Best SUV for its class
Emission light came on at 79,875 miles.
I love this vehicle because it has been reliable so far.
At almost 80K miles, I have only replaced normal wear and tear items such as tires.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 20th July, 2006
Do not buy this car if you live at high altitudes!
Several driver and passenger side air bag/restraint sensor and indicator problems. Whole passenger side system had to be replaced. Covered under extended warranty.
Engine seal leak at 60,000 miles. Covered under extended warranty.
Needed new brake pads and rotors at 60,000.
Engine replaced at 75,000 miles for a spun bearing that threw a rod.
I was happy with this car before I lived in the mountains and before it had several recalls and major problems. It got 22 mpg on the highway, was comfortable, and made several cross country trips, loaded to the gills.
I am a good, defensive driver and take care of my car. None of the problems I had were due to negligence.
Now I live at 9,000 feet and my engine quit on me driving over the Continental Divide. THANK GOD I was just 22 miles under my 75,000 mile extended warranty! Supposedly Escapes run at high rpm's and can't handle the altitude! I NEVER would have guessed this with the fact that everyone in the mountains has an SUV type vehicle! I never knew this could be a problem in any car. I specifically asked if the car would handle well at high altitudes and if there were any changes I needed to make when driving in and moving to the mountains. I was told it would be fine and no changes needed to be made.
I would be out thousands and thousands of dollars if it weren't for the extended warranty I purchased for this car so unless the newer models of the Escape are much better, I would not recommend buying one!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 7th April, 2006
I don't know about the Escape's engine management, but many engine management systems have an atmospheric pressure sensor.
If it fails the engine will assume the pressure is 1013mbar which at sea level you may not notice, but which will be noticeable at 9000 feet. Scanning the codes should pick up the fault although usually these sensors are integral to the ECU and the only option is replacement.
You are not specific about what happened, but if this problem did exist you would see a degradation in performance rather than a sudden failure in otherwise normal running. I wonder if this breakdown really is altitude related?
I believe most manufacturers now test their vehicles up to 15000 feet during the design phase.
Very good car overall (100% recommended)
I had to replace the AC compressor twice in the same year.
Radio screen don't illuminate half of the times, even when the radio is on.
Other than that, no problems at all.
Very nice car for the price!!! fun to drive. Excellent response... it doesn't feel like those heavy SUV's. No problems with reliability until now. Nice view of the road all the time.
I'm a little disappointed with the MPG since I expected more efficiency as publicized.
Good car overall!!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 24th February, 2006
20th Jul 2006, 21:19
Fords are notorious for having very sensitive "check engine" lights and I doubt there is any real problem. Usually just changing oil and maybe running a tank of premium thru it (if you can get a loan to finance a tank at current prices!!) will cause the light to go out. If it doesn't it could be the vent hole in your gas cap. This also causes the light to come on, and all it takes is a new gas cap to fix it. We've owned lots of Fords, including one '75 Granada that went 325,000+ miles with only routine maintenance. They build very good cars. I'm glad you've had good luck with yours. It's most likely good for another 200,000 miles.