Hello all,

I'm looking at buying a new-to-me car. We are starting a family and bought an 07 edge for our 'family cruiser.'

Currently, I'm driving a 95 Mark VIII as my daily commuter w/ an 89 f150 as an as-needed hauler, but I really need something with easy entry/exit, moderate cargo space and four doors.

In short, I'm looking at the Escape and the ZX5/ZXW Focus.

I want a manual transmission, and would like some feedback from manual transmission owners on - honestly- whether or not you would recommend the car.

Just from looking at pictures (I know, pictures aren't everything) it looks like the shift position of the 01-04 cars is significantly lower than the 05+. Almost awkwardly so.

Any thoughts? How have your escapes treated you?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

I bought an "06 about a yr ago for my daughter. Has been good so far. I like the manual trans, but haven't driven an auto to compare it to.

 

When driving my 02 Escape 2.0L 5MT, I never think about where the shifter is located.
I drove a Ranger 5MT for a long time & didn't think about where its shifter was either.
The Escape's is lower than the Ranger's shifter, but the change wasn't an issue whatsoever.

If you're going to be doing some hauling, it might be a good idea to get the 2.3L.
The 2.0L is woefully underpowered. It's fine after getting into 3rd gear, but starting from a dead stop, particularly w the a/c on, is kinda cumbersome(?), for lack of a better word. I'd be curious to see how it does pulling a load. I bought it for the fuel economy (~22.2mpg consistently w mixed driving).