Learn me ford escape

My niece wants this one.

Ive never trusted or liked ford, and really know nothing about cuv. My gut says overpriced. 

Shes an airman stationed near Langley at the moment, and this would be her first not challnge price car.

So, what do we know?

the rear shock towers disintegrate really easily. Like really easily even in non salty climates. Also no way I am paying almost $10k for a 10 year old escape. That is Rav4, Venza money for a vehicle like that

KBB is $7k-8500 from a dealer

That's a $5k car around here. $10k should EASILY get you into a new body style (13-) which is a much better and newer vehicle. That one is pretty much a 2001 under the skin.

Kinda what i thought on price.

Great to know about rust.

Do i remember something about the engine or trans being a hand grenade with the pin pulled?

Yea, rust is real on these.  We had to retire my father in laws 2005 escape recently for terminal rust in a number of places, and that car was garaged.  
 

It was a pretty miserable car to drive.  Loud, coarse, sloppy, didn't even track well on the highway.   It did have good power with the V6 and have good visibility all around. I don't understand why anyone bought these in comparison with the contemporary RAV4 and CRV, which are worlds better in so many ways.  
 

As miserable a car as it was, it survived his experiment in neglect based automotive ownership to 185k miles before the rust killed it, with only a minimum of wear and tear normal repairs.  
 

Look elsewhere if at all possible.  

The 4-speed automatics are the ones that blow up. The 6-speed is far more durable.

From what I know, the shock tower rust issue is only on the first-gen Escapes, which ran from 2001 to 2007. We had a brand-new 2001 (V6, CD4E) and really, really loved it for what it was. It was not the quietest thing inside and MPG was not great, but it was far larger inside than a same-year CR-V or RAV4 which was the big selling point, plus the V6 power vs competitors' four-cylinders. My folks didn't do drain-and-fills on the transmission, ever, and the 4-speed needs one every 25-30k to stay healthy. It took a E36 M3 at 92k miles so my parents gave it up at that point.

When the second-gen came out, they were still well-liked but the competition had caught up. I think this one is overpriced and some same-year competitors may be nicer places to spend time.

In 2010, the Escape w/ 4 cyl went from the pervious NA2.3L engine to a NA 2.5L engine, yeah, the same engine in your Mazda6. 

So, speaking of Mazda, for your niece, a 2010-2012 Mazda CX-7  with the NA 2.5L engine might be a good value.  I have written a spotters guide in this previous post.  

Completely avoid a Mazda CX-7 w/ the 2.3 turbo engine.  But for 2010 and newer 2.5L NA engine is what you want.  

Quick sourced samples in Metro DC: 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3182078755143881/ 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2744467582302703/

Nobody should be paying 10k for a 5 year old ford escape, let alone a 10 year old one

My daughter is driving an 08 Escape that was my fathers.  110,xxx miles it just lost it's power assist steering last night.  I've been researching the issue this morning and not liking what I'm finding so far.  Might be looking at a new steering column.  I have an 06 RAV4 bought new my son is now driving, 240,xxx miles and just normal wear items on it.  MUCH better vehicle.

I bought my Escape with 57,000 miles and very little rust for $2500.  I'm not sure if I overpaid.

My Mom let her man friend talk her into buying one.

It was a turd and she hated it. Sold it after a few years and bought a Soul.

A Kia Soul, I'm not suggesting that they're so bad they leave you soulless, though it may feel that way.

That one is way overpriced. That being said, I really like these vehicles and could see myself in another. 

We had an '04 Mazda Tribute V6 for two years. My cousin owned it for 5-6 years before me - it was pretty well maintained overall and it only had 100k miles when we sold it in 2018. The shock tower rust issue had been taken care of under recall. Definitely still something you need to watch out for even if it was repaired, but it was not an issue for us. Ours leaked oil out of the back of the oil pan, a common issue. 

Things I like about these vehicles: 

• It may be a "cute ute", but it seemed way more capable than it should have been. It really felt like a truck, even though it wasn't - and I mean that in a good way. 
• Interior wore very well. Ours had the pleather. Heated seats got HOT, quick. Utilitarian interior, for sure, but I was impressed. 
• The one you linked was overpriced, but there are some great deals out there. We sold ours for $1,500. We did not give the buyer a great deal, these are just not worth much period

Things I did not like: 

• The oil leak on my driveway. 
• Gas mileage SUCKED. It was not a big deal for us since we didn't drive it very far, and was in many ways a 3rd vehicle
• The HVAC - This may have changed at some point, and it may have been Mazda specific, but I want a button to turn the AC on or off, a dial to direct the air to my feet or the defrost or my face, and a dial to tell the fan  how hard to blow. Instead, we got this: 

We have one at work for a field (think forest research) vehicle. Its held up to that kind of abuse well enough that when a used (privately owned) one with similar mileage to what your looking at popped up, I wasnt adverse to buying. It just needs to do used car things and do it reliably, its box shape for fitting people and stuff is a big plus. The update in 09 was supposed to be a good one, updated body, interior, motor, trans. My BIL has a Rav4 of the same vintage, and for all intents and purposes, its the same, neither is particularly fancy, luxurious, or engaging. A box on wheels to get from point A to point B. Maybe the toyota will be more reliable in the long run, but for half the price and half the miles, Ill take my chance with the ford. At 10k, everything in my area at the time was over 100k, FWD, no-options, and usually really beat up. 

She bought a 2010 sonata yesterday! 

Thanks for the feedback on these yall.

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Most people (the people not like us) buy a car to safely get places.  A 2010 Sonata will do that just fine.  Good choice.

She probably made a better choice going with a Sonata over an escape!