Wonderful! Ive had my eyes on the ZX2 since it was introduced, but the last Escort we bought (in 1999) was the 4-door SE Sport, which we still have  after 115K -- shows little obvious wear and were hoping that our new ZX2 will give us similar excellent service.  
 
Our ZX2 has all the options except for leather  we like the smell of leather, but hate to actually sit on the stuff. The ZX2 is wonderful, but then Ill admit Im enamored with smaller cars, and I see no reason to pay big $$$ just to impress the parking valet, also our kids are grown, so the back seat is mostly just for storage on trips. Before we bought the ZX2 we also looked at the Dodge Neon, the Honda Civic and the Ford Focus. The Neon was unimpressive, but the Civic was quite nice  just not $3-4K nicer, that our local dealers were charging for equivalent options. We like Fords, but when they replaced the solid little Escort with the Euro-esque Focus (although both it and the ZX2 we bought, are actually assembled in Mexico), I had to gulp. Ive tried to like the Focus, and mechanically theyre on par or better than anything else in this price range -- but I guess my ancestors have been gone from Europe way too long for me to appreciate that wedge-of-cheese look. I like my cars to look like, well, cars.  
 
So, the ZX2 was the best way to get back to the Escort chassis and drive-train weve grown to appreciate and trust. What a nice surprise. The ZX2 reminds me of the little Audi I brought back from Germany in the 1980s  although the ZX2s fit and finish is much, much better than I remember from my Audi (which I also liked very much). Its a speeding ticket waiting to happen. Although there is never any doubt that youre in a 4-cylinder car, the ZX2 is noticeably faster than our Escort SE  twin cams, etc. Ive seen 0-60 times under 8 seconds in some articles, and although Ive never timed it, the performance is in the neighborhood of what I recall from my mid-sized 327 Camero  only the ZX2 gets a little over 35mpg on the road (we usually get better than EPA said). Weve had several Escorts over the years (something over 400K miles worth), and despite how the consumer publications always try to steer buyers much further upscale, I really think theyre missing the true meaning of value and sport.  
 
Weve had our ZX2 on a couple long trips, and like weve said about our other Escorts (after driving `em all over the United States, driving for days on end), if two AARP Land candidates are comfortable in them  then theyre comfortable (we seem to drive 30K++ miles every year  but these cars make the going inexpensive). Our ZX2 is the most comfortable of the bunch, however. Except for a timing-belt we pushed to 120Kmiles on a 1994 Escort (dumb on my part) and an oxygen sensor at 98K on our `98 Escort, weve had very few maintenance problems whatever with our Escorts.  
 
At first the ZX2 was a compromise that seemed to be forced on us because Ford no longer makes the 4-door models. But now, my only fear is that Ford will soon discontinue the Escort ZX2 line altogether (I've talked to the factory rep about this). I just hope they send the Focus to one of those Hollywood plastic surgeons in the meantime, it badly needs a facelift before Id be as happy with it as our ZX2. Without a ZX2 on the horizon, that Civic just might be worth the extra $3K over the Focus  in the meantime were happily piling the miles on our ZX2.  
