Vehicle report
1997 FORD ESCORT
This model year
What the record shows
The 1997 Ford Escort is a compact car, and the 17th model year of a nameplate NHTSA records from 1981 to 2003.
The EPA rated two configurations: a single 2-litre four-cylinder engine, front-wheel drive only, two transmissions and running on regular gasoline.
Combined fuel economy ranges from 26 to 28 mpg depending on which one you have.
The federal record holds 543 owner complaints, 1 investigation and 150 service bulletins for it.
Counts are reports, not rates. A complaint is something an owner chose to file; it is unverified and unadjusted for how many of these cars were sold, so the useful comparison is against other model years of the same car. Recalls and investigations carry more weight because a manufacturer or regulator acted on them.
Reading this report
Complaint counts are reports filed with NHTSA, not failure rates. A common model collects more of them than a rare one that breaks more often.