1993 Ford Escort - Is it worth fixing to sell or should I just sell it as is?

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I have a 1993 Ford Escort 4dr LX with 167,000 miles and counting. It is a daily driver, and seems to get me back and forth to work just fine. Surprisingly, despite some scratches, parking lot dings, and such, the clearcoat is in really good shape except for the bumpers. The radio and cd/mp3 were professionally installed, and generally, for an 18 year old car, it’s in good shape.

It has two repair issues:

  1. When it is hot, and I am in traffic or at highway speed,s the check engine light comes on, but the performance doesn’t seem to be affected.
  2. I hit a rock (a big one) and the AC compressor needs to be replaced, and possibly the lines leading to and from it.

What’s your vote: fix or just sell as is?

2

The A/C repair will cost you more than you are likely to get for the car…Just sell it for whatever you can get…

3

Hmm…I had a feeling this was the path to take, thank you!

4

If you don’t care about the AC then it may be a whole different story. You need to know what the error code(s) is(are) when the engine light goes on.

5

I agree with Caddyman that you will not get much money for this car, but that notion speaks against selling it. If you are satisfied with the car’s performance, keep it. You would have to spend thousands for a reliable replacement.

We are entering cool weather and you can get by without A/C for another 6 months. Drive it as-is until then. Come spring you can review the situation again.

6

Please explain how a rock has anything to do with the AC compressor.

Condenser? Yes, I can see how a rock might damage a condenser, but not the compressor.

However, at 167K miles, I’d walk away from the car and be thankful it lasted this long.

7

mcparadise - When a large rock is hit, and it hits the AC compressor, it can sheer off the lines going in and out of the compressor. The compressor is the part that is run by the serpentine belt, right? The condenser is the part that is in front of the radiator, correct?

SteveF, I went through 2 summers with no AC thanks to this, and not willing to do it again. I have different needs than I did when I purchased this car, so before next summer, it is time for it to go.

8

If you can do the a/c work yourself you can fix the car pretty inexpensively. I think I’m going to have to replace the compressor on my '94 Escort and was looking the other night on ebay and found rebuilt compressors for about $80-$90. You need to pull the codes from the ECU to find out what the other problem is, but this is also something you can do yourself. The following link will explain how to read the codes using the check engine light.

http://fordfuelinjection.com/files/self_test.pdf