Ford Escape Hybrid - Opinions?

Number_35

Number_35

Joined
Jul 7, 2014
Messages
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Location
Winnipeg MB CA
A friend has asked me to go with him and his daughter to look at new vehicles.

I don't have all the details, but believe she has decided on a Ford Escape Hybrid.

She has a fairly long (80 km/50 mile round-trip) highway commute five days a week.

AWD and the ground clearance afforded by an SUV are desirable.

I've never owned a Ford or a hybrid.

Apparently there's a big Ford sale this weekend.

Are these generally well-regarded?

Thanks in advance for any input you can offer.
 
Number_35 said:
A friend has asked me to go with him and his daughter to look at new vehicles.

I don't have all the details, but believe she has decided on a Ford Escape Hybrid.

She has a fairly long (80 km/50 mile round-trip) highway commute five days a week.

AWD and the ground clearance afforded by an SUV are desirable.

I've never owned a Ford or a hybrid.

Apparently there's a big Ford sale this weekend.

Are these generally well-regarded?

Thanks in advance for any input you can offer.
Click to expand...
Toyota or Honda hybrids are better. I would prefer a simple ICE for a long commute. Civic or Corolla ICE, would be my choice. .02
 
That Ford powertrain is fairly mature, they've been using it for several years now. It is not a belt driven CVT, so that is a big one in the positive column. It uses motor/generators much like the early Prius drivetrain and should be fairly rock solid. Ford licensed the tech from Toyota long ago is what I was able to find out when I was looking into them.

The 2.5 should be a solid engine as well.

Of course, being Ford, I'm sure they screwed something up along the lines, but it should be a decent enough car. I'd still spend money and get an extended warranty from one of the big online ESP providers that are selling the Ford ESP plans at a discount.

Grainger/Lombard/Zeigler/Flood Ford are all online ESP providers.
 
I've seen Ford Escape Hybrids for sale on CL that were NYC taxicabs that had over 400K on them.
OTOH, as mentioned earlier, an ICE engine is better for long commutes. The economy of a hybrid manifests itself in around town driving IMO. The Fusion Hybrid, which I believe uses the same engine set up, is well regarded on Carcomplaints......even better than the regular Fusion IIRC.
 
Ford hybrids are quite good and share a lot of tech with Toyota but even on this thread Toyota good Ford bad. It gets wearisome.

We have a boatload of Fords in the immediate family and ownership is consistently uneventful. Ford does live up to its recall reputation but it always seems to be stupid stuff that can be ignored until it is convenient (I usually wait until I need a tire rotation or PTU service).

Disclaimer: I have no first hand experience with Ford hybrids or that generation Escape, although we do have a 21 Bronco Sport in the family that has been fine (similar bones).

I believe 25 is the last year for the Escape so deals can probably be had.

When we bought my wife’s Edge we drove a bunch of SUVs and to my surprise the Fords drove better than many rivals. Hope this helps.
 
Don't feel pressured to make a purchase this weekend; that sale or one like it should drag through December at least.

The local Toyota dealer by me has started discounting off MSRP. Car market is getting softer.

Car should be adequate. A couple body styles ago they rusted through in the rear strut towers. Hit the car up with your favorite oil/ lanolin based undercoating if you get it.
 
fantastic said:
According to Wiki the Escape Hybrid goes back to 2004. I'd wonder about life at those ages.
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Edit: I reread & see you're talking about new. I'm not versed in buying new but sounds like you've narrowed down your options. I look at vehicles for the long haul so not certain how long those batteries will last you but if they trade in 8 years should be no problem.
 
I researched my 2025 Ford Maverick hybrid extensively before buying it. I wanted something with good mileage to replace my 2012 Civic. We have a 2024 Rav 4 hybrid AWD as well. I liked the Rav 4 so well I went with a Ford hybrid myself. Everything I read about these is very positive. Some owners complain of what's called a deep sleep that comes up on the dash but a new AGM battery will fix that issue. I believe the Escape hybrid should be a very reliable machine and I have read other taxi cab type extremely high mileage success stories. I wouldn't be afraid of buying one however if it's long trips that vehicle will run on gas only with very little hybrid activity over 55 mph. I really like my Maverick hybrid.
 
It’s been a few years but we had an escape hybrid from 2008. The drivetrain was one of the best things about the vehicle. It did get its rated mpg, was a good driver, and was in my mind very good at everything it did. In 60k miles it had one issue - an electric coolant pump for the hybrid drive, and was covered under warranty.

We have the Toyota version, the Rav4H now. Also a great vehicle. The ford may have better seats, and ford’s sync system is IMO better than Toyotas infotainment.
 
fantastic said:
Edit: I reread & see you're talking about new. I'm not versed in buying new but sounds like you've narrowed down your options. I look at vehicles for the long haul so not certain how long those batteries will last you but if they trade in 8 years should be no problem.
Click to expand...
I knew I forgot to block someone 🙃
 
I have to add that on the Rav4 it doesn't have auto start unless you pay for the service through your cell phone. The Ford has an app called Ford pass and all you do is a quick swipe and the vehicle is on auto start for NO CHARGE. The Ford will easily obtain over 60 MPG in town on a consistent basis. It's just almost unbelievable the mileage that can be obtained in town and they have 191 HP and do the quarter mile in the high 15 second range which isnt' bad for a 40MPG vehicle. My Maverick is a front wheel drive and the Rav4 is an AWD. Expect a little less fuel economy with the AWD. The 2.5 engine is very reliable on the Ford and the transmission is supposed to be very reliable and easy to do a spill and fill.
 
joekingcorvette said:
I have to add that on the Rav4 it doesn't have auto start unless you pay for the service through your cell phone. The Ford has an app called Ford pass and all you do is a quick swipe and the vehicle is on auto start for NO CHARGE. The Ford will easily obtain over 60 MPG in town on a consistent basis. It's just almost unbelievable the mileage that can be obtained in town and they have 191 HP and do the quarter mile in the high 15 second range which isnt' bad for a 40MPG vehicle. My Maverick is a front wheel drive and the Rav4 is an AWD. Expect a little less fuel economy with the AWD.
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Totally agree....well said
 
joekingcorvette said:
I researched my 2025 Ford Maverick hybrid extensively before buying it. I wanted something with good mileage to replace my 2012 Civic. We have a 2024 Rav 4 hybrid AWD as well. I liked the Rav 4 so well I went with a Ford hybrid myself. Everything I read about these is very positive. Some owners complain of what's called a deep sleep that comes up on the dash but a new AGM battery will fix that issue. I believe the Escape hybrid should be a very reliable machine and I have read other taxi cab type extremely high mileage success stories. I wouldn't be afraid of buying one however if it's long trips that vehicle will run on gas only with very little hybrid activity over 55 mph. I really like my Maverick hybrid.
Click to expand...
I haven't done a deep dive, but a cursory review suggests that the Maverick and Escape share much in terms of their drivetrains. Can't seem to find too many big complaints either. Hope this is true.
 
Number_35 said:
A friend has asked me to go with him and his daughter to look at new vehicles.

I don't have all the details, but believe she has decided on a Ford Escape Hybrid.

She has a fairly long (80 km/50 mile round-trip) highway commute five days a week.

AWD and the ground clearance afforded by an SUV are desirable.

I've never owned a Ford or a hybrid.

Apparently there's a big Ford sale this weekend.

Are these generally well-regarded?

Thanks in advance for any input you can offer.
Click to expand...
I would say they aren't great, I was looking at hybrid cars and wondering why the used Ford hybrids are so cheap, and they have managed to screw up toyota's CVT hybrid system a couple times now, in different ways. Maybe they have it figured out finally?
I looked up used hybrid CVT transmission prices on car-part.com, some years the ford version is going for 8-10 times the toyota one, so they are failing and being replaced much more often...
CR has the PHEV version as not bad, but I recall hearing some horror stories about it too, but the plain hybrid is near the bottom of all cars CR gets enough user data to report on. The Maverick hybrid seems to be good, so I don't know what the technical differences are? IMO you can't really trust Ford to spec decent parts on their vehicles lately.
If they can get Ford to throw in a longer warranty, then maybe its worth the risk, but if they consider the resale at 5 years, then the RAV4 probably is cheaper overall, and potentially is going to be good for spaceship mileage.

I see the PHEV is fwd only but also MSRP of $40k, and with MB hydro rates, maybe this starts to make sense? Is the local dealer keeping some techs trained up on the hybrids? Not all dealers would as their bread and butter is $80k pickups...
 
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CR_SUV.webp
 
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