My wife and I are looking for a vehicle for our youngest son and this Escape is being sold by one of her friends. The car has 179,000 miles and looks to be a 4WD. How are these for reliability?
2006 Ford Escape v6
- Thread starter iontrap
- Start date
It is the v6 and I'm not sure if it has a selector switch, yet.
The V6s get an oil leak somewhere where you have to split the engine. I don't remember specifics now but I researched it when I used to service one.
Most avoid it because it's so much work, but it'll drip directly on exhaust and be super annoying. I had some luck fashioning a sheetmetal guard over the exhaust.
The water pump setup is super weird and external, but relatively easy to service and thus not a big deal. It's just really hard to get eyes on the pump spindle if it starts to weep.
Expect broken coil clips buried under the plenum. If you do plugs, just have some new connectors on hand.
Most avoid it because it's so much work, but it'll drip directly on exhaust and be super annoying. I had some luck fashioning a sheetmetal guard over the exhaust.
The water pump setup is super weird and external, but relatively easy to service and thus not a big deal. It's just really hard to get eyes on the pump spindle if it starts to weep.
Expect broken coil clips buried under the plenum. If you do plugs, just have some new connectors on hand.
If the vehicle has ever resided up North, rotted rear shock towers are a super common thing on those.
Don't buy a AWD vehicle unless you need it, Wouldn't imagine Georgia getting much ice/snow.
If that's Duratec 3.0, I think they hold up well but in my experience leak oil. Timing cover on my Mazda MPV. Timing chain rattle at startup by 180k miles. DILs Fusion had some fuel injector problems.
My in-laws had one in western PA. That's what happened to it in the winter time salt treated roads. Be sure to look underneath and in the rear wheel wells.
I had one. 4 cylinder 4WD stick shift. Unicorn. Sold it to my son, who sold it to a friend, and then my son bought it back from him.
Best thing I've EVER driven on ice bar none. No 4WD selector switch even though it's badged as 4WD outside and in. Most of the time it's in front wheel drive.
Mine had major rot around the rear wheel wells by the time I'd owned it a couple of years. It came from Tennessee so it had seen plenty of salt.
Best thing I've EVER driven on ice bar none. No 4WD selector switch even though it's badged as 4WD outside and in. Most of the time it's in front wheel drive.
Also handy on muddy dirt, slick grass, and if launching a boat. My son wrecked it earlier this year, and he misses the snot out of it. These were true small SUV's, not nearly what they are today. My 4 had the torque of a small squirrel, but it would tow and pull a 2500 lb boat/trailer out of the water.
Mine had major rot around the rear wheel wells by the time I'd owned it a couple of years. It came from Tennessee so it had seen plenty of salt.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to buy the Escape. There were 2 or 3 responders before us and one of them bought it. The search continues.
This
Pay close attention to the rear shock towers. There are fixes for them, but it's something that one needs to check on, especially at 18 years old now.
