I am looking at buying my 16yr old son a 2011 escape v6 awd with 174,000 miles for his first car. Can anyone tell me anything good or bad about these vehicles and how durable the engine and trans are in these?

 

As a long time Ford dealership technician fairly familiar with the products I've been repairing for a living since 2000.....I can tell you the 2008 to 2012 model year Escape would make an excellent first vehicle. In my personal opinion, this was the best version of the Escape by far. Way better than the 2013 to current model year Escapes. Now that we have that out of the way, I would strongly advise having maintenance records checked on said vehicle, as that will play a major role in how reliable this vehicle will be for the near future. That 3.0L V6 and 6F35 transmission is about as good as it gets. At that age and mileage, I would definitely replace the fluid in the PTU (as they only hold half a quart of 75W140 and maintenance of this item is often ignored leading to failure), as well as the transmission and engine oil using the correct fluids of course. Most importantly, for a vehicle of that age, I would definitely check the body over very thoroughly for signs of rust, especially inside the rear wheel inner fenders where the shocks are secured. That is the area most frequently known to rust out on these models, as well as the subframe where the lower control arm is bolted to. Pay particular attention to the passenger side, where A/C evaporator water has drained onto throughout the car's service life. That's where they tend to rust. Aside from the above mentioned items, overall these are excellent cars. You may be better off just looking for a FWD version without a PTU to worry about, and also be better on fuel as well.

 

We currently have over 400,000 miles on our 2011 Escape, and still counting. Picked it up at the rail yard with only 11 miles on it, 11 years ago.

The original 2.5L 4 cylinder has never been apart. I change the oil (full synthetic) and filter every 10,000 miles, and check the oil level every 3,000 miles.

The 2.5L 4 cylinder holds 5.3 quarts of oil, which is almost as much as the V6 that we had in the 2008 Escape that preceded our 2011. The 2008 was completely totaled in a head on collision in 2011.

Needless to say, after walking away, we re-upped on another Escape in 2011, and have put over 400,000 miles on it.

As m-chan68 already pointed out, the 2008-2012 Escape is the epiphanic version of this vehicle that has not been bettered in the Kuga platform versions manufactured since.

 

Excellent choice, I've had an 01, V6 with 245,000 miles & still going strong. Currently have an 08 with 175,000 miles. These cars are relatively cheap and reliable. Parts are cheap as well. Excellent vehicles if taken care of.

 

Our 2004 had 300k when I gave it to our neice. It has since had issues and wne to greener pastures. It was the v6 model so slightly different but I would love to have another of this model if I oculd find one in the right shape.

 

We bought s 2012 Escape that was a "Dealership Courtesy Car". Had a ton of miles on it, 164K when we bought it.
4 cylinder XLT.

We got it cheap because of an air conditioning problem. Apparently there is an issue that 'can' happen if the dryer releases it's desiccant into the A/C system that requires total replacement of the system. The actual problem though.. - I guess someone worked on it previously and ended up mixing up two relays. Most were 4 blades, but one was 5 blades. The 5 blade relay that controls the radiator fans was in the place of the normal 4-blades, so the fans wouldn't engage when the A/C was running until it reached a 'danger' level and ran 'full speed' until the condenser cooled back down/high pressure came down. Annoying thing was that two of the Ford techs I talked to said that there was no "low and medium" fans speeds for the radiator fans. A schematic from Ford proved that to be not accurate..

On a side note - on Ford's site you can get access to ALL of their service data for a couple days for like $20. Very useful for sure.

Long story, but we got a really good deal because the dealer assumed that was the issue. I can't say if it's possible to avoid that issue or detect it with any degree of certainty. I'm not sure if I would just have the dryer replaced 'in case' - unless you are in an area where no A/C is a big problem, then I might just have that done.

It's that silver canister thing on the passenger side that looks like a prominent A/C part. Visual inspection wouldn't hurt.

Otherwise, it's been very dependable for us.
Having some brake issues now, but nothing that I would think is uncommon for a vehicle of it's age.

In the price range, I would buy another or suggest one to a friend, etc.