We thought we had made up our minds on an Escape or Tribute but Jeep had to introduce the Liberty. Now the wife likes it too. I give the Liberty the thumbs up for 4x4 capability and thumbs up to the Escape for almost everything else. I'd like some comments from you guys either way. Thanks!

 

It really depends on what she'll be using the new vehicle for. I'm a big fan of the Escape/Tribute twins, they have no real competition for their space and power. I've seen a few Liberty's, not impressed though. The Liberty just doesn't work, back seat is only good for people without legs, it's a pretty narrow vehicle, and not much room for much behind the rear seat. The Liberty has a new engine from Chrysler- the 3.7 V-6, it's basically a 4.7 V-8 with two cylinders chopped off, the four cylinder is the 2.4 which will probably be very harsh, although it does have 150hp....more than most four cylinders offered on cute-utes. If you decide on either I wouldn't recommend buying a first-year model.

 

My wife and I faced the same dilemma. Worse yet, the same dealer carried both vehicles. We refused to drive either until we decided which way to go. Both have their strong points, but we concluded that the Escape had more plusses than the Liberty. Then we loaded the kids in, and went for a ride. The liberty we were considering had the tow package and almost every other bell and do-dad just to keep up with the Escape. Liberty lost hands down for cornering. Felt too tippy to both of us. We hemmed and hawwed over both late Saturday night, and the lot manager finally offered to let us take the Escape for the rest of the weekend. Best selling plan I ever had the pleasure of falling for. We bought the Chrome Yellow 2002 XLT No Boundaries with every option except for the moonroof and leather interior.
Now I need to figure out how to get the keys away from my wife so I can have a turn!!

Oh...BTW....Have you guys seen some of the aftermarket stuff available? If not, I offer a few links...


http://www.suvxccessory.com/xccessory/2002-ford-escape.html
http://www.escape-parts.com/
http://www.egclassic.com/ford_esc_pack1.htm
http://www.truckinssuv.com/archives/features/0602_features01.shtml

Last one is for an article on an awesome tricked out Escape.

 

Ive been a Diehard Ford person all my life (I had Chevy that was a lemon) Ive driven the Escape and the Liberty. The Escape is a great vehicle, there wasnt anything i didnt like about it. The liberty is a little smaller, but jeep has really come along way with the ride quality issue. I guess they both have there +'s and -'s. Seems like i started out with an opinion and confused the matter more...

 

My wife choose b/n the twins and the liberty as well. The deciding factor was the size of the seats. The liberty had the lesser seats of the two. I owned a 97 Cherokee Sport and the new Liberty was just harsh compared to the older Cherokee's. Our decision was very easy.

Dave