A good SUV for the money
My Escape is 5 years old now with over 100k miles on it. Other than normal service items (tires/brakes/fluid changes) it has held up fairly well. MPG has been consistent at 25 city, 30 highway for the entire time. There are a few items which could have been better. The engine transmission combo was not the best. The engine developed a knocking sound at 38k, which according to you-tube videos is possibly a crack in the block. The idle has never been smooth since I bought it. The transmission is a 6 speed, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd are not geared correctly. The tranny drops down into 1st at anything under 20 MPH and going from forward to reverse sometime ends up in a hung change followed by a slamming into reverse. The tranny requires fluid changes every 20k - too much maintenance. The rear hatch release gave up the ghost at 80k. Other than that - it still runs, no leaks, and hauls a goodly amount of stuff for a small SUV.
