were good etc, but there are probably better cars for the money. I sold mine last year for about £3k modded, so there are some cheap buys out there.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Bex,
sorry for not getting back earlier
But id say it would be around 15/16 but better performance and better resale value (a 95N goes for 5.5k and that is a 4x4 ive seen ) but the GTi is just a tarted up Si IMOH.

Tony

Frazer

Cally 16 vavle 145 mph? more like 130-135 mph