I haven't driven an Escort since my 1993 model and now I know why. Our Ford Ranger XLT was involved in an auto accident a few weeks ago so our rental car is this 1999 Ford Escort. Now I've owned a Ford Escort before, it was a 1993 model and after two blown headgaskets, a new radiator, major engine work and $1500 later, I traded it in for my first truck which was a Toyota 4X2 until I traded that in for the Ford Ranger. Now that you know why I am driving this Ford Escort, let me tell you about it.

Dwarf Ponies or maybe mice?
This little car may be economical, but it certainly is comical when it comes to the "horsepower" this thing has. To put it bluntly, it sucks on hills. You need to start hitting the gas pedal...hard....about 500 feet before you climb a hill or else it simply will max out and everyone is passing you.

Park Place
We've been driving this car now for two weeks. We have had to leave at least 5 to 10 minutes early so we can get this car out of PARK. The button that releases the stick is a crap shoot if you get it to push in so it will release the shift. I spent 10 minutes of my lunch hour yesterday trying to get it out of park, I swore that when I did I was going right to the rental place to exchange cars. They did not have any available, but the guy told me that if the shift would not move out of PARK to push this little flat black button next to the stick and it would release the shift and allow me to push the shift's button all the way in so I can move out of PARK. NOW HE TELLS ME!!!

But there is a bright side
The car gets excellent gas mileage. In these days of high gas prices, it cost us $15.00 to fill the tank up and it lasted for a good 200 miles of mostly highway driving. Our Ford Ranger guzzles about double that, but it is a 20 gallon tank, but gets only about 100 miles more than the Escort.

Price
As a rental, you can't beat the price ($19.99 a day). As a first family car, I would also recommend it. In fact I recommend everyone should rent the vehicle they intend on buying for a week to see if it will meet all of their expectations. A simple test drive won't tell you how it performs in your daily lives and it is far better to spend that extra $50 to make sure it will.
Amount Paid (US$): 19.99
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1999
Model and Options: Automatic. Push the little black button to get it out of PARK