Safety ratings

Ford re-sale.

Ford 2 or 4wd.

Found on road dead

Is that even a fair trial? The forester is night and day butter. Oh, the ford might have a better sound system.

 

Ford, at the moment, is getting slaughtered on the 1.6.

Every other motor is fine.

 

yeah the 1.6 ecoboost is recall hell… stay far away

 

I already owned an Escape and wanted to see how it had changed with the new body style. I took it for a spin and didn't like the cramped cockpit. The center console they put into it restricted my leg movements. The redesigned body really lacks in rear visibility. The engine is under-powered compared to the V6 I had in the older model ('06). The safety ratings were not up to par. My earlier Escape was rusting before its time so I don't trust Ford's bodywork. I also owned (and still do) a 2000 Outback and am very happy with it. Based on that experience I decided to try the Forester and ended up with a '14 XT Limited. It is everything that the new Escape is not. Besides I didn't want to drive a vehicle as common as the Escape.

 

Too small, too expensive, six speed 2.5i drives Way better

 

I've spent a week each driving both Fusion and Focus rentals last year. I was pleasantly surprised by both and would not discourage friends from buying one if they were their cup of tea. Subarus rentals were not available. Isn't the Escape the black sheep of the family? Recalls on recalls?

 

Check Consumers Reports on the Escape and I bet you will not buy. I test drove it before I purchased my 2014 Forester and was blown away at how small the cockpit is. The high price with no back-up camera were the deal breakers. I really did like the seats.



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I hear Escape sales are on fire. They are burning through inventory at a scorching pace. It has literally ignited the CUV landscape. It's hot.

 

I guess people have low standards. :raspberry:

I drove a rental Escape a few months ago (only 400 miles on it) and wasn't impressed with the quality at all. Dash plastics were creaking like crazy, the door panel sounded like it was going to fall off when I used the door handle. Lots of road noise, and too many gadgets.

 

They lowered the price of the new Escape around these parts to get rid of them I think.

I looked at them before I leased my 14 Forester. At the time too much money for so little vehicle.

Glad I got the Subaru instead as the new Escape is under recall hell.

They should scrap the 1.6 ecoboost and go back to what works. My 2003 Escape was a V6 and still the best SUV I have owned. Why auto companies fix what ain't broken is beyond me.

Guess it's the gas mileage thing.

 

wasnt the 1.6 the engine they were already using in europe?

 

My wife rocks the 03 Escape, and I maintain it, and I have to say it's rock solid. Timing chain, great cargo space, dosen't burn a drop of oil, super reliable. Not a luxurious car, utilitarian seats, decent 4WD, resistant to kid abuse. Easy to work on except for the insane air filter setup. Hers is almost 250 k kms and it's going strong. It's the 3L w/ 200 hp, but you have to stomp on it to get it moving, which is pointless since the handling certainly belies it's weight and footprint. Very econo geared AT transmission. The new model is a total redesign aimed at the CUV market and to be frank I think it gets away from what made it successful in the previous generation. Also I am inherently mistrustful of the ecoboost tech since the little turbo(s) are part of the exhaust manifold assembly which I think is inherently destined for early failures due to heat issues.

 

My brother has been leasing escapes for the last 6 years. The new ones aren't that good looking. I liked the boxy look 1000x better. My brother doesn't even like driving them but he gets such a good deal on them he can't really pass it up. I know he tries to avoid it most of the time and takes his wife's car. I've driven his previous escape leases over the years and it just doesn't feel smooth to me.

forester > escape in every category IMO. (maybe except for interior electronics the ford sync/gps is pretty good but that's all I can really vouch for on that car.)

 

When I started looking, the forester was not even on my radar. I really liked the looks of the escape, and had that as the benchmark. I test drove a few models, and with a good discount was actually a good price. The 1.6 was a total pooch, and even the 2.0 that supposedly had 270HP seems less peppy than the Forester.

In the end, the main reasons I dropped the escape from my list were:
Visibility, maint (While Ford has made strides in this area, ecoboost is still unproven at this point), resale (minor, since I hope the keep the car for awhile), and crash tests. I also felt the materials inside felt cheap, while the Forester really seems premium to the other cars in the class.

The forester seems to be better built with a better fit/finish, and decent track record of longivity. Add to that the best gas mileage, and the reviews from pretty much every reputable organization saying it is the best in its class, with Escape being one of the worst, and it was a no brainer in the end.

 

I sat in a 2013 Escape and found the visibility was poor. I owned a used 2001 Escape for 7 years and loved it except for all the repairs. I ultimately decided on a certified 2011 Forester. Everything is an adjustment. What are your priorities?

 

I did not drive one, but I did check them out at the dealer here in town. Was not impressed, seemed to tight inside leg room, and head room. Also the reviews I read, = stay away.

 

I own a new 2014 Forester XT but drove a new 2014 Escape Titanium in Canada. Take a look at this review:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f151/new-forester-vs-new-escape-225106/

Cheers
Mark.

 

Story from China.

Ford has a factory in China, well, it's a joint venture company with another local company.

They recalled the escapes they made recently, because..... some wheels run out of the car by themselves occasionally, dunno if I attached the picture right, but just in case, go to this URL. https://www.google.ca/search?q=翼虎+断...e=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=QZfMUsC3BqaA2wWv2YHgDA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1255&bih=531

 

oh man, that is pathetic

 

The peppiness of the engines (drove the 1.6L ecoboost Escape vs. 2.5L Forester) was similar. But the visibility of the Escape was poor and the backseat legroom (with front seat all the way back, I'm 6'4") was terrible, so those were the two key differences. Other aspects - handling, ride, sound system, etc. seemed in the same ballpark.

 

That is a super dangerous failure mode. Notice how most of the cars in the pictures have crashed. I'm surprised we don't see any head-on collisions. Maybe the drivers weren't in good enough shape to snap photos in those cases.

 

A friend was considering an Escape Titanium with the 2.0L ecoboost. Today he came to pick up my Forester with me and drove an XT Touring and said he liked it better. More fun to drive and more solid feel were his reasons.

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Loaner Test Drive

Hi All-

I'm currently in the hunt for a replacement to my 2003 Honda Element AWD MT.

I'm looking at the Forester Premium (CVT), Ford Escape 1.6 AWD (SE) and Honda CRV AWD.

I got a chance to take a Loaner Forester and Escape out back to back and thought I'd share what I found. I was able to duplicate the same ~100 mile loop of mixed city, suburb, and Highway/Country driving on the same day. Both cars were not broke in: 40 miles on the Ford, 7 miles on the Subaru. WNY temps were in the upper 20's, winter blend fuel, though the Subaru had a lot more wind to contend with.

Ford Escape
I really liked the way the Escape drove and road. It was a well connected feel that was great around the corners and pretty smooth, yet connected on the highway. Roads are pretty awful around here with a lot of upheaval from the thaw/cold cycles this winter, but the Escape was well composed and a pleasure to drive. The engine was pretty zippy but not easy to keep in an efficient range. Corners were fun with a bit of body roll when pushed hard. I really liked the way the car handled. I've never been a fan of automatic transmission but the Escape's was pretty good for an auto.

The Escape had very little wind noise and was quite quiet up front. The rear tires produced more noise and the exhaust had a distinctive but not awful sound.

The cockpit was comfortable and the seats gave pretty good support. The side supports on the seats helped hold me in the seat when attacking corners aggressively. It had more of a tight feel to it and the quality of the materials was pretty nice. It felt like the car wrapped around me nicely.

Controls were ok, but the center dash placement was a confusing mess. It had the Mytouch console, which I wouldn't get, but the physical buttons weren't well though out.

I got a measured 25.032 MPG (measured), with the trip computer showing 25.8 MPG, which is a bit disappointing considering I was a Eco-superstar according to the digital Eco meter. I kept the speeds to the speed limit and overall drove smoothly with minimal gas-brake transitions for both rounds. Considering it's being broke in, temps were cool, and the gas is the winter blend the MPGs weren't terrible, but I could tell that in my normal work commute traffic (30-40 mph city-suburb streets with occasional red lights) it would be hard to keep the motor from spooling up the turbo.


Subaru Forester.
The seats weren't nearly as good a fit for me. They weren't bad-- I'd rate them as adequate, but took quite a bit of adjusting to get them fairly comfortable. They didn't hold me in as well as the more bucket-like seats in the Ford, but they weren't terrible.

Controls were a bit better placed than the Ford's center console, but it was harder to get my phone hooked up and playing music and making calls. Once it worked it was decent but lacked some capabilities of the Escape. Both have much nicer connectivity than my Escape.

Also, I really didn't care for the limited climate control control settings. The fan had 4 speeds. 1 was quiet, 2-4 were pretty noisy. The temperature dial didn't have a large number of clicks to adjust with either-- I'd prefer a bit more variations in the selections.

The Forester road pretty good but not quite as smooth as the Ford. It's a bit .. Jouncy?
Not bad though, just more off-roady than sporty. Steering wasn't quite as connected-feeling as the Escape, but the car responded well to more aggressive cornering. The CVT effect is a bit different, but seemed to work really well. In my regular commute city-suburb driving conditions the CVT did a good job at keeping the RPMs at a minimum and the estimated MPG rating high-- I think it would get significantly better mileage than the Escape for my daily drive.

The Forester faced a pretty stiff (25-40 mph) headwind on the flat part of the trip out, but still managed a 26.40 MPG (Calculated) and 27.3 computer readout. I'd guess they would be within 1-2 mpg for easy 55-65 mph highways, but the Forester and it's CVT would probably do 4-5 mpg better in my daily commute mode.

The cockpit in the Forester was a totally different feel than the Escape. It felt more open, which wasn't necessarily better or worse. It was a bit odd- I felt like I was sitting up higher, but the car felt lower. It was fairly quiet with perhaps a bit less road noise and a little more wind noise than the Escape.

While I think the sight lines on the Escape are quite good, the outward visibility in the Forester is absolutely amazing. I had the Forester overnight and in the AM the snow picked up and visibility was reduced, which made me appreciate the easy clear view of the outside world.

With the fresh snow I took an extra loop and checked out the hard packed roads of a county park. Although the all-season tires are pretty poor in the snow, the AWD system of the Subaru seems to live up to it's reputation. I tried stop-goes, corner drift, etc.. with and without traction control and it was quite fun. Again, traction on the stock tires was pretty lousy compared to the well worn winter tires on my Element, but the car really tried to get what it could out of them.

In the rutted hard pack the Suspension of the Forester really came into it's own. It felt really solid and well planted when the going got a bit tough. I think it's a fair trade off for a little less refined road manners.

So, where the heck am I at in my shopping decision process?

Plus/Minus
Ford
+ Road handling, cozy cockpit, really nice road ride, expect the AWD to be good, phone-connectivity functionality, decent shifting auto, sharp looks! 2000 lb towing.
- MPGs, 2013 recall issues, low reliability prediction from sites like Edmunds (engine overheating/fires?) Turbo repair costs within 10 years?? (it's a little motor working hard!)

Subaru
+ Off-road handling, AWD is the bomb, amazing view of outside, mostly better interior layout, acres of moonroof, heated seats/mirrors, better MPGs, CVT works well (in snow too!), safety ratings, better reliability expected, subdued but decent looking
- So-so ride on rougher roads, seats are so so, limited bluetooth capabilities, climate control adjustment, oil burners?, CVT reliability/cost through 10 years??? 1500 lb towing.

Overall- I think I'm going to want to go with the Forester. Reliability is important to me, and I'm not sure the Ford is going to be there, even though I loved the drive and ride. I also think the Forester is going to be a lot of fun in my "country mode" of snowmobiling, ATVing, camping, and snow drift busting.

Since the 2015 Forester is expected to be announced by mid-late March I'm going to wait to see if they improve and update the Premium's audio connectivity and function. I'd hate to be stuck with some limitations that affect me, however slightly, for the lack of patience. Plus, I should be able to order exactly what I want- maybe there will be a new darker green color option for 2015!

Thanks for listening!
Scott

PS-- If you're torn between a couple choices of car I would highly recommend asking (nicely) if you could use a loaner- especially if you can arrange a back-to-back comparison. It was very helpful!

 

Thanks for listening!

Thank you for the excellent review, Scott! Sounds like you are doing very thorough research and will make a well educated decision.

 

Nice and informative write-up. Well done. While not relevant to this specific thread are you going to do some additional road tests like the CRV and RAV , . , maybe even an Equinox or some of the Korean competitors?


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Thanks. I test drove a 2014 CRV and my girlfriend has the previous version, so I have a good idea of what that's about. The are a nicely equipped car that I have no doubt would be reliable and... adequate. It was fairly comfortable, had an nice but slightly soft ride, and is flexible in the interior layout. The AWD is a bit weak but adequate for helping get through snowy conditions. I am really happy with how my Honda had performed for me. And yet, the CRV is down the list as my safety pick-- it's just a bit... boring? Uninteresting? I'm not sure-- cars are funny that way.

The Equinox doesn't look like it will get the MPG and isn't a standout in any area I'm looking at. It's a nice looking car, IMO. Plus, as my dad worked at the Ford plant we were a Ford family (mostly) and it's hard to think of the word Chevy without the word "Junk" reflexively coming into my head, even though they do make some nice vehicles.

The Kias and Hyundais also don't seem to get the fuel efficiency I'm looking for, and are generally rated just average for reliability. The warranties are great though. I had my sister's Kia Optima in my driveway for a few years and thought the motor had good power and the car was fine, but the looks/design of most of the ones I've looked at don't really "speak to me". My friends have a Sorrento and like it all right.

I sat in the RAV at a recent auto show (as well as the Korean models) and just did not like the outer view or the overall fit of the cockpit. The outer view of the the Kia/Hundai didn't appeal to me from the "in the seat" position either, but weren't as bad as the RAV.

I really liked the way the Jeep Cherokee felt inside, and I love the look of it in person. The mileage is a bit less, but like the Escape it has better towing capacity than most others. (need to update original assessment to include towing) However, after reading about some of the issues they are having with the transmissions and electronics I would definitely wait a couple years before buying this new platform.

 

Scott, too bad you didn't test drive two months ago. A lake effect band off of Erie in the Subaru would have sealed the deal for you. :biggrin:

 

flip side

I'd love to see the same question asked in an escape forum. I had the older style at work and it was decent. Want to say it was a 3 liter engine. Havent tried the new one. I still prefer my XT.

 

I'd love to see the same question asked in an escape forum. I had the older style at work and it was decent. Want to say it was a 3 liter engine. Havent tried the new one. I still prefer my XT.

Ford forums? Too much Slovak chewin to by typing on forums.


Who would ever drive a ford, does the escape have thier "revolutionary" 4 valves per cylinder?