I thought I might give a progress report on my first month of Escape ownership. So here goes:

Likes

* Gas Mileage - so far I'm averaging just over 20 and that's with a 36 mile round trip daily commute of stop-n-go driving. Not bad for a V6 SUV.

* Comfort - I took one moderately long road trip and didn't really suffer any driver fatigue.

* Handling - Other than the ride height, it's alot like driving a car.

* Auto-headlamps - I had these on my '95 SHO and I forgot how much of convenience they are.

* Sound system - I LOVE this sound system. It's the best factory system I've ever had (and my Mazda6 had a factory Bose system in it!)

* Fit & Finish - Everything fits tight and is rattle free. The paint is excellent.

* Heated seats - The only other car I've had with heated seats was the Mazda and I must say I like the Escape's better. They heat up much faster.

Dislikes

* Gas tank capacity - At only 16 gallons, it seems rather small for an SUV.

* Foglights - Not so much the fogs themselves but it's the fact that they have to be turned on each time. My previous cars with fogs could be toggled on such that they always came in when the headlights came on.

* Rear-drum brakes - You get rear disc brakes with the AWD model. Why put drums on the 2WD model? :dunno:

* Heated seat controls - They're on the sides of the seat base near the floor and kind of hard to reach with the doors closed.

* Keyless remote - No "flash" when unlocking the doors with the remote. It flashes when you lock it so why not when it unlocks? (I know it's a minor thing but I don't get the inconsistency).

Most of the dislikes are pretty minor things to me. None of them even come close to making me regret the decision to buy the Escape. I give it a very hearty :nice:

Nice little review there Mark. I can definetley agree with you on the heated seat button. They are much more well placed on the Focus's.

I love the fit and finish of the Limited's too. Very nice for a small SUV.

Maybe the no-flashing on unlock is a security thing. Like, maybe its so that you don't advertise to everybody in the vicinity of your car that it is now unlocked. Locking the car, you gotta be sure that it actually locked, so the flash is important. If you're not sure if it unlocked, you're on your way to open the door anyways, so you'll find out. I think it was a conscious decision on their part. That's cool about the sound system.

Hmmm...interesting point. I didn't consider that.

I think that I would prefer it not to flash on unlock. Ford made the right choice.

hehehe... i know i've often thought of hopping into a suddenly unlocked car and hoping for the best. I'll stay away from red escapes though, I know they're onto me. Not that I'd steal your car Mark, don't worry.

Nice write up, glad you are enjoying the Escape. :nice:

Not sure how it is on the escape, but don't the interior lights go on when you unlock it with the key fob? it does so on my Mustang.

Great writeup, hopefully they change some of those ergonomic issues you brought up.

I hadn't noticed since I haven't been out too much after dark lately but they do come on when the doors unlock. OK, you you can scratch that complaint off my list! :nice:

Mark, on your Escape, is the shifter on the floor or the column? The 03 I used to drive had it on the column, and had a bad placement in relation to the wiper control.

It's on the floor:

http://home.gt.rr.com/mkelley1/images/PDR_0055.JPG

Thanks. :nice:

Looks good!

All of Ford's retail cars, small Suv's and midsized Suv's from 2007 on will all be console or floor mounted opposed to column mounted. It was especially nice to have the shifter relocated on the Explorer. Its a growing trend, and a good one at that.

I just found something else I don't like about the Escape: the grab handle on the A-pillar (see interior pic above) interferes with the sun visor if you turn it to block the sun from coming in the side window. The visor essentially sticks out away from the window instead being parallel with it. Ford did put a flexible joint in the visor to allow it to fold over the handle but it isn't flexible enough IMO.

In other news, a sizable rock chipped the windshield the other day. We have so much road construction going on around here it was just a matter of time. I just wish it had taken a little longer. :bang: