Authorized biography of my Escape:

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In case anyone was interested. Here is a writeup of my owner experience with this vehicle so far that I posted on an Escape forum.

Just a random thread about the escape my family loves so much, or at least I do. It is my wife's car. She is a stay at home mom and we have two girls (3y/o & 8 months). This car gets tortured for the most part with multiple daily short trips for play dates and grocery runs. Lately we have even been taking it on all of our family road trips due to massive amounts of room in the backseat for the carseats. This has been racking up the miles crazy fast lately. Onto the details:

2007 XLS FWD ATX aluminum wheels
- purchased March 27, 2007
- 116k miles on the odometer
- interior is in mint condition
- exterior is almost perfect minus about 2 tiny rock chips on hood
- everything works including all electronics
- zero oil consumption still
- ~ 24 MPG around town, ~ 27 MPG on trips if we keep it under 75 MPH, best tank ever was 31 MPG @ 60 mph in nebraska

Repairs:
- Front lower rear bushings @ 95k (replaced entire control arm assembly since it was cheaper)
- front right ball joint @ 110k
- Front struts @ 115k (replaced with KYB ready struts)
- Rear Shocks @ 75k (back right sprung a leak, replaced with monroe)
- Replaced A/C compressor at 90k
- Replaced Alternator @ 60k. It didn't die but there was a terrible grinding/rattle sound that was coming from the alternator due to some piece of metal loose inside.
- Serpentine belt replaced with alternator
- Replaced battery in August of 2012.

Maintenance performed
- oil changes every 5k or 7.5 if i used synthetic.
- Fuel filter @30k & 75k. I want to wait until 150k for the next one and do it every 50k from that point
- PCV valve AND hose replaced at 100k
- Vacuum pump ~4qts of ATF and replace with fresh mercon V about every 15k miles
- currently on 2nd air filter. replaced first one around 60k miles
- replaced front brakes at 40k miles and turned rotors. shop used some type of duralast ceramic. at 115k miles, pads still have 8 mm on them but are starting to squeak a lot
- clean and adjusted rear drums around 95k as they were not slightly dragging when spinning the wheel. the rear wheels were spinning freely.
- replaced plugs at 97k with motorcrafts. I keep wanting to post pictures of the old plugs but I am too lazy.
- flushed coolant at 100k and replaced with Maxlife coolant
- Alignment needs adjusted fairly often. I think this is more my wife's driving than the escape but we tend to find it needs aligned about every 2 years over the last 4 years.
- Greased tailgate latch due to loud creaking around 80k miles.

Tires
- Replaced OEM tires at 60k with Cooper Discoverer H/T. MPGs went down a bit ~ 1 MPG. These tires are solid. Not amazing in rain but darn good in snow. no complaints.
- Replaced Coopers with another set around 105k because wife curbed her escape in the ice and took a chunk out of the sidewall. With warranty, the new set only cost around $30/tire total cost. Thanks NTB.

Overall, the Escape has never left us stranded and always gives us signs something needs to be repaired or tended to and not just catastrophically failed with no warning. You just have to pay attention to the sounds. We love this thing is like a small truck and goes anywhere. 1'+ of snow has been no problem. I think we will be keeping this Escape until 200k+ miles if not longer. I'd love to keep it as a 3rd vehicle if we get a new house with a 3 car garage soon enough. Definitely don't want to get rid of it now since everything is like new (tires, coolant, etc.). It should be low maintenance through 200k.
 
I have a 2005 V6 with 95k and similar reactions. While not exactly trouble-free, these cars are spacious, solid and comfortable. There's a fundamental honesty to them that is pretty endearing and, unlike the current version of the Escape, they are sturdy enough to actually carry things like a canoe or kayaks on the roof.

My trouble areas have been front wheel bearings and a front cover oil leak. The oil leak was kept at bay with Mobil1 HM for quite a while but suddenly got worse when the right front wheel bearing was replaced (coincidence?). It's an expensive repair, so a live with it/fix it/trade it decision looms.
 
If I had to guess you don't use a needle to inject grease. Our 04 still has all the original joints and also the 02 Focus. Fairly easy to do. Watch your latches for the back glass they can rust and fall apart. Lucky enough it feel apart in the driveway. Have the V6 front cover leak also don't think that's a issue with the 4. Owned ours since 06 and now has 132k.. it's been our workhorse pulling trailers and junk on the roof etc. Want to keep it till 200-250k but that may be another 20 years so don't know.
 
You guys have had more repairs than me. Especially the OP. My 04 V6 has 126,000 now. All I have done other than routine maintenance is front sway bar links at about 50,000 and again at 110,000 40 bucks each time DYI . Recently an O2 sensor 50 bucks DYI.

Everything works and it rides almost new feeling.

This is by far the best vehicle I have owned. I tow a 1200 pound camper several times a year also.

Maintenance has been oil and filter every 4-5000, trans drain &fill every 15,000. new belts & spark plugs at 100,000. few times on the front brakes and only one rear brake job. tires and couple alignements.Oh, I almost forgot a rotted pcv hose.

I keep checking front end parts as they realy should be worn out by now but still good.
 
One downside to the Escape I guess is the rust at the rear wheelwells. You have seen it ,they all get it here up northways. Mine is all on the left side touched up many times . One day I will fix it properly.
Its kind of like the Taurus in late 90's early 00's they all get that Ford wheelwell rust.
 
No rust on mine anywhere.

As for the repairs, they are all suspension related and it is because we have a violent railroad crossing that my wife drives over probably 4-6 times a day for the last 7 years. It has taken its toll on the escape.

I have no complaints about any of the "repairs." They were all expected.
 
To me, it seems like a bit much on the repair side of things. Especially the front end. I would have expected a lot more use before such repairs would be needed.

I must just demand more from a vehicle than most. Being that I keep up on all maintenance and drive my vehicles conservatively....I REALLY get ticked when things need fixing too early.

But...the important thing is that YOU are happy with the Escape.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg
To me, it seems like a bit much on the repair side of things. Especially the front end. I would have expected a lot more use before such repairs would be needed.

I must just demand more from a vehicle than most. Being that I keep up on all maintenance and drive my vehicles conservatively....I REALLY get ticked when things need fixing too early.

But...the important thing is that YOU are happy with the Escape.


I think you missed the rail road crossing post.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
How does the maintenance cost compare with its Japanese competitors?


5k sever service OCI
100k coolant
100k plugs
100k PCV valve and hose
lifetime ATF
it is about the exact same as far as I know.
 
Originally Posted By: CT8
Seems a respectable repair record!


For the life it has been subjected to, I'm happy. Super simple vehicle and it wasn't expensive brand new at all.

And now that they have fixed our rail roads it can live a long and happy life from this point on.
 
That's a [censored]-ton of unreasonably early repairs, RR tracks or not.

Don't worry, I have a Nissan truck which is problematic.
 
Our 01 Escape has 207k. Has been the most reliable car we have owned. The most expensive repairs were ac condenser and heater core. Original trans still good so far.
 
Originally Posted By: badtlc
Originally Posted By: andrewg
To me, it seems like a bit much on the repair side of things. Especially the front end. I would have expected a lot more use before such repairs would be needed.

I must just demand more from a vehicle than most. Being that I keep up on all maintenance and drive my vehicles conservatively....I REALLY get ticked when things need fixing too early.

But...the important thing is that YOU are happy with the Escape.


I think you missed the rail road crossing post.


I read it. I just assumed the vehicle was driven slowly across those tracks, since they are rather rough.
 
Your Escape's service history seems pretty reasonable to me. It's funny...some people aren't happy if their vehicle needs ANYTHING before 150k miles. And some people just wish theirs could stay out of the shop more than once a month. I'm satisfied with something that falls somewhere in the middle.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg


I read it. I just assumed the vehicle was driven slowly across those tracks, since they are rather rough.


It was half the time but that doesn't matter. It was the equivalent of driving over plain rails with no buildup on either side, like going up a square curb over and over. It was unbelievably terrible.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Your Escape's service history seems pretty reasonable to me. It's funny...some people aren't happy if their vehicle needs ANYTHING before 150k miles. And some people just wish theirs could stay out of the shop more than once a month. I'm satisfied with something that falls somewhere in the middle.


I agree. I guess I should have stated half the repairs were done because I noticed them, not my wife. Most of them wouldn't have have been caught and repaired for another 30k+ miles until something failed instead of preventative. I can't stand something not being in perfect operating condition even if the current issue doesn't hurt anything.

The only real repair that had to be done at the time it was done was the lower control arm rear bushings. And i'm 90%+ confident the reason they went early was because of the daily beating AND the rear brakes going out of adjustment. I have no idea how long the rear brakes weren't working and all that did was put a lot more heavy stress on the front end under braking and my wife LOVES using her brakes as quickly as possible. This car does NOT lead an easy life.

The struts were also replaced way too early. I could have gotten another 40k+ out of them no problem but they were softer than I liked and with the railroad getting fixed last week, it seemed like a good time to start new.

The AC compressor was another one. It had a small leak that would have only required recharging once a year or even less often but I'd rather have it not leaking at all since it is my wife's/kids car. And as said, the alternator didn't go bad. It would just make an odd noise about once a month randomly for about 3-5 sec.
 
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I received some similar remarks when I posted the 100k mile review of our MDX. It spent a significant amount of time in non-prepared storage for the first 58,000 miles of its life due to its previous owners (my parents) being RVers. The MDX would remain parked for months on end. So it needed a few batteries. It needed a few sets of tires due to deterioration. I elected to put new brake pads on it when we got it, and subsequently had to have the front rotors turned a few times due to what was apparently a bad set of front pads. A replacement set of pads corrected the problem. It needed a new catalytic converter...but only after my parents installed an E-85 kit and subsequently removed it due to poor running. Coincidence?

I'm like you and replace things that many probably even don't notice. I've ridden in a few vehicles that the owners boasted about needing nothing, and thinking to myself, "this is terrible; this thing needs at least a thousand dollars in shocks, struts, tires, brakes, rattles fixed, etc"!
 
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