Point well made!

 

agreed

 

Yea, I drove one a couple months ago and wasn't impressed either.

 

Agree with all of the above, approach angle on the Escape sucks azz.

 

considered an escape



but there was no comparison,
Trail rated 4x4 for about $20K?
or an AWD drive (not a 4x4) for low $20's and up
and not to mention the 2wd hybrid which goes for +$25K

 

...stupid in my opinion as voting the Liberals all the time.

Or voting the Conservatives at all...

 

:doh:You missed the point I think.... Oh and btw please no :hijacked:

 

Fix or repair daily!

 

I sat in the Escape and wasn't impressed. The Mazda Tribute is the same vehicle btw. I checked out the Edge and it was just too big for what I wanted. I checked out Ford first.

The reason I checked out Ford was my little 1997 Ford Escort wagon. I was getting tired of it and knowing that it will finally start costing me money -- finally that is. It was anything but fix or repair daily! I sold it at 225K still with the original clutch, the original battery, the original alternator, the AC just died and prolly just needs a recharge, never any problems with the power windows, power locks, ABS. It let me down (had to get it towed only once in 10 years) when the fuel pump went. The problem was bad gas from Shell a few years back, not a Ford failure. Hellz bellz, I changed the timing belt at 200K only because people were freaking that I hadn't changed it at 100K when I was supposed to. Frankly, I think Ford gave up the Escort because it proved a little too long lasting.

I can only hope the Patriot will come even close to the reliability of the Escort.

 

...
I sold it at 225K still with ... the original battery...

Holy Carp batman. 225k miles, and the original battery!!!

In the last 6 cars I've owned, Nissan, Ford, Dodge, Buick, Jeep (x2) I have never - never ever - gotten more than 40k miles out of a battery. 2-3 years max.


Please share your secret, because 225k is just awesome.

 

2 escorts here a 91 and a 95

I sold the 91in 01 with 280K on it it was starting to act up, the transmition would not stay in 4th gear between 50-60 MPH but other than that it was flawless..... (note was on second timing belt first change at 205K) quite likely the best car I have had or will ever have.

The 95 was used with 60K on it when I got it the wife put 140K more and we gave it to my brother in law who put another 40K on it before selling it. it was a stick and never had a lick done to it. (was still orig timing belt). I think Ford ditched the escort cause they were 2 well built.

I hope my pat is even 3/4 's as good as my first escort it will be money well spent.

 

I had a 96 Escort Wagon, and it was a great car. And holy crap, could I ever stuff that vehicle when I went to IKEA.

I made the biggest mistake ever when I traded it in and got a new Pontiac Sunfire (P.O.S.)., it's constantly in the dealers for some problem or other. I finally decided I'm not holding on to it after the warranty expires. That's next month, which works out perfectly because I'm looking for an 07 Pat now.

I'll finally have lots of room again, and my very large dog won't be stuffed in like a sausage in the back seat with my kids.

 

I had a 96 Escort Wagon, and it was a great car. And holy crap, could I ever stuff that vehicle when I went to IKEA.

I made the biggest mistake ever when I traded it in and got a new Pontiac Sunfire (P.O.S.).

I'll finally have lots of room again, and my very large dog won't be stuffed in like a sausage in the back seat with my kids.

Exact Same situation here! I had a 99 ford escort wagon, and it was great. Lots of room in the back for anything and 33mpg average! Only bad thing is it sucked in snow badly, so front heavy and the rear was light. I got it to 130k miles and got rid of it for a pat because i wanted the 4 wheel drive and more offroad ability. The pat is pretty much the same as the wagon except its 4 inches higher off the ground and has 4 wheel drive. They did make those escorts too good lol, i guess thats why they got rid of them

 

move on....

 

Rented a Ford Escape 4wd this weekend

I was travelling on business and rented a 2009 Ford Escape. I was very impressed. On-road, this vehicle drive better/quieter/ballsier than my Patriot, and was a pleasure to drive. The extra options (limited) were part of that experience, of course, but what a difference the 6 cyl engine and Auto transmission made. It got better mileage than my patriot, even with me stomping the pedal to get the acceleration.

I did not get a chance to find any trails and deminstrate getting it stuck though.......

If I did any less off-roading than I do now, I'd probably buy this SUV next.

 

I was travelling on business and rented a 2009 Ford Escape. I was very impressed. On-road, this vehicle drive better/quieter/ballsier than my Patriot, and was a pleasure to drive. what a difference the 6 cyl engine and Auto transmission made.

My parents just traded their Grand Caravan for a preowned 07' Ford Escape w/the 3.0L V6, 4-spd auto, AWD, w/55,000 k's (approx 32,000 mi)....have to agree that the Escape is much, much quieter in terms of engine & road noise....way less jarring ride....and the power diff on the (200 hp) V6 is nite & day compared to my fwd, CVT-equipped 2.4L. The interior is notably roomier (it's 4 in wider & 1 in longer). A big point of contention on my Pat is the ill-conceived, fixed rear cupholder, which severely hampers the comfort of the rear center passenger....the Escape has a thoughtfully-designed slide-out rear cupholder located at the back of the center front console -- genius!

It's a good thing I love the styling of my Patty so much that I can overlook its operational shortcomings. In fact, when I made the decision to purchase my Patty, it was solely based on the fact that I instantly fell in love with its distinctive, square-jawed look....Certainly, there are any number of the Patriot's competitors that outclass it in terms of refinement, road manners, and driveability -- but NONE of them have the mini-Hummer look of my beloved Patty

 

Hmmm... The Pat has the mini hummer look or does the hummer have the mini jeep look? That's right up there along with "what came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Kidding aside... the Pat is for those of us who like that boxy look. Rounded edges and curves are nice and sleek but the more vehicles I see, the more they appear to look like each other. Example... Scion XB, Cube and now the Soul. AND THEY ARE BOXY! The boxy shape of the Jeep/Patriot is unique. That's what I like in my vehicles. Interiors? I like the Patriot. Functional and not overly "buttony". A/C is simply 3 dials. I have seen cars where you need an electrical engineering degree to operate the A/C. JUST LET ME TURN THE DAMN THING ON AND COOL DOWN! What I am getting at is... KISS (Keep It Simple Spencer). That is what keeps prices down.

 

But the Escape doesn't have a flashlight.

 

or an AC outlet I wonder?

The Patriot has kept me from buying a car charger for my iPhone since that AC outlet is there! I also charge up my Nikon DSL's batteries with it!

 

LOL.
Right Kev I personally only bought the Patriot for the handy flashlight.

 

My boss just got an 09' Escape. Being it is a company car, and I do all the running around, I get to drive it a good deal... and I HATE it.

Negatives that I have found: - It is less comfortable
- the steering wheel is at a very odd distance from the driver
- the steering wheel controls look easier to use because they are on the front of the wheel and labeled but are actually very impractical
- the radio controls are built into the dash in a way that it would make it next to impossible to put an aftermarket head unit in without major redesign
- the way the seats fold down gives you about a 6" lip behind the driver and passenger side so if you have something long that needs to lay flat it cant happen
-the front passenger seat doesn't fold forward so anything long is a pain in the butt to carry
-the automatic transmission sticks and is jerky
-it suposidly has more interior cargo space inside but I feel like I can pack a lot more into my Patriot
-the height of the floorboard to the seats makes me feel as if I should be in a sports car insted of a SUV
-it doesn't have a locking differential even though it is a 4x4
-it was much more expensive than the Patriot

Positives: -It is a v6
-the rear glass opens separately from the tailgate

Definately very glad that I stuck with the Patriot.

 

- the way the seats fold down gives you about a 6" lip behind the driver and passenger side so if you have something long that needs to lay flat it cant happen

this was the no sale deal breaker with most vehicles I looked at.

 

I also looked at the escape when I was searching for a good year round car. The escape was more expensive and as stated before is very un comfortable. I think the styling of the Jeep is by far the best in it's class. The ONLY issue I have is I wish they had a V6 option, these lil Jeeps could use a lil more kick.

 

They do! It's called the Liberty... Thats probably why (along with the MPG drop) you wont see the Patty in a 6.

this brings me to a question... is the 2.4L a 4 valve/cylinder engine and if not, would that improve peformance that would be useful to the off-roaders? I know it would to us city drivers.

 

The 2.4 is indeed a 16 valve engine.

 

Offroaders need torque, torque, and more torque.
That's why the standard Wrangler engine was an inline 6 for so long. Low HP rating, but high relative torque.

The perfect mix should be the CRD in a FDII Patriot

 

I looked at an Escape as well. A friend of mine had one before he moved. 4" lift kit, hi and low range 4wd, and the v-6. hard to pass up, but the pat seemed like a better deal, thinking, 4+ lift kits ould be available and that the cvt in low range would notbe a gutless wonder. (fd1, 1st gear, 4X4 lock, it cannot spin the wheels. )

 

Exterior & Interior Patriot wins hands down. (BTW did you see that ugly center console in the Escape.)

 

The solar panel will act only as a trickle charger to your DC battery, thus too slow to recharge the battery; while what ever you are running will drained the battery a lot quicker than the solar panel can regenerate. Dead battery in a short time.

 

yeah, that's what i thought lol.

how long do you think you can run the tail-gate speakers for? instead of powering all 9, just powering the rear 2 tail-gate speakers...
i would be interested in using them while chillin' at the beach etc.

 

Found On Road Dead
My first new car was a Ford, and I swore I'll never buy a ford then. When I bought my first Jeep, I swore I'll only drive Jeeps for Life. I have a friend who owns an escape and the interior seems cramped. THe interior of the 'riot is much roomier, even my brother who is 6'3" couldn't believe how much leg room the back seats have.

 

That's funny because Consumer Reports now rates Ford as the Highest Quality of any North American car maker. They are now On Par with Honda & Toyota.

And Ford didn't need any government loans.

 

What would any of that have to do with whether somebody prefers a Patriot to an Escape? I drove both and didn't care for the Escape.

 

Found on road dead.