Welcome back! Today is all about something that doesn’t exist anymore: inexpensive compact cars from Ford. We’ve got two generations of them to look at, and even better, they’re both five-speed manuals that run and drive. See? I throw you guys a bone once in a while.
Speaking of which, our sad-puppy choices from yesterday went over like a lead balloon. The majority of you picked the Civic, but I get the feeling it was under duress. You all do realize that this is purely speculative, right? I’m not going to actually make you buy or drive any of these. (David won’t let me.)
That said, I think the Honda is the right choice here. What has been done to it can all be undone fairly easily, and even if you leave it looking like a pizza delivery driver’s tip-money project, it’ll still drive like a golden-age Honda, and that’s a wonderful thing.
So let’s move on and look at a couple of cheap but functional Ford economy cars from up near Seattle. These used to be the perfect college grad’s first new car; now they’re on their umpteenth owners and closing in on 200,000 miles, but still out there fighting the good fight. Let’s take a look.
1999 Ford Escort SE – $1,999
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Shoreline, WA
Odometer reading: 191,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Our European readers are probably looking at this car, with some mixture of confusion and pity, and thinking, “That’s a Ford Escort?” Yep, that’s a Ford Escort – American-style. It may look like a “catfish” Ford Taurus that someone left in the dryer too long, but it’s actually a pretty good little car under the blobby styling. Our Escort was heavily based on the Mazda BG platform, which underpinned the 323/Familia/Protege. Though Mazda had long since stopped using it, Ford’s version soldiered on all the way until 2003, well into Focus production.
The platform was old by 1999, but the engine was positively paleolithic. The sporty ZX2 coupe got Ford’s twin-cam Zetec engine, but the basic sedan and wagon soldiered on with the old CVH, as found under the hoods of US-model Escorts since the very beginning. This one has been punched out to a full 2 liters, and puts out 110 horsepower. It may be an old design, but it’s efficient and reliable – despite having a belt-driven camshaft. (Good grief.) The seller says this car “must be driven to be appreciated,” so I guess it runs just fine.
You can’t expect luxury appointments from a Ford Escort, no matter which side of the Atlantic it was built on. Hard plastic, cheap upholstery, and manual controls are the order of the day here. But I owned an Escort of the generation prior to this for three years, and I never wished for anything fancier. The seats are comfortable, everything works, and this one looks like it’s been well cared for.
Outside, it’s – well – it is what it is. The refrigerator-white paint isn’t helping it much, nor are the Wal-Mart wheel covers. But it’s not too banged up, and it’s rust-free. I’ve long thought that plain white economy cars like this could benefit from a partial wrap in a racing livery. Martini or Alitalia seem like obvious choices, but I prefer to think farther afield; I want to paint this car up like a Tamiya Frog RC buggy. Yes, that means the lower third would be pink. Like it says on the Frog’s rear wing: “No Guts, No Glory!”
2007 Ford Focus ZX3 – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Lakewood, WA
Odometer reading: 171,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well, but power steering is going out
This Focus probably looks a little funny to European readers too. Our Focus looked the same as the European version early on, but diverged in 2004 when the second-generation Focus came out in Europe. We kept going with the first-generation platform, first with a mild facelift, and then with all-new sheetmetal. This is the last year of the post-facelift car, making it the last year that we were offered a three-door hatchback Focus here.
This car is powered by a 2 liter version of the Ford Duratec/Mazda MZR four-cylinder, a really nice and robust twin-cam engine that is a lot less thrashy than the CVH and Zetec engines of old. More powerful, too – it sends 136 horsepower to the front wheels, in this case through a five-speed manual. I had a Focus ZX3 with this engine and an automatic for a while, and it was plenty powerful for zipping through LA traffic. I always thought it would be a fun little car with a stick.
This is the basic S model, with crank windows and manual door locks. Again, it’s nothing fancy, but it gets the job done. The seller says the driver’s seat has been replaced, and if the rest of the interior is anything to go by, it must have been bad. This car is pretty grubby inside. It looks almost like there is water damage on the passenger seat; hopefully it isn’t smelly in there.
It runs and drives fine, but the seller has been advised that the power steering is going out and needs new lines. They’ve been quoted $700 to fix it, but I bet someone who’s handy could do it cheaper. I replaced the high-pressure power steering line on a Nissan Pathfinder in an apartment complex carport once; it’s not that hard.
I still don’t understand why Ford canceled all their small cars. They were actually pretty good, as long as you avoided that silly PowerShift gearbox. No such worries here – these two have three pedals on the floor and a lever between the seats, as the small car gods intended, and plenty of life left in them. Which one seems like the better deal to you?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
The interior of this Focus screams “I’m a flood victim”. Run away from this one and get the Escort.
This was really a tough choice, but I went for the Escort since I used to own one and had a really good experience with it. The Focus may be $500 cheaper, but with the power steering repair diagnosis on the Focus I think I’d rather buy the Escort that I can drive away without any immediate worries.
Escort (and a real escort…) Wow, I hate both of these cars so much- horrible designs and Fix Or Repair Daily. At least they’re manuals!!!
(I’d buy it then drive it off a cliff)
I chose the Focus mainly for he engine. I had an earlier Escort with the CVH. It was reliable despite blowing up several batteries. ( Seriously, 3 batteries spewed their sulphuric sauce all over the engine for no particular reason)
The Focus can be cleaned up properly and would be miles better to drive.
just cast the tie vote, more refined focus for me!
Focus for me. The only issue with that gen of Focus is having to replace the hydraulic engine mounts every few years. That gen of Focus is better in every way compared to the old CVH equipped Escort
Escort looks in better shape (even if it looks like a pill on wheels), but the Focus is much safer. More power doesn’t hurt, and the stuck shifts are pretty good. It doesn’t take long to clean an interior. Replacing a steering rack or whatever also isn’t too crazy on these, if it’s not too rusty.
Was planning on voting for the sporty Focus, but the condition of the interior dissuaded me from doing so. Had to pick the Appliance Escort as it simply appears to have been better maintained through the years.
I just want to point out that here we have two running cars, albeit high mileage, in OK shape, with some 21st century (or near) engineering, ample parts availability, no evidence of teenage street racing dreams having modded or abused anything and they are both cheaper than those steaming piles we looked at yesterday.
Parts availability ain’t all that – I have a Focus and OEM engine/transmission mounts do not exist, according to my mechanic. They also go bad, and the Chinese aftermarket replacements are bad from the get-go. Mine vibrated something horrible when I got it, still does when cold. It is a miserable place to be; I am kicking myself for not having gotten the Escort I was looking at.
Focus for me, since I’ve owned a ZX3 5-speed before. Go down to your local pick-n-pull and take the entire interior out of one to get rid of the bad one in there now. The Escort is a penalty box in comparison even in great condition.
Oh man, the first (and last) new car I ever bought was the sporty ZX4 from the next year. It was a floor model they hadn’t been able to sell, so it was fully loaded and I got a great deal on it. Drove it home despite never having drive a stick before, from Detroit to Lansing, as a Lions preseason game was getting out. A cop pulled me over halfway home, which wasn’t hard since I wasn’t moving in the first place. Goddamn I loved that car. 🙂 So yeah, taking the Focus even though it definitely smells like the inside of a butt.
If I buy the Focus, would Mercedes’ wife work her mold eradication magic on the seats?
MZR > CVH any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
The interior on the Focus isn’t a big deal at all. The power steering probably won’t be fun, but it’s still better than having my brains rattled all day by the CVH.
The Focus is a hatchback and has a timing chain
I had a 93 Escort wagon with the CVH (Certified Vibration & Harshness) engine and 5 speed. Only problem was it would get stuck in 5th if you coasted to a stop with the clutch pedal depressed. Oh and the timing belt snapped. But that was ok because it was a non- interference non- performance engine
Anyway chose the Focus for the hatch and new experience
I know the Focus is grubby, and you may never completely get rid of the funk, but a little car with a stick is always a fun drive. Drop a Lysol bomb in there and drive it with the windows down.
Ye olde Escort for me. The Focus is possibly a better car but I can smell than interior from where I’m sitting,and it’s not pleasant. Also I hate Focies after someone made me replace front bearings on one.
Old Escort. Beat the crap out of these back then.
The Focus is smelling like a swamp right through my speakers. No thanks at 1/10 the ask.
As always, good job Mark.
I have owned both of these models and loved them almost equally, but I can smell the mold and fungus in the Focus from here. Escort all the way…
This is the correct thought process. Interior makes the decision.
A perfect 50/50 at 11:32am!
I took the Escort. I really like that era of Focus hatch, but I’m suspicious of the hard use as evidenced by the interior. Yeah, I could probably clean up the interior pretty nicely, but I’m getting the vibes just looking at it that there’s some sort of sinister moisture issue going on in there.
Escort looks to be a perfectly adequate little commuter and a decent buy. But the Focus is objectively the better vehicle, and $500 gets you pretty damn close to dealing with the power steering issue if you pay someone else to fix it. To me, ripping out the interior and doing a deep clean is worth it.
The Focus is a bit more useful so that one I guess. Those are both in the throwaway car price range and I would likely just delete powersteering rather than repair it. It would need a DEEP interior cleaning and ozone machine session
I would not get into that Focus without wearing a respirator! _:(´ཀ`」∠):_
So, Escort it is!
That Escort is related to the Mazda B platform. I think, therefore I Zoom Zoom.
Having owned both, the Focus is more of a pain in the ass to work on. I’d still pick that one though, if it wasn’t for the work it needed. So escort it is.