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Comments
Ford issued an OASIS message (#15434) in Nov. 2001, to replace the the EEC power relay with F0AZ-14N089-A, and to check its connections and other grounds. Also to replace the IAC valve with YF1Z-9F715-AA if it doesn't already have the revised version.
New Escapes will already have the revised IAC (idle air control) and EEC.
The Escape/Tribute are huge winners in this category. Ford/Mazda have hit this market niche with a bullseye (or damn close anyway). The V6 is to tops in its class as far as 0-60 acceleration, second only to Jeep Liberty in torque. The package the Ford/Mazda have put together is targeted to the masses. I have a late 2001 Escape XLT V6 4WD with 7K miles and not one problem. Mine has performed flawlessly.
mad0865 - I meant the MDX being 35K.. Also, what class of trail did you take your liberty on? How often do you offroad?
-Frank P.
May re finace thru bank, just to get it down to trade in value, or just turn it back
Wait? Sure, if you can, and nothing out there now meets your wants and needs. The Forester will get a turbo next year. Mitsubishi will replace the Montero Sport with a more car-like model, and Nissan may bring over the X-Trail eventually.
Lillian: I see 1998 Foresters in the Washington Post for about $11,500-$15,000. Even wholesale should be much higher than that, so your dealer isn't being fair with you.
-juice
Just to prove it's underpriced, in the Forester thread two people have already expressed interest in buying it.
The H6 runs on regular fuel, you just get 4 fewer horsepower (208hp instead of 212hp). Last year there was a $750 incentive, and I bet it comes back.
Fitzmall.com, in MD, has LL Bean wagons for $27k with freight included. If I'm right, you could get one for $26.3k or so. That includes leather, two moonroofs, AWD, ABS, cruise, power everything, alloy wheels, heated seats, rear LSD, and 3 years of free maintenance (LL Bean model only), which offsets ownership costs a bit.
The LL Bean is really nice. You also get a wood/leather steering wheel, and two-tone leather interior. It's equipped more like an Acura or Lexus vs. the vehicles we discuss in this topic.
-juice
-Ted
-juice
The kind of places I like are Canyonlands, Anza Borrego and Pyrmid Lake in Neveda. I want to cross gullies and ruts, moderate rock, some short steeps and sand. I ran this by Juice, and he thought it was more or less in between. Has anyone done that kind of off roading in there Forester? If I went the the longer springs to get the 2" lift, would I lose the handling in town driving? Is there enough travel?
Thanks in advance for any opinions.
Jim
-juice
And now back to the subject of the Subaru Forester vs Hyundai Santa Fe vs Jeep Liberty vs Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute. Happy motoring!
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards
Info on a gently off-road experience in the Pine Barrens of Central/Southern NJ. Come on out for a day of adventure, fun, and comradre with fellow SUV/Off-road/Rally/Car Nuts! Info at http://isuzu-suvs.com/events
-mike
Sounds like a Jeep Liberty would actually meet your needs better than a Forester. The Liberty is available with a 4cyl. I don't know what kind of performance it will give you, don't look for gut wrenching 0-60 times in other words. But I'm sure it will suffice if you don't care about being first on the freeway. The Liberty offers better ground clearance and more of the offroad suspension your after.
Subarus don't come with low ranges in the US, but they do offer them in other markets. We're lobbying to get them offered here.
I agree that a Liberty would be better suited to that type of driving, but he was looking for something more car-like than his Trooper. Liberty is sort of tall and is closer in feel to the Trooper than it is to the Forester.
Got the Car Issue of CR, and the Forester is right on top of the reliability ratings, best in class! Escape and Tribute tied for last.
-juice
The Forester is small and wagon like. Why not just buy a Subaru wagon? For offroading the Jeep Liberty and the Nissan Xterra take the prize. For the car like ride, nothing beats an Escape/Tribute. The fully independent suspension by far will give you a better ride, feel, road feedback. The V6 cannot be beat as far as city driving is concerned. The Liberty has more torque/towing capacity, yet its not as quick as the Escape. Nissan V6 needs help (that is why they bandaided it with a supercharger). Don't rule out the Escape/Trib because of one persons opinion or one board on the net. Test drive them all!
-Frank P.
If the problems had stopped, the ratings would have improved by now, but they haven't.
I agree a shopper should test drive all the choices and read up from several sources, but smart research would also include reliability data like CR's.
-juice
No one vehicle is tops in every category so that's where one's priorities figure in. The best that can be hoped for is that a perspective buyer bases his/her purchase decision upon all the data and understands the tradeoffs involved.
-Frank P.
Ratings won't improve on the Escape until probably next year. The Escape/Trib have only been out about 2 years tops. When people start reporting on Escapes/Tribs that have 30, 50, 75K miles on them and how they have performed this will be the real test.
Also, you must take into account the repeat susbscribers that continue to air the same problems, people who also may be lying (unfortunatly).
You are right - the real test starts after the warranty expires. So after 36k miles is when it really starts to matter. We'll just have to wait for that data.
-juice
Kudos, Juice.
-james
Surely, you were paid to say that! (Just kidding!)
Actually, I agree with your assessment!
tidester
Host
SUVs
You want cash or is a check OK? ;-)
-juice
-Frank P. :-)
LOL, just kidding. But you're right, Juice is a member on a lot of different boards.
We're shopping for a new car for my wife, so every model I test drive, I hop in to share impressions. If it's interesting, I stick around. That's usually the case here on Edmunds, with a very low signal/noise ratio and few trolls.
-juice
Xterra seems to have more cargo space, better off road, but not as smooth ride.
Liberty has smoother ride but lacks in cargo space.
Wife likes the Santa Fe for whatever reason, though you do see a lot of them on the road now.
Any feelings on which one ? Thanks.
The Santa Fe will be the least capable off road, and if that's what you need, Jeep rules the roost. It's the most comfortable on the road, IMO.
There is a catch, though, for the Jeep. Reliability isn't that good, and two magazines have managed to roll them over. You decide if that matters to you or not. I still like it. The Limiteds have really neat trimmings.
-juice
-juice
-juice
Car based SUV's will by far give you the best ride for commuting, yet give you the ability to traverse logging roads, access roads and get you to your skiing destination safely. I agree, test drive everything, including car based mini-SUV's. All the car based SUV's come with skid plating/guards for their undercarriages.
I just now got my CR Annual Auto issue. In terms of reliability, the Liberty would have to be pretty bad to get a worse score than the initial Escape/Tribute ratings. Hopefully their reliability ratings will go up in subsequent years as the initial production problems fade into the past. In any case, they can't really go any lower :-)
I was also somewhat surprised to see the Santa Fe score as low as it did considering the high praise it has received here on Edmund's (Hung & Tung mainly).
-Frank P.
You may want to sell it quickly, before it depreciates too much. Cut your losses, try something else.
Hope your next car is much better. I'd love to see you join the Subaru Crew. We have an SoA rep that tackles arrogant dealers - it's her full time job. Too bad Jeep doesn't have someone like her on these boards to go to bat for you.
-juice
-juice
-Frank P.
Had an 1997 CRV, safe your money and go for it, very good overall. What drug was I on when I traded it for 1998 Explorer. The tires worn out after 5000 miles, got rid of that.