Hey
I was wanting to know if this style car has any troubles before i buy it
pls any help would be a benefit

 

An 86 Escort? I'm not sure of any specific problems in an 86 escort. However, it is 20 years old, so I'd expect the normal (and unexpected) problems with a car that old.

 

At 20 years old, expect to find some hidden rust holes

 

Hello
I do expect the standard rust and body work but what i am really intested in is mechanical problems from factory i currently have a 92 thunderbird with the problematic 3.8l which was replaced 30k km ago that now has gone through two sets of head gastkets and i don't want to keep dumping the money into it just for the heads to go again

 

the Ford 3.8's were horrible for head gaskets,

not too sure about what motor the escort had, i'm guessing it is a 1.9 or 2.3. The 2.3 was a durable motor as I recall

 

I had an 87 Escort, it had the 1.9L engine. I only had it for a few months, but I did not have any major problems with it. Just the usual, starter, timing belt. I sold it to get my first Mustang.

 

Might wanna do a Carfax. Do they do em that old?

 

I have had two 1.9L Escorts, one with just under 300k on the clock with no major problems and another that was about the same.

 

Our first car in USA was '92 Escort 1.8L. Always something wrong with it, we finally trade it in when we bought Mustang.

 

Does that include Mustang?

 

Devon, like galaxie said, the 2.3's were strong as heck and will run you a long time. The mid 80's Escorts were pretty darn good cars from what I've heard.

That being said, any vehicle of that age really needs to be checked out. If you can, take it to a trusted mechanic or have someone that is knowledgeable in that area go with you to take a closer look.

Best of luck.

 

I've got an 89 Escort wagon, 1.9 liter mill 5 speed with 140K. A friend gave it me a few months ago. Yeah, she owed me some favors. The car gets 35+ mpg on the freeway and so far has been maintenance free. I don't drive it much but it's perfect for what I do. Insurance is $22/month. Can't beat that.

 

My wife bought an '86 Escort GT brand new. I had an '85 and that thing was dead reliable (all 85 horsepower of it). The '86 was the complete reverse of the '85. Tie rod ends, water pump, timing belt, yada yada yada. It was the first year of that series, but honestly I wouldn't buy one at this point. The cost of repairs and parts will RAPIDLY outstrip the value of the vehicle.

 

For $100 though, how could you go wrong? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/04.gif[/img]

 

I had a 86 Escort GT that I got from my Dad as my first car..check the rear shock towers...they'll most likley be rotted out...this was happening to my car before I got rid of it in 93.

BTW same car was on the road still with 200K plus on it in 1998 [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif[/img] Saw it at an autoparts store I used to work at [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen.gif[/img]