Escape for next vehicle?

[corkey]

wow,, 3rd one of these vehicles in my yard and not one with rust on the shock mounts,, and wee sure get road salt here,,,

like driving the Escape , it's not mine, but i use it when i can,, get decent fuel mileage and is good on the highway to Winterpig ,, err,, Winnipeg,,, lol,,

 

[Mbrooks420]

Mine was GREAT in the snow, even when it was just front wheel drive.

 

[4pointslow]

wow,, 3rd one of these vehicles in my yard and not one with rust on the shock mounts,, and wee sure get road salt here,,,

like driving the Escape , it's not mine, but i use it when i can,, get decent fuel mileage and is good on the highway to Winterpig ,, err,, Winnipeg,,, lol,,

Why didn't yours rust? I have heard some people say they had no rust even when driven in salted areas.
Is it the fact that you wash the wheel wells out after driving or maybe the vehicles were made better and had undercoating applied in the right spots?
I heard a rumor that here they use this stuff called brime that is worse than salt. I should look into it more.
I guess the other thing is how long did you have it or what year is it?

 

[4pointslow]

Again thanks for everybody's input.
I priced a 2007 battery (hybrid one) and it was around 1,000 to 1,299. (reman battery)
2007 Transmission had what looked like two choices, cvt and non cvt? I have to look into that more, I think they got their info wrong but any way...
A used trans that had orange hybrid cables coming out of it was about 700.00
engines look to be about 1,000 - 1,300.00 used

Anyone of these failures not too bad by itself, but all three together would be a hit to the wallet.

 

[4pointslow]

I don't know if I would like owning or driving a hybrid.
Heard the escape hybrids around the years I am looking at were down on acceleration and that the V6 models were much better in that category.
They keep saying on the news that higher gas prices are here to stay as long as things with Iran are sketchy, but who knows what will happen next.
If prices sty higher or go up from here maybe the fuel savings with an Escape Hybrid would be beneficial since I drive 84 miles a day 5 days a week.
With my luck I would get a hybrid and then find a job much closer to home, lol.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

and its sooo much harder to supercharge one as well lol

 

[4pointslow]

Don't get me started!

 

[4pointslow]

I can see it now, searching on the internet for a bigger hybrid battery and motor for better acceleration. LOL

 

[Mbrooks420]

There was a hybrid battery at the pick and pull out of a Ford for $150. I was tempted to buy it. I was always pleased with the performance of the 3.0. It was as fast or faster than my 5.0.

 

[boominXplorer]

But then there's the 3 cat converters with the v6 and the 05 and 06 v6 models have pcm coil driver issues. I'd look for a 4cyl 4wd nonhybrid if you want reliability. The 2.3 is a strong motor and does well when taken care of. They will eat up crank and rod bearings if not taken care of.

A 2.5 swap out of 2009+ fusion, escape is a bolt in upgrade with a few different ways to run it. The easiest is to put the 2.3 head on the 2.5 engine so the intake ports line up and you get rid of the vct. You can also run the 2.5 head but you'll need the 2.3 cams and a 2.5 intake manifold to make it work (still have to mod intake for cable tb with iac since it comes drive by wire).

My buddy did the 2.5 swap with the 2.3 head in his wife's 2005 escape and he swears he gained some solid power. He said it pulls harder in the midrange and has more low end torque. He hasn't noticed much of a difference in fuel economy but he isn't one to keep track since it's his wifes extra car.

 

[corkey]

I am certainly not really sure why our Escape never did rust bad in the shock mount, we do maintain proper mud flaps , and keep our vehicles fairly clean, ,
we do not put very aggressive tires on them either as we are more concern with ice on the highway as snow,, after a bit of winter snow fall our roads get a coating on them that takes a lot of time to get rid of,, or if they do get rid of it , they don't salt as hard ,
There are areas close to me where they use just the brine but we don't travel on that section very much,, and it is supposed to be easier on vehicles as it gets sprayed down on the road and they do not use as much ,,
we average usually over 25 mpg when we drive most places cause there is no light to light driving where i live,, grocery store is 50 miles away,,

 

[4pointslow]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[boominXplorer]

Oh and you can find a 4cyl 4wd with a manual transmission if you look hard. They are rare but are out there.

 

[boominXplorer]

2008 was the last year for manual trans and the first year for electronic steering also. Here's one kinda close to you but it's fwd. You'd be surprised how good the fwd does in snow.

08 Ford Escape

 

[4pointslow]

That's cool seeing a stick shift in there, I think it is the first escape I have seen with manual trans.
I think I am going to stay with an automatic since I get stuck in stop and go traffic on the Schulkyll expressway.
That road is horrible when traffic hits.

 

[4pointslow]

I have sent many emails to people who are selling vehicles on craigs list, only got two responses and neither were from escape sellers.
Both were 4 door explorers and had rust so no go on them.
The search continues.

 

[Mbrooks420]

If you look you can still find the elusive rust free explorer. The body and undercarriage on mine were stellar when I got it.

 

[4pointslow]

I have been searching for a 1998-2001 4 door 4.0 SOHC auto trans, without rust and have not seen one yet.
Half the time I don't get responses back from emails or phone calls.
I saw a listing for a rust free 4 door that was from Nevada or something but never got a chance to see it because it sold.
I think it was also 3 hours away from me but that is better than 3 days away. lol.

 

[Mbrooks420]

I think a lot of the SOHC’s have made their way into the scrapyards. There are 5 SOHC’s at my local pick and pull, and only one is a rustbucket. One only has 120k. 1 OHV with 280k, and 1 V8 with 330k.

 

[4pointslow]

only 120K on the sohc, damn I bought my 4 door at 132,000 and it now has 292,000 still original engine.