Where each one leads
Ford Escort
- Against cars of the same age, the Ford Escort comes out better at its first MOT test (passes 8% more often than average) than the Nissan Pulsar (passes 3% less often than average).
Nissan Pulsar
- Fewer Nissan Pulsar cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (1.6% against 60.3%).
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Ford Escort | Nissan Pulsar | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1981–2003 | 1982–1990 |
| New cars registered in Europe | — | 123,665 (2014–2019) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 10,703 | 20,534 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 4,323 | 3,714 |
| In traffic in Finland | 1,377 | 1,962 |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Ford Escort | Nissan Pulsar | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 75% | 76% |
| … against cars of the same age | +8% | −3% |
| New York safety inspections failed | 2.6% | — |
| … against cars of the same year | +56% | — |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 60.3% | 1.6% |
| US owner complaints | 3,936 | 19 |
| Most complaints about | Electrical system | Fuel system, gasoline |
| Model year with most complaints | 1995 (576) | 1988 (6) |
| US recall campaigns | 35 | 3 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 1,105 | 40 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 64 | 8 |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Ford Escort | Nissan Pulsar | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 9.4 l/100 km (2000) | — |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | — | 84 kW (113 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | — | 1,292 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €15,187 | €25,906 |
| Average odometer in Finland | 59,000 km | 121,000 km |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).