Out of Order

I'm interrupting the New York blogs to update you on current goings-on.
I just got back from an oil change. I had been worried about my fuel pressure regulator for a while because of the way my car starts and has been driving. I asked if they could look over it. Of course I got the weird look, and then the "we will have to charge you for diagnostics to do that." But in the end they barely charged me for my oil change.
It turns out, in the month that I've been driving on salty, snowy roads - the trailing arm for my left rear tire has rusted through almost completely. There is about a quarter inch piece of rusty metal that is keeping my back tire from falling off. I've got a gas leak (I wondered why my mileage dropped by 10 in the last week). I've also got a major oil leak.
Right before I left Wisconsin, I saw the underbody of my car. It looked okay. My buddy Sean said everything looked awesome and he said my car was in great shape. This afternoon I barely recognized the underbody. Everything is rusted to shit. It's not worth putting a penny into, because within a week something else will snap due to rust. This may be the end of Smurfette.
Unfortunately, my dad and I just dumped $2000 into the car. I got a brand new windshield, spanking new brake pads, rotars, calipers, rear struts, both tie rods and wheel barings. The clutch is relatively new. So I'm not about to junk a car with that many good parts on it. Problem is, I don't have enough money to fix it - and I'll have to borrow money to buy a new (old) Escort. But thankfully Jen's mother and her mother's fiancee own auto repair shops. As long as I can find an Escort in the Connecticut area (and get mine down there) they will be able to swap out the parts.

So if you know of a 94-96 Ford Escort LX 2-door hatchback for sale, let me know. I don't want to spend more than $1000. Oh yeah, I need a manual transmission. And I would prefer it not to be rusted out!