Scorpio - a birth sign ?? (Ford Granada/Scorpio)

Member Name: ANDREWSJK

Product:	Ford Granada/Scorpio
Date:	05/06/01 (638 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: LARGE BOOT, COMFORT, QUIETNESS

Disadvantages: UNRELIABILITY, POOR BACKUP, VERY EXPENSIVE

I bought an M Reg Scorpio in April 2000 for £5,300. Without doubt it was the worst and most expensive vehicle I have ever owned which was amazing considering I have had 27 cars previously.


The following things were either wrong or never worked :-
Headlights, gearbox, steering, heated seat, heated front window, cigar lighters , rear wash wipe, air conditioning, brakes, immobiliser, radio, starter motor and several other items. It had done 88,000 miles when I bought it, and broke down 30 times in the first two months. In all it was off the road in garages for 8 out of 13 months. The final straw came when after very considerable expense Ford would NOT supply the steering parts necessary for it to pass the MOT and I had to get my finance company to write the car off.

What added grief to the sorry story is that it only averaged 14 mpg, which is terrible even considering the 2.9 engine.

When I contacted Ford they also laughed at me, and suggested I buy a Mondeo instead, even though they have as yet after 2 months been unable to supply a brochure.

However, as regards the Scorpio I must admit it was well built which one could tell by the solid feel on slamming the door shut at the scene of another breakdown, it could not possibly have required another feature (although in my case the only one not to go wrong was the trip computer ), was extremely luxurious and roomy to sit in while awaiting another recovery man whilst resting in the (unheated due to being broken) leather seats AND admiring the lovely wood finish around me. One would have had to be a millionaire to be able to fill the luggage area with duty free goods. The power steering was extremely useful for effortless parking, and the car was so powerful that a very restful and rapid acceleration to 60mph in a time of about 9 seconds required a feather on the accelerator. And the gearchange on the (leaking !! ) auto- gearbox was wonderful.
The cruise control kept me cle
ar of accidents on an unexpectedly snowy day when other cars were slewing off the motorway as well.

I notice recently the Scorpio has come 5th in the league of most forgetable cars, up there with such horrors as the Allegro, and this must be due to the manufacturer not putting much effort behind it, which is a huge pity because in essence it could have been a great car spoilt perhaps by old technology such as the ageing engine.

Coming back to this op about a month after writing it, and 3 months after disposing of the car I feel that there are several points on the car I do miss which are the extremely quiet ride on the motorway when the volume of the radio did not need to be touched, and the massive luggage are for my frequent trips to France to coolect lager and wine.

Boy , was I unlucky with it .
As, perhaps a final note to this sad story, I recently saw the unfortunate new owner of this car, and he still seemed to be having trouble with the gearbox !!

Summary: