buying recommendation 94 Accord LX Wagon

Thanks for the post.

Regarding the broken springs, the mechanic said they were broken toward
the bottom of the spring. He showed me, but is was difficult to see as
the lower part of the springs were slightly concealed by the wheel.

He said the danger was the springs could break in another place higher
up causing the car to be undrivable as you mentioned. The mechanic
said Escorts in before and up to the 98 year were notorious for this
problem. However, he also said in their current condition, these
springs could be driven on another 2 years.

Considering the price, I am not that excited in this 98 Escort. I
will keep looking.

 

I suspect the timing belt hasn't been changed, but you can hope. A lot of
people stretch the interval if they are expecting to sell the car; after
all, they don't want to put half a grand into the car just before they sell
it. My daughter's '93 LX had 163K on it and the owner had never heard of the
need to change the timing belt - he relied on Midas to tell him what the car
needed. :-(

It goes without saying that if there is no reliable record of the belt being
changed the new owner will have to do it right away (or have it done as a
condition of sale, even if it adds a bit to the price). In either case you
will know with certainty when it was done.

Mike

 

Well, whaddya know! Googling "Escort broken springs" brings up a wealth of
info on that. It seems the problem is the subject of a TSB in the Mercury
Mystake and the equivalent Ford. Apparently corrosion attacks the base of
the springs. The TSB involves installing a "spring catcher" to prevent the
broken spring from gouging the tire....

Mike

 

I understand what you mean. I would not mind spending the money on the
timing belt.

I will keep looking for an accord I can afford that will leave me with
room to spend on a timing belt.

Thanks for the posts Michael