Learn Me - Ford Escape

Thinking about 2001-2007 3.0 Escape. I have searched the site yet oddly enough I turned up very little info.

So anybody owned one? Thoughts, wisdom and insight welcomed.

Thanks for your time and thoughts.

I've had friends own them, no real complaints other than those that wouldn't have happened if the whole "Do the routine maintence or bad things happen" advice was followed.

I have started to look at them for my mom as her Rendezvous is dying.. from everything I have read, a nice if boring, vehicle.

My boss at work claims quite good MPGs with the 4 cylinder, 5 speed and front wheel drive. But try and find another one of those... Of course he motto is "If I'm above 2k rpm it's time to shift!"

Knowing how diligent he is with finding good vehicles and doing maintenance, it will be with him for a long time. Maybe not as long as his XJ Cherokees or I6 300 F150, but a while.

My mom buys a new car every five years or so, and has been driving Jetta's for a long time. She bought an Escape the last time thinking it might be safer (I don't know why). It's been back to the dealer a lot for warranty work, and to the corner shop a bunch out of warranty. She regrets not buying another Jetta, which she says have been pretty much trouble free for her.

my daughter has a 2009 bought used. she loves it and no problems that I know of.

my sister has one and had trouble with a sticking throttle cable

I've always wanted one in the "4wd" 4cyl 5spd. Either that or a Saturn Vue. It seems like they could both be pretty handy built that way.

gofastbobby wrote: I've always wanted one in the "4wd" 4cyl 5spd. Either that or a Saturn Vue. It seems like they could both be pretty handy built that way.

4 cylinder versions are a bit rare. Out of curiosity what is the attraction to this configuration? Personally I discounted this because I was concerned about power to weight.

thanks everyone for your input!

In my years of working on/with fords the most common issue I've had was when an ABS tone ring on the half shaft breaks its weld it sends all sorts of codes but realistically is not bad when you know what to look for.

My brother has one, and drives it every place. No complaints, outside of gas mileage with the v6 being lousy. He doesn't like the sunroof, but that's about it.

My ex girlfriend had one for several years. It was a great vehicle. I don't recommend trying to sleep in the cargo area.

Sultan wrote:

gofastbobby wrote: I've always wanted one in the "4wd" 4cyl 5spd. Either that or a Saturn Vue. It seems like they could both be pretty handy built that way.

4 cylinder versions are a bit rare. Out of curiosity what is the attraction to this configuration? Personally I discounted this because I was concerned about power to weight. thanks everyone for your input!

As a utilitarian commuter. Something that could pull a small trailer, drive through most anything and still get decent fuel mileage. I am mostly an urbanite these days, but have property about 2 hours away that can be tough to get to during the cold seasons. I have not driven one, but would imagine it's would perform about the same as my 4cyl ranger, similar fuel economy, but with the added bonus of "4wd".

I think the 4 is a 2.5l?

I was going to buy my boy one until I drove a few. No thanks. In my opinion, they've got the stability and precision of a fish out of water.

My SIL had one right up until it got totalled. I didn't mind it. Pretty peppy, seemed alright. Reminded me of a 1g Explorer.

I think there was two 4 cylinder versions. Can't remember the first yet the later one was a 2.3.

I could be wrong yet the Mazda6/Fusion and Escape/Tribute had the same engine packages.

V6 is underpowered and gets horrid mpg. It does nothing better than a CRV, so why not get a CRV? Overall, I liken them to the cavalier/sunfire. They are perfectly acceptable vehicles that are relatively reliable. They aren't particularly comfortable, they don't do anything particularly well, but you could most certainly do worse. They also have that "oh so typical" late 90's/early millennium interior that is pretty bleh.

HiTempguy wrote: V6 is underpowered and gets horrid mpg. It does nothing better than a CRV, so why not get a CRV? Overall, I liken them to the cavalier/sunfire. They are perfectly acceptable vehicles that are relatively reliable. They aren't particularly comfortable, they don't do anything particularly well, but you could most certainly do worse. They also have that "oh so typical" late 90's/early millennium interior that is pretty bleh.

After 2009 the V6 had 240 hp. I'd look for on of those in Mariner trim with leather-you likely won't pay any more for it now, especially with the new model out.

wife and i rented one for a road trip. 4cyl auto. 08 i believe. complete turd, even for a 4 cylinder. took YEARS to shift. steering was about as precise as paddling a canoe with a phone book. seats were hard and uncomfortale. radio sucked. if your 6'2 or better, your right knee will NEVER not be hitting something, i.e, center console, column, dash, steering wheel, key fobs etc.

overall, i berkelying hated the damn thing.

-J0N

Escape:
I had a '10 as a company car for a few years and 60k miles.
The '10 model was the first year for the 2.5L 4 cyl and the 6 speed trans (as mentioned, engine shared with Fusion.) On the escape that year, the auto trans had issues. At 17k and under warranty, my trans was replaced after it would not come out of first gear. The '10 model year also offered the 3.5L V6.
In the years before, the popular offerings were the 2.3L 4cyl and 3.0L V6 (also offered in the Fusion.)
In the earliest years, there was a 2.0L 4 cyl. I think this was the only engine offered with a manual trans.

Okay, vehicle. A little bouncy. When that company car arrived, I stopped driving my '95 Volvo wagon. Size-wise, they offered about the same utility. My Volvo could get 27 mpg. The Escape never seemed to get better than 25 with 22 being pretty common (for the 4 cyl.)

Saturn Vue:
Earlier this year, I picked up an '03 Saturn Vue, 2.2L with 5 speed manual. Unlike the Escape manuals which are rare, the Vue manuals are pretty widely available.
The Vue 4 cyl automatics were CVT. The CVT was basically a GM experiment...and the experiment failed miserably. These CVT fail early in their life. There is no improved design. The owners are left with a $3k car in need of $3k of repair. As such, they are worth little and get scrapped. On the other hand, the 5 speed manual is rock solid, but...no one goes shopping for a cute-ute with a manual trans. They sell slow and sell cheap. I bought mine for $2.4k. The seller bought it with a bad engine at 140k with intentions of flipping it. He put in a documented 40k engine and a new clutch. He then listed it on CL for $4k. He balked when I offered $3k. I happened to notice nearly a month later he put it on eBay, where I bought it for $2.4k. I added about $500 in making everything perfect. In the last 4 months, I have put 16k, trouble free miles on it returning an average of 26.7 mpg, combined (best was 29 mpg, all hyw)
It is slow but the "row your own" makes for some power if needed. The sweet spot is to keep it under 3,000 rpms. At 68 mph in 5th gear, it runs 3,000 rpm. Exceeding that drives down mpg at a pretty quick rate. Averaging 75 mpg will return 24 mpg.
It has been cheap to buy and cheap to run. The bad trans version also make sure that Junkyards are full of them for cheap parts.
After '04, there is also a 3,5L Honda V6 offered. Good engine, shared with the Honda Pilot and minivan but also shares the finicky auto trans. The answer to trans issues seems to be fluid changes every 30k miles.

My purchase was not unique. I am not sure where you are located but I bet there is a manual Vue listed for near $3k on your local CL right now and I bet it has been there for some time (sell slow.) I know for sure there is a Vue listed there with a bad CVT trans (likely more than a few.)

Here is some recent chatter from here on GRM about Vues and similar.

mattmacklind wrote: After 2009 the V6 had 240 hp. I'd look for on of those in Mariner trim with leather-you likely won't pay any more for it now, especially with the new model out.

I forgot completely about the mariner......good recommendation.

The Escape was rebadged as the Mazda Tribute also.
Trivia: the Tribute was the first Mazda advertised with "Zoom-Zoom"
What would happen if a SUV was raised by a family of sports cars?

The Escape/Tribute platform is based on the 626 platform.