 This 1997 Ford Escort has aged pretty 
well. It drives pretty much as it did 
when we got it 5 years ago. 
 Gas mileage is good, it handles pretty 
well (the chassis is much more rigid 
than previous year Ford Escorts). 
 With 81,000 miles, the engine barely 
uses 1/3 quart of Mobil 1 5W-30 in 4500 
miles.
 The check engine light had been on for 
a couple of years (with a P1443 trouble 
code), I finally got around to fixing 
it by replacing the purge flow solenoid 
with a $5 wrecking yard part. It turned 
out the rubber hose had started 
deteriorating, and the solenoid got 
clogged with debris.
