One problem related to carrier/rack has been reported for the 1999 Ford Escort. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The clearcoat on the black paint of my 1999 Ford Escort zx2 has cracked. There are fine white cracks covering the car body but mainly on the hood. I took the car to the dealers auto body shop and was informed that it was a factory defect and that they had seen this problem on other black cars. So far both the dealer, gus johnson Ford, and Ford customer service have refused to stand behind their product. This vehicle is covered under the extended warranty.