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Whether or not the Escape Hybrid will be recommended as well is unknown.
Have you visited the Ford Escape Hybrid website? I don't know if I'm allowed to post it here, but you can get to it by going to the regular Ford website and going into their SUVs subsite.
Went to the Ford dealership this afternoon and was disappointed because the salesguys didn't know much at all about the hybrid and had no info on it. They also didn't have any info on the 2004 Escape...no brochures I mean and the one on the showroom floor was a bit lackluster. The salesguy said the Tribute was a styled a little fancier than the Escape.
And thanks for the link to the other forum.
Read CR but... think with your own head.
tidester, host
Was "infeminite" spelled wrong?
-ss4
If you're looking for really good mileage and the utility of a compact SUV, I'd check out the Matrix/Vibe. They get fantastic MPG and should both be very reliable. If you just want a bigger vehicle to have a bigger vehicle, I'd go with the CR-V.
tidester, host
It's not that I doubt the durability of the Escape, I have no knowledge of the Escape with which to make an intelligent judgement on the Escape's durability. I was merely passing along an anecdote to illustrate the surprising (to me anyway) durability of the CR-V under very harsh driving conditions.
The two words can sometimes mean similar things, but in this thread people are using durable to mean reliable. I saw nothing in the sales training brochure that spoke of reliability or durability. All it said was that the Escape was more rugged than the CR-V and RAV4, and less rugged than a Liberty. In the context of the brochure, I think they were referring to outdoor toughness, off-road ability, and image. This brochure basically provided talking points for salespeople, and profiled the typical Escape buyer.
tidester, host
I could have made the joke more obvious by using an emoticon, but I'm just dead-set against 'em - a personal choice, no offense intended.
I think they defeat the effect of deadpan humor.
I used to be the same way too but I finally gave in because too many people were getting offended.
When someone talks about their own particular experiences with a vehicle as more representative of the quality of the brand than the huge sample sizes of JD Power or other surveying companies, you know they're full of it.
This was on the front page of USAToday.com today.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2004-01-28-carlives_x.htm
I can vouch for the Escapes reliability/durability or whatever you want to call it....
To answer your your two questions: is it good on gas mileage: not really (20MPG avg); is it peppy - you bet! This SUV is really fun to drive and puts a grin on my face every time I get into it. Note also that my driving style may have something to do with the gas mileage!! When I floor it, I can spin the front tires (mine is FWD only) - so there's plenty of power!
I love the look of the monochromatic Limited Escape - it also comes with some great features like heated leather seats, reverse sensing, and an upgraded audio system.
As Arizonajoe mentioned, there is a 2005 Escape coming out soon. Biggest changes are some exterior differentiation and the shifter has now been moved to the floor.
What Jeep and vehicles like Xterra do is aim towards a niche market for the (nonsheep)people who want to go further than a logging dirt road like me. Yeah this Trail rating is marketing hype but at least its based on some substance. The Local Honda dealership here on the Wet Coast advertises CR-V as "One Tough 4x4", now that truly makes me laugh. The fuel mileage comment is also unfounded, looking at a V6 Escape and V6 Liberty, they are pretty much the same, the CR-V gets better fuel mileage but not that much better but it should since its a wimpy 4 banger which can only tow "1000 lbs" LOL !
These CR-Vs with their wimpy car based suspensions, no skid plates and no low range gears, no boxed ladder frame are just pretenders, made to look rugged for image but with no real substance. Yeah, they ride better but they should since they are just jacked up cars but considering how much more capacity vehicles like Liberty and Xterra have offroad the compromise is minimal. Yeah 95% of SUVs never see real offroad situations but 5% of us want and need the real thing.
#4646 of 4650 I agree! by scape2 Jan 30, 2004 (11:52 am)
The Escape may be more powerful than the CRV.. rugged... toss up in my book.. Want rugged get an Xterra or Liberty. However you will pay for it in insurance, ride and road manners and MPG. Fact is the Jeep commercials make me laugh. This "Trail rating" garbage is a joke. The fact is most people who drive 4wd or AWD vehicles barely even see a gravel road. The CRV, Escape, VUE, RAV4 or whatever car based SUV will handle your everyday snow event, access road or logging road just fine. I am living proof...
Honda is another manufacturer aware of the popularity of its CR-V with the fairer sex. According to Peter Schnoll, product planner for Honda Canada, “Soccer moms like its functionality, for example, and we’d never tamper with that. It could be because its platform was originally based on the Civic. Honda built the CR-V specifically with female buyers in mind.”
Schnoll adds that males tend to prefer a manual transmission. The newest version of the CR-V will features more “aggressive” styling, hopefully to attract younger female buyers. Many women buy vehicles like the CR-V strictly for its user-friendliness and practicality. The fact that it has all-wheel-drive is often of secondary importance.
Styling is tops
OK, so what do women want? What are they looking for when it comes time to get a new set of wheels?
There are exceptions to every rule, of course, and it’s extremely unwise to generalize about anything. But it’s safe to say that styling is probably at the top of the list, followed closely by reliability. Value for money is definitely in there, as is drivability and the fun-to-drive factor.
Unlike men, women will also factor in cuteness. As well, an automatic transmission is generally preferred to a stick shift. And don’t forget size and shape. Fuel economy? Nice, but not at the top of the list. Power and handling? Irrelevant. Image? Hardly.
The bottom line is that women want their cars to be pleasing to the eye, dependable, comfortable, easy to drive, well built, and useful which is exactly why women love the CR-V.
Which doesn’t really get us anywhere, as all buyers, regardless of gender, desire those qualities.
Still, without fear of favour, here is an unofficial top 10 list of so-called “chick” cars.
Volkswagen Beetle. Just wait until the convertible version comes out.
Volkswagen Cabrio. Every girl’s dream.
Mazda Miata. Cute, fun to drive, and very dependable.
Honda Civic. How popular is it? Honda ran out of stock mid-year.
Pontiac Sunfire Coupe. Good value for money, stylish exterior.
Honda CR-V. The fact that it has AWD is almost irrelevant.
Ford Escape. Especially given the Explorer imbroglio.
Toyota Echo. Inexplicably, some find this car cute.
For those %5 of people using their 4x4 vehicles as actual 4x4's I have no arguemnt. However, 5 percent is an awful low number. Besides, what rated trail do you take to work everyday? The Escape will out handle, out drive, out accelerate a Liberty or Xterra in city driving, Where 95% of us drive 95 percent of the time... It also does me just fine on logging roads and in the snow. Image, that is what 95% of Liberty and Xterra owners exude... But at the same time.. don't we all??
I use my Escape to tow my two watercraft, visit skii areas, find my fishing spots. 37,000 and not one problem. The v6 is a blast to drive. I am averaging about 21.7 MPG combined city/Hwy driving. On HWY trips I have averaged as high as 26. You may want to wait for 05. Ford/Mazda are coming out with a new 2.3 4cyl engine that will give better MPG than the 2.2, more HP/Torque also.. Ford/Mazda hit a home run on this vehicle. Go take a few test drives... Its free!
Don't feed the trolls?
(b) Don't feed the trolls?
(c) Don't do troll polls?
The correct answer is (c). :-)
tidester, host
BTW, look at the stats, the Miata is more of a dirty-old man car.
Miata, I remember when these first came out Mazda couldn't make enough of them. Demand outsripped supply therefore prices for these little cars were through the roof!.. Dirty old mans car?? I actually see more women driving them..
Sooo, does anyone have anything intelligent to say about the virtues of the CR-V over the Escape or vice versa?
By the way I passed on the Pilot, it needed $5000 in fixes, Im still holding on to the V, it has given me years of hardcore pleasure for sure but its time to move on up to something with real offroad credentials.
Today out of 6 CRV I noticed 6 were women, cant help but notice the gender after reading that article on how Honda designed this SUV for the female gender set, whatever they did, it worked.
This room has been played out when it comes to advantages/disadvantages for the Escape over the CRV. New model year Escape coming in 2005 then the games will begin again.... Sales look strong for the Escape/Trib..
Now about pros and cons of CR-V vs. Escape.
I like how Escape looks and drives, I like the specs of it (Cons. Report recommended car). I bought CR-V because of it's perceived RELIABILITY. Only in 5-6 years I’ll know whether I was right or wrong... When Ford will be able to make vehicles with PROVEN track records of RELIABILITY , I'll be the first to buy Fords. Some people here have Fords and do not have ANY problems. I believe them. But I do not compare ONE good Ford to ONE bad Honda. I look at the statistics. BIG 3 (including Ford) getting their sales by marketing tricks , sales, incentives, rebates, special financing ,etc. Their reputation for reliability is in the gutter and they know it. So they try to compensate using other tricks. Give me a good reliable car and I'll buy it. Ford, are you listening?
Just about every Ford dealer has their own web site with an inventory search which you can use to search for what you want. forddirect.com allows you to search inventory as well, but they don't have the option to search for '05's up and running yet.
The '05's are starting to show up this week according to what I've read on the dedicated Escape forums.
"Occupants in vehicles rated good are three times less likely to die if they hit a vehicle that is rated poor in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's crash test. But occupants of vehicles rated anything other than poor have about the same survival chances."
So, the data suggests that the difference between a score of "Good", and a score of "Poor" is valid. They say a good vehicle is about 3 times better than a poor vehicle. The problem is that the other ratings do not show a strong correlation.
I think it still depends on how you want to spin the study.
http://www.iihs.org/news_releases/2004/pr020504.htm
Don't worry about the ratings. Just know that the manufacturers are working hard at making all of their vehicles safer.
As for the CRV, I looked at the interior for the first time at the show and I was appalled at how ugly it was. Horrible placement of the weird parking brake lever. The interior reminded me of the first Isuzus back a number of years ago.
http://www.mycarstats.com/auto_recalls/HONDA_Recalls.asp
http://www.mycarstats.com/auto_recalls/FORD_Recalls.asp