rental report on 2013 Escape

[sasilverbullet]

Been driving a 2013 Ford Escape SEL with the Eco-boost engine for 4 days now. I'm fairly impressed with the car. Very roomy on the inside, quiet, comfortable ride. Been driving mostly interstate with some rural roads. Car seems to track nicely even with high cross winds (35mph) at 65mph. Driven through quite a bit of rain also. I'm impressed with the rain noise being very low. I looked on the windshield and there is a sticker saying it has "SoundScreen". Don't know if that's standard or optional.

Quality of the interior components seems okay for the kind model/type of car.

Had to install a child seat middle rear and we couldn't find the special seat anchors.

Interior size seems okay - but my tall/big son says it's a little cramped in the rear. Head room seems fine for both front and rear passengers.

It has the dual zone A/C and front seat heaters. They work nice!

I'm not so sold on the lumbar support of the drivers seat. But I'm pretty picky when it comes to back support.

One minor irritant, at night the cars passing me blind me through the huge side mirrors. I think they should be auto-dimming as a standard feature.

The one big let down is the gas mileage with the Eco Boost engine. I've only been getting 22.2 mpg, and that's with almost all highway driving. It is a little hilly where I am though.

Would I buy one? At a price of about $30k out the door, no, I wouldn't spend that much money for a Ford Escape. I can buy a brand new 2013 Lincoln MKZ hybrid that gets 45mpg for about $4K more.

I just think it's priced to high.

 

[JTK]

Yeah I don't get the price tag on most of the new Ford products. I shake my head at the young guys at work with their $45K Eco-boost F150's. They too are getting high teens at best for MPGs. ~$500/mo for a p/u truck?!?

Joel

 

[SteveSRT8]

No offense to the fans, but the Egoboost is actually advertised as burning air, not fuel! Seriously!

The fact is that it is just another boosted engine that, if driven very carefully, can get good mileage. But if you want X amount of HP then you simply have to use Y amount of fuel.

There is no free lunch.

 

[notech47]

Compare pricing with a similarly equipped 2013 BMW X3 and the Escape looks like a bargain. The BMW does drive a bit better and it will have higher maintenance costs down the road. You might want to check out the VW Tiguan as well. All have std 4 cylinder turbo engines; only the BMW offers a powerful turbo 6 cylinder engine. The Asian, domestic and other European competitors don't compare, imo.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I drove my parents - really impressed with it! The suspension wasn't quite as nice as the CX-5s I test drove, but the rest of the car is really nice.

It drives very well for a "crossover".

The EcoBoast really gets up to speed quick for being a 2.0L 4 cyl! Much more powerful than my NA 2.0L 4 cyl duratec.

I'm not sold on the 6F35 trans.

 

[cptbarkey]

bottom line: the current gen honda crv is much more affordable, reliable, and a better value. thanks for the overview!

 

[LeakySeals]

Thanks for the review! I like the looks of all the Fords now. Will be my next used car!

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Yeah I don't get the price tag on most of the new Ford products.

Joel


Me either (and I'm generally a Ford guy.) Another reason that I bought a new Honda instead of another Ford.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

My parents traded in their Wrangler on one of these. Besides having a lot of problems with the Wrangler, my mother was not able to climb up into it any more with her bad knee.

I got to drive it. Really liked the feel of it. I test drove a few CX-5s and, while their suspension was PERFECT, they weren't that powerful (not a deal killer for me).

My parents is the 2.0 Eco-Boast AWD version. It's not as nice feeling as the CX-5, but I was really impressed with how the 2.0 EB gets up to speed! I didn't floor it, obviously, since it's a new car, but it can hold it's own.

The auto transmission programming didn't seem to shift too early, either. We have some good hills in the city with a speed limit of 35. It was able to comfortable pull the hills with the torque converter locked at 1500RPM - pretty amazing considering my 2.0 Duratec NA can barely pull the hill at those RPMs (with a lighter vehicle with smaller tires).

From what I understand after chatting with a dealer (this could be false) is that the tow package comes with a rear sway bar and heavier rear cross member - that might have contributed to the better driving feel.

They bought snow tires for it as the stock Continentals were garbage for the snow. I haven't heard back on how it does in the snow.

I'm a fan of it, really. If I were to magically come up with the money for it (I wish ...), I would just get the 2.5 NA non-DI version in front wheel drive and throw some good snow tires on it.

Price wise, the CX-5 has it beat hands down.

 

[DuckRyder]

Is this a true automatic (as in torque converter) or a "DSG" (computer controlled clutches & shifts). Getrag makes fords dual clutch right?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Is this a true automatic (as in torque converter) or a "DSG" (computer controlled clutches & shifts). Getrag makes fords dual clutch right?


It's ford's horrible 6f-35 Automatic transmission, not the dual clutch.

It does shift nicely. I'm hoping they got the bugs worked out of it.

 

[refaller]

My dad has one with the 1.6 liter ecoboost. It gets up and goes OK and drives nice. His fuel economy is in the mid 20s. My 12 year old CRV gets about the same gas mileage (although this time of year it is in the low 20s and we live close to each other so it is doing better). It would be on my shopping list if I wanted another small SUV.

ref

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
bottom line: the current gen honda crv is much more affordable, reliable, and a better value. thanks for the overview!


You can get a Honda up there in price too. And Hondas reliability is about the same as Ford. Buy what you like ans can afford.