quote:Jeep Liberty CRD: 5K tow rating Escape Hybrid: 1K tow rating Once you are giving up any kind of reasonable tow rating, you have to seriously evaluate why you are even looking at a SUV. If you are considering the Escape Hybrid 2wd you might as well finish the job and just get a nice station wagon. Small or mid-size wagons would provide pretty much the same capability as a 2wd hybrid Escape for less price and equal or superior real life fuel economy. One of the issues that I see with hybrid technology is that many of them aren't turning in maximum mileage. The hybrids require a little more nuanced driving to show their true potential, and not everyone is willing or knows how to do that. My wife for example drives like the gas pedal is an on-off switch in town and doesn't anticipate traffic flow on the freeway. Magically, whenever I drive her car I get 2-7 MPG better! There is no way that she would be able to even remotely achieve good economy with a hybrid.
Originally posted by BrianWC: Well, the only one that comes to mind right off is the Jeep Liberty CRD and doesn't it only get 22 mpg? In that case I'd go with an Escape Hybrid.
quote:
Originally posted by LarryL: You should not have to buy an earth mover sized pickup to get a diesel engine.
quote:The point that I was making is that a Hybrid Escape is lacking one of the major features that give an SUV "utility." That is an ability to tow more than a standard passenger car. I am making an assumption (perhaps falsely) that if the vehicle is required to be both A)a commuter and B)a SUV, there is a logical reason for the compromise. These are two vehicle categories that are darn near mutually exclusive for the most part, and I think most reasonable people understand that there are far better choices for a pure commuter than a small SUV.
Originally posted by BrianWC: Yeah but are you guys reading the first post? His only qualifications were a small SUV to commute in.