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Comments
Escape rates very well at MSN in their reliability section too!!
Tom
I am to purchase a new, standard 2004 XLT 4WD soon. The internet sales person estimated my costs today as follows:
car price - 23,243
1% profit - 232
tax - 1,936
SUM: 25,442
-Rebate - 2,000
------------------
To pay: 23,442
2-year registration/plates (~$70) and some other $30 DMV fee go extra on top of this.
The APR should be ca. 4.9%, though I am to check with my bank and car insurer tomorrow as well.
Is this a reasonable deal for upstate New York???
This is my first new car - please ADVISE... (I only have 2 days left if I want to take advantage of this 'opportunity' - Ford may easily extend it, or have another one)
Thank you,
Marek
The 2005 Escape will be in dealers in February(it's already been shown at some autoshows - Miami, DC, LA, etc).
The Mercury version will not be available in the summer.
As for the Mazda version - don't know when it comes out - probably early 2004 to coincide with the 2005 Escape timing.
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
~$24,500 is about right for Escape's MSRP.
"car price - 23,243" in fact was "Invoice total" on the dealer's sheet.
Marek
PS: I decided to wait a bit more and hunt.
I got to drive my 2003 escape in the snow. It was wonderful. Put it in 4X4 and away we went. No chains or studs. Didn't need them and never got stuck. I Love my Escape, except got to get the waterfall noise fixed. Goes in the shop tomorrow. The serviceman finally got to hear it. I'll post the fix it problem if they get mine taken care of.
It usually starts when I reach 20-30 miles an hour and keeps on going.
Anyone know the real reason?
Is there a source for a brighter bulb?
Current bulb is blade type and says following:
06 12v w5w E1 2GL T21
I'm new to this board, we bought a 2004 XLT two weeks ago. As for the on-going thread about pricing, we got the truck with sticker of $25,565 for $24,000. Seemed to be on par with the Edmunds TMV (bought from Dayton Ford in NJ).
Anyhow, I see this truck calls for the 5w20 oil. Conveniently, there are only a couple of companies who make this oil, with the only one I've seen in stores being Motorcraft. Anybody using a different weight oil? I usually run Mobil 1 5w30 in my vehicles.
Many members of these forums and those of other Escape forums have contacted Ford/Mazda regarding safe oil weights. As it turns out, 5W-30, and 10W-30 are also safe. You'll just lose that extra .1 MPG with the heavier blends. Ford won't void your warranty for using a heavier weight oil. Synthetics are a different story though.
I personally use Pennzoil PureBase 5W-20 in our Escape because it's affordable, recommended, and readily available at most large auto parts chains. I also use the Ford recommended Motorcraft filter which I can only find at Pep Boys for some reason. A full oil and filter change runs about $9.00 for me.
The big changes for the 2005 model are the floor mounted shifter, the new Intelligent 4WD System, and all-new 4-cylinder for the base XLS model. It's also supposed to be quieter, have revised automatic shift points, and a smoother ride. The V-6 is supposed to idle more smoothly. I also noticed that the HP output for the V-6 went DOWN - by 1 (201 to 200) and the torque dropped as well (196 to 193). I have no idea why they would go backwards in their engine tweaks.
I'm going to test drive it next month. The big disadvantage compared to the CR-V EX is that an XLT 4WD V-6 Escape will cost much more - about $3,000 more. The XLS 4-cylinder will probably match up well in price to the CR-V, but the V-6 is a huge and compelling advantage - I just don't know if it's worth $3,000 though. Incentives could narrow the gap, but they won't be very large for a new model - maybe $1,000 tops.
Also, I can't believe that the 2004 XLT does not come with automatic door locks. I noticed that the doors were not locking when being driven, so I called the dealer thinking something was wrong, only to be told that it is not a feature on the truck.
I for one never really liked those until our baby was born. Now I do wish I had them because I keep forgetting to lock the doors all the time.
Odie
Just would have been a nice feature for the same reason, my 15 month old in the rear. I flipped the child lock switch today because you never know when they're going to figure something out. She already opens closet doors in the house!
Other than that, been fairly impressed with the truck. The engine and steering are quite responsive. The doors feel a little cheap to me, though. Plan on keeping her until she dies.
PS...Anyone buy an extended warranty for theirs? Searched the web, found about $1000 to be the going price for premium care 6yr/75k miles.
I'm not worried about the child opening the door from the inside because, as you stated, child locks are there. It's someone opening the door from the outside while I'm not looking that worries me.
The child locks don't prevent that but auto locks would. Sorry, I should have been more clear.
So if anyone else has a water noise in their dashboard, heres the way to get rid of it.
The Ford Dealer installed a filter that was suppose to be there in the cowl area and it was not there. It seems that when made at the Factory, they forgot to put them in on some Escapes. The service department called it a pollen filter. Hope this helps.
Motorcraft brand oil 5W-20 for about 20K miles,
per recommendation from the shop I now use. The
master mechanic told me that the engine tolerances are so tight on the new cars that he's recommend staying with the manufacturer brand
for at least 20K miles. I then change over to 5W-30 weight Mobil-1. Keep in mind that the Motorcraft brand 5W-20 is semi-synthetic, though
how much I do not know. So it is good protection
for the engine, but I went to full-synthetic and
now have 45K miles on the Escape. I use the Motorcraft filter (820-S) but may start using the
Purolater Gold per previous posting as it does seem to have better filtration. My mileage has
probably suffered by 1 maybe 2 MPG d/t the different weight oil. I noramlly get 18 City / 22-23 HWY at 70 MPH. I feel though that I'm getting better protection with the synthetic. For those who wish to stay with 5W-20, more oil brands are available now that I've seen; Castrol has a 5W-20, Royal Purple (pure synthetic), etc. Some engines will react differently if the weight oil is changed. Ex. : A friend has a Ford F-150 XLT, w/V8 Triton engine. He switched to sythetic
heavier weight at first oil change and his valves audibly starting tapping. He switched back to 5W-20 Royal Purple and it solved the tapping problem immediately. Personally, I've had no problems to date with engine noises by changing from parafin-based to synthetic. I still enjoy my '01 very much and am looking forward to future models. It's unfortunate that Ford keeps jacking with trim levels and pricing so much. I got mine for
$20.9K drive-out under X-Plan and haven't looked back.
PS...to all I was looking into using Synthetic oil for my truck, Mobil 1 claims that the 0w-20 they make is also for use in the 5w-20 spec engines that Ford and Honda make. Anyone using this product?
a good example of potential repairs. You want
brakes that are good for at least ~ another 20K
preferably. A good ahop can give you a ball-park
figure. Most brake jobs for the Escape are about $450+ d/t necessity of changing rotors at brake job. Not too keen on Ford's part, but a lot of
makers are doing this now. Aftermarket brake parts, including turnable rotors are now available.
njdevilsrn : I didn't know Mobil 1 was making a 0W-20 weight. I can find a 0W-30 if I look hard
here in Houston, but not 0W-20. If so, then I may go to 0W-20 next oil change.
Squeaky hatch.. can be adjusted by dealeship...
They have a couple of them at the Pgh auto show and 98% of the vehicles there come from dealer lots. I have not been to a Ford store lately but someone around here must have some if they are at the show.
The dealer closest to me lists having about 15 of them on their site.
the rattles will dissapear!
I like the Escape a lot. Quick, handles well, very roomy inside and much more so than you would think standing outside and looking at one. The V6 engine has gotten so much smoother over the years.
My only concerns are:
The Continental Contitrac tires are horrible, way too noisy at speed and not that much grip. I will replace these with some Yokohama Geolandar GT/S pretty soon, these tires have been great on my Chevy Tahoe which came with some horrible Firestone Wilderness LE's.
The steering wheel positions do not work for me. The wheel is way too low and far away. I have long arms too. They need to put in a multi adjustable steering wheel like BMW's come with, one that you can move up down and in and out.
My final concern is the brakes. DRUM brakes on the rears? That is not good. I have also heard that the Escapes will burn through a front set of brakes by 20k miles or so, in some cases.
thanks