Hi all,

I am in the market for a small SUV.

It is to be for on-road use, but we do get quite poor road conditions here in Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada.

The most important thing for us is driving position (GF has a left leg injury, so we are looking for a truck-like seat), and fuel economy (it will see 1000 km per week).

We are looking for a payment of C$500 per month, so that is C$30k new (5 years @ 0%) or C$16 used (3 years @ 7%)

My personal biases are, and will always be, towards Chrysler products - but this thread is not supposed to be a debate... just looking for input from owners.

Are there any things to consider when shopping for an Escape? Any bad years, poor engine/transmission combos, TSBs, or other things to keep in mind?

I have posted simmilar questions on Chrysler and Hyundai boards. My dad works in a Toyota shop, so I get the dirt on them first hand.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

 

Welcome to the site Jeff. Great to have you on board.

As for the Escape, the main problem would have to be brake rotor wear (and I think they might have fixed that), apart from that they are darn reliable, I personally would choose a 2.3l over a 3.0l for fuel milage reasons.
For a small vehicle, the 3.0l can chew through a fair bit of gas.

 

My mother looked at three of those four a year or so ago with my help. (She ended up with a Subaru Forester). We didn't look at the Escape because she doesn't like Ford seats (she had an Explorer before). My thoughts:

Liberty- great driving position, nice gearshift/clutch feel. Truckiest of the bunch by far (and all that entails, good and bad), and gets the worst mileage. I liked it, my mom thought it was too trucky. I'd love to own one, but if you aren't going to offroad or tow with it, it is too much truck.

Hyundai- interior materials felt cheapest, but not bad. Problem was, the price wasn't enough lower than the others to justify the lower-quality feel. Domestic bias and bad dealer experience would keep me miles away from this one.

RAV-4- good seats, good handling, tight driveline. Good mileage, seemed a very good value. This would be my top choice of what I drove, for a snowy road commuter.

Take a look at the Subie, too. My mother is very happy with hers.

If your GF has a leg injury, then I'd say the most important thing is to get her some seat time. It it isn't comfortable, she's going to hate every minute she spends in it, regardless of reliability and mileage...

 

That is likely going to be the deciding factor.

Right now, we have a 2005 Grand Caravan (which she can dive all day) and a 2000 Chrysler Neon (which is paid for, easy on gas, uber-reliable, but she cannot drive it for more than 30 minutes or so)

The original plan was for her to drive the Neon (>1000 km per week), and me the van (300 km per week). You can see how the reverse is costing us!

 

I can' speak for the other vehicles but I ordered a 2201 Ford Escape before they were introduced (I had never seen one other than a photo). It was as a company car and repairs and resale wasn't my concern and I would only have it 2 years. After 73,000 miles of hard mountain company vehicle use, I purchased it for my wife and it now has 93,000+ miles on it. The only mechanical incident I had was a bad sensor (check engine light came on) at around 45-50K. I replaced the front brake rotors and pads at 65,000 miles due to the hard mountain use. The brake pads weren't worn out yet because they are very hard but that had caused the rotors to wear out. It is a 4X4 with 3.0 engine (it will fly). As a company car, I averaged 21-22 MPG and would normally get 23-24 on the highway. My wife gets around 18 in her short trip never has a chance to get warmed up travels.

I have been very pleased with it and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It is very stable for a 4X4 with a wide stance and has a very short turning radius. I would not consider a 4 cylinder in any of the 4X4 SUVs unless it was the little CRV or RAV4 and then only with a standard transmission.

 

i also have a ford escape, and would recommend it to anyone for these reasons:

1. seats are widely adjustable with surprising leg room, mine will give me me some trouble with my right leg after 200 miles straight due to fact i like to drive closer to wheel then most, but left has never given me trouble, i could move seat back and more upright to correct but i don't feel right in that position.

2. only issue i have had in 44000 miles plus is a recall for the hatch latch, had truck back in 45 minutes washed and waxed. still on original rotors and pads all the way around. oh there is a tsb for nuisance shut off while fueling, too hard of radius in filler pipe which they will fix under warranty.

3. fuel economy!!!! if you like 5 speeds and don't want all wheel drive, you can get over 30 if you are careful with the pedal, or do a 100mph in third lol. since your gf has a left leg injury, i am assuming you would go automatic, fwd probably 27 or so and previous post gave you awd numbers.

4. room, room, room! can't believe how roomy this little bugger is for its size, i am just under 6' and have seat to play with, or you can slide seat up so far i can't see anyone fitting in there!! interior controls are kinda foreign in layout, but since it shares with mazda, that would explain it and once you are used to it everything is very handy except center console. its pushed back to make room for cup holders and shifter so don't put anything in there you want during drive unless you are quite confident. drop the rear seats and you can haul a washer and dryer, get the roof rack and you'll have more capacity up there yet. i load mine with all my work tools and the rear doesn't sag, but sure some concrete bags would drop it down hehe

5. power! the fwd 4 cyl will get up and go nicely in stick shift, i was very surprised, sure the auto holds it back a little and never drove the 6cyl

now i will be honest and give you some down sides:

interior materials are kinda cheap, they'll take damage easily, stock tires are junk, and it lacks selection in aftermarket for a platform thats been around for 5+ years now. thats about it though

remember all my stats are in standard, so metric conversions are needed to get your numbers. and i almost forgot, my escape was only 19k us and abnormal repair maintanance cost at 44000 miles = 0!!!!!!! no brakes, no tires, no breakdowns, just oil changes and one set of wipers (on third windshield due to rocks etc. flying up on highway, i follow too close. this is insurance deductible not mechanical though). wish those tires would go so i could get some good ones, just hate to waste rubber unless its smoking on road.

I LOVE MY ESCAPE, YOU AND HER WILL TOO!!!!

Bill

 

I forgot to say, if you do get the liberty, get the diesel, with the miles you travel it will pay for it well and truly.

 

Beastmaster is right about the interior being cheap in the base model (like mine). I understand the new models have an upgraded interior seat fabric. Also, I agree that the tires stink. The OEM tires on mine were junk. I chewed the tread off in 28,000 miles on very crooked mountain roads. The first winter I had my Escape, I also had a 4X4 Subaru wagon and a 4X4 Dodge D50 4X4 (Mitsubishi). I tested all three in the same hill after a snowstorm and the Escape performed the best of the three.

After I got my Escape, my brother was working on a new Explorer at his body shop and we did some measurements of the interior and compared the vehicles. All of the interior measurements were as large or larger on all the measurements except for the space behind the rear seat.

 

All of them are pretty good so whichever you buy you'll get great vehicle.