OK, am here to say to all the people please stay away from 2.0 SOHC split port engines even if low miles or one owner even if was maintain to the best parts, stay away. I have 2001 Ford Escort, same motor in the Ford Focus. I got this car off Craigslist and I did my research on gas mileage, not quality and how good car is. Dum of me. the car drove great. a/c work great. never complained.

Now am a father of two kids, 16 month old boy and 5 month old girl. I got this car cause was good on gas and that's all I can afford at that time. Now I drove the car to work and home everyday, and drove it all over area, no problem. One day I go out, turn the key, and I hear sound of metal. I shut it down right away. I had my brother send me his tow truck to pick it up and take it to the shop, we took it apart and found out VALVE SEAT DROPPED and destroyed the engine number 4 and 3. Somehow part gotten through the intake and damaged the 1 and 2 cylinder, the head is trash and the pistons junk, and I got two inch hole in the block, pretty much the engine is no longer repairable.

I go online to try to find something to replace the engine cause I need the car, am out of a car and I need my car to go to work and provide for my family. Come to find out the engine cost more then the dam car itself. Cheapest I found 900$, less then 90k with 3 month warranty, and if I wand to get something in the 700$ and below range there ain't nothing. Cleaned all trash or parts only so the car is in the garage sitting collecting dust.

I hate Ford, I was a believer but now, f** Ford leaving me with this sht of a motor damage. I can go on telling you in details about this car but all I can say STAY AWAY FROM FORD 4 cylinder 2.0 SOHC split port engine, the worse you can ever buy. A lot of people fixed, not once or twice, three times and counting, not worth fixing. What a shame Ford, I wish Ford go out of business so they know how it feels selling junk to people who believed in them. F** you Ford, never again, my Ford Escort, am gonna escort it to the junk yard and watch it being crushed while I video tape it and save many from buying your crappy cars. F** YOU FORD

About a year ago, the vehicle started running rough. A tune-up helped it drive better, but it still idled like crap. The idle got worse and the check engine light stayed on. A local shop said that we were losing compression in Cylinder #4 and that the only solution was to replace the engine. The cost of a replacement was well above the car's value so we got a waiver for our state's emission inspection and decided to drive it for as long as we could. 5 months later it finally died. I was driving down the road, heard a loud pop heard and awful rattling sound and lost all power. I coasted to a safe place and has it towed. The engine was dead and had punctured the oil pan in the process -- leaking oil down the highway.

It was only a couple of weeks later that I learned that this was a very common and well documented problem. There is an inherent design flaw in the valve seat of cylinder #4. It starts to separate and drop, and eventually obliterates the engine.

On the other hand, my wife got this car when she was 16 and it lasted us for 10 years. Her parents bought it in 2002 and it died may 2012. It has been reliable up to this point and even when it ran like crap it STILL got 28 MPG! I think the escort is a good car, but if you are looking at buying a used one with over 100k miles BE AWARE! There is a fix -- you can have the head (not the whole engine) rebuilt with an updated design. This is expensive but not nearly as much as replacing the engine. We cried a little when it was gone, but she was a great car. Lots of good memories going places in college and as newlyweds. R.I.P.