It's black and it shows dirt/dust marks easily.
No mechanical failures have cropped up even driven off-road daily.
Car has noticeably more pep than others in its (size) class. The engine seems happy to respond to petal demands. Some others I've tested seem to rev for a second more before complying. Others just didn't have the "go".
Space for four medium sized adults and two dogs comfortably. Or more commonly, two adults and two dogs and their gear. Comfy for all parties.
Rear seats could be more comfortable, but certainly not "uncomfortable". Ridden back there on occasion. Backseats not contoured. Slips a bit on leather. Otherwise, fine if the driver is tame.
Seats that fold flat w/o having to remove them is a surprisingly useful feature. This is convenient if not a bit awkward at first. If done incorrectly, the seat belts leave imprint (not-permanent) on the leather.
Strong difference using 4x4 on wet pavement. 2x4 does not hold high speed turns well except on dry pavement.
Driven in heavy snow conditions with happy results. Easily handled uphill in snowy/icy conditions where other vehicles obviously suffered (since I passed many spinning tires). In on instance, my other car (Honda Accord) couldn't get up the driveway due to icing. The Escape made it look like the pavement was dry and clear.
Cabin noise is a notable concern - particularly on the highway at higher speeds. This is corrected in the newer models from that I understand. May try to reduce it using insulator.
Stock sound system is unimpressive. Didn't purchase sound package.
Leather has been favorable with two dogs traveling often (dog hair easier to clean). Leather has resisted scratches well. No complaints here.
Overhead cargo rack on the Sports Edition quite useful. Not just (but certainly helps) about the looks.
Great little SUV, good power,pull a 2000lb tent trailer
up interstate 80 in Lake Tahoe area three times, no problem making it up the summit. 18,000 miles no problems.
Sport rack a disappointment, cross members don't go far enough apart, with ski-racks attached, could get my sons ski bindings between the racks (size 13 boots).
Road noise only real complaint.
If you think that the Escape is one of the best SUV's in its class and believe it has more pep that other samll SUVs, you obviously didn't comparison shop.
The Jeep Liberty for example has a wonderful 210 hp V6 available, and is considerably beefier than the Escape and its twin the Mazda tribute.
The Toyota 4runner is another superior SUV that immediately comes to mind.
I'm glad you are enjoying your Escape. But let's not get carried away.
IN comment to the Jeep Liberty and such, we are talking about the Escape and how nice a vehicle it is. If we wanted to pay more than we would be discussing the Jeep or 4 runner, this is about the Escape. Of course we could talk about BMW or Mecedes... they make the top class SUV.
Think that this commenter was merely stating their views on the intended SUV and not getting carried away.
I think this made my decision as I have two dogs and was debating leather vs. cloth.
Thanks for the great review!!
Another comment for the person comparing the Escape to the 4runner and Liberty... I believe the 4runner is comparable to the Explorer in size, not positive though. I do know the more accurate comparison to the Escape is the Highlander.
Two colleagues of mine have Jeep Liberties, and report about 13mpg vs. my 22mpg. Again, not a favorable comparison, unless talking about off-roading capability. The Liberty diesel gets better mileage, but costs significantly more, and has many reliability issues.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site