My family's had some experience with the older Escorts as well. My sister once had a 1987 Mercury Lynx (Ford Escort sister car. Sam basic car) and she loved that. It was a 5 speed manual with no power steering and she had to take her driving test in that. My mother later on had a 1994 Ford Escort station wagon with the 1.9L CVH. Now my mother had problems with that car. Mainly the transmission. She had the automatic and in the winter once spilled coffee on the gear shifter. Well, the coffee froze and immobilized the car, so she had to use the roadside assistance to get it home on a flatbed. She got pissed and called up Ford complaining (after about the third time this happened. Coffee shouldn't be able to immobilize a car). Ya know what Ford said? "Don't drink coffee in the car". What the hell kind of design is that when coffee can stop a car dead in it's tracks?
Eventually (early-mid 1999) my brother and his wife borrowed the car and totaled it. My mom bought the Monte Carlo that I now have as a replacement and has never had a problem with anything other than this bowtie's alternator (which likes to go every 30,000 miles and is a bitch to get to). My mom said she lost count how often she spilled things on the Chevy's shifter and it never froze up like that.