Ok finally decided to write my little review!

First of all the jeep.

The diesel is amazingly quiet, and good on fuel. Its a little gutless on the highway, good power in town though. Seats were very comfortable, but didnt lean back down all the way. Airbags all over the place. Gauges and interior were very nice quality overall, didnt seem cheap at all. Leather and moonroof were standard features with the diesel. (weird eh)
Ride was very nice and smooth. Had a 5 speed auto, with the ability to shift it like a manual! Very cool, also nice to have since the engine was a little gutless (compared to the escape)Has the automatic 4 wheel drive (or whatever jeep calls it)
The jeep in real world driving would get around 10-13 mpg better then the escape(on the highway, not surprising its a diesel)
Rated towing was way higher then the escape, and it would sucessfully tow our boat (approx 2000 kg boat and trailer).

Now the escape. We took one for a test drive 3-4 years ago when we were looking for an suv and went with the 01 jeep, cause the escape we drove was terrible!
The seats of the 09 escape (leather) were really comfortable too. They did lean all the way back too! The heated option worked very nice on them! There is lots of gauges and buttons, and i was impressed with the look of the interior. One thing that didnt impress me was the quality of the door panels, and the other plastics in the interior. It felt very cheap (reminded me of my plastic 1989 ford door panels)(although looked great!)

The engine was quiet, and very powerfull. Had a 6 speed auto, that shifted very very nice and smooth. Also had the automatic 4 wheel drive (or whatever ford calls it)The get up and go was no comparison between the jeep and the escape, the escape would murder the jeep in speed! (which is important to us when passing on the highway) There is also airbags everywhere you can think of.

The escape is rated to tow at about 1600 kg (not quite enough to tow our boat)

Well long story short, the woman and I were both really impressed with the escape. The fuel mileage was a little less, the power was alot more, and the price was 8ish grand cheaper.

We talked about it though, and have decided we cant get one, due to the fact that it isnt rated to tow enough (our boat)

Not sure if we wil end up going with a jeep diesel either, cause they are alot more expensive.

Too bad about the towing, I was really truely impressed with the escape.

 

Seems like you covered most if not all of the bases.
Too bad about the towing capacity but why not use you PSD for towing the boat?
Or leave the boat at the lake, get a slightly smaller, lighter boat......

 

Well right now we have the boat, so it doesnt make sense to get a different one, Sandi would never go for that either!

We do pull the boat with the PSD, but Sandi would like something just for the times when she goes to the lake, and im off working or whatever.

We havent made any solid choices yet though. Another option is for me to do my 89 and have that for a work vehicle when i need it, and that would leave the psd open for when she needs it.

 

I wish ford woulda just had a bit more towing capacity on the escape, i really do.

 

It would have been nice to have more towing capacity.
I do think you`ve hit the nail on the head in this case with fixing the 89.

 

One of our ideas is to save the money on the suv by getting the ford, and put a few bucks into my half ton.

But in the end Sandi would like a vehicle for her to take to the lake that isnt the diesel.

Gotta remember shes not a huge big truck kinda gal, she would rather have a mid sized suv (or a beamer but I aint that rich!)

 

explorer, explorer, explorer... of course there goes the economy idea, but the towing capacity, and overall quality would be far more superior to the jeep... lol...just figured i'd put that in there.

good comparism's there, in the end, get what will suit your needs best.

say, is that diesel the one thats in the sprinter vans??

 

Yes thats the same diesel. I forget offhand what it is now, mercedes maybe?
Might have to go check out an explorer, never really thought about the different categories, and I dont anything about the suv categories!

 

The the diesel in the jeep is a little mercedes, heard from a guy that used to work at a dodge dealer that they are a pain to work on. He said they put that engine where it shouldn't be.

Does the jeep get that much better mileage than the escape? I knew it would be better but 8-10mpg would put it in the 38mpg range. Our escape got 28.6mpg on the highway last weekend.

 

Excellent review, there preppypyro. I've only seen a few Jeep diesels and I find them intriguing. Smaller SUV, diesel torque, durability and mileage, 4WD, good towing ability.

I think the Jeep diesel is made in Italy, but I may be wrong, supposed to be quite a good engine.

I've alwasy been a low rpm torque fan and I think that Jeep diesel has a good chunk of it...almost 300 lbs. ft. or something. Although you wouldn't want to off road such a nice vehicle, it would probably easily idle through difficult terrain.

The Escape is a nice truck. One of my co-workers (before I retired) bought one. Very happy with it, did well in a snowstorm on the # 1 hwy. to Brandon last year, with full cargo and 4 adults. They were going to a wedding and had to be there and the Escape pulled through just fine.

 

Roughly yeah. I was lucky to talk to a jeep diesel owner just before the test drive (a customer coming in to get his truck worked on) and he was telling me the good, and the bad.

Keep in mind though, the fuel mileage is approximate, it is a diesel, and it is gutless on the highway compared to an escape. So its not like the better mpg doesnt come with some sort of trade off! (and its a rough estimate, I didnt have each vehicle out long enough to actually test them myself(

 

Thanks Less

I actually thought I was gonna hate the escape. The one we drove a few years before was a whole different escape then the one we test drove.

I dont remember the torque but being a diesel it would have more. Marlon is probably right about working on it though, you open the hood and cant see a damn thing but engine!

The diesel jeep is rated quite abit higher then the gas jeep is for towing too.

Wheres my diesel escape that can tow over 2000 kg?!?!?!

 

Yes thanks for sharing there Preppy good review for sure too bad the Escape cant tow that much but its a smaller suv better suited would be a Explorer or Expedition

 

Ya! that is too bad on the towing. We were thinking of getting a boat and the escape would have to pull it. If we do get a boat I guess it will have to be under the 3500lb towing capasity of the escape.

I know what you me about the new escape being that much better than the older ones. We drove a '08 earlier this year and liked it, same body and interior as a '09 but that extra 40hp and a six speed tranny make a big big difference in power. Thats why I waited for the '09. My sister has a '05 escape and I have driven that one too, not nearly as nice as the new one's

 

ummm...did something happen to the '07????