What do you know of Ford Escapes.please

equiis, May 26, 3:58am
Just wondering if one of these might suit my situation. 2002 Vr 3ltr petrol. reliable, any common faults, anything greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

audi_s_ate, May 26, 3:59am
Much better options out there. Thirsty - very thirsty.

andy61, May 26, 4:18am
They are well known for having very weak transmissions,dont even think of fitting a towbar.

thejazzpianoma, May 26, 4:24am
+1 to all of the above. You can do a LOT better.

tamarillo, May 26, 5:31am
It was jointly developed with Mazda, though largely engineered by Mazda, and the v6 uses ford duretec engine. Guess from above comments the gearbox was not up to it, and any SUV of this age with a large petrol will be thirsty.

gmphil, May 26, 5:33am
escape will u still can

franc123, May 26, 5:56am
What do you want to do with it exactly and what sort of driving do you do?

msigg, May 26, 6:44am
seen a few of them with 200k on them still going fine, square so not to expect economy of a car, those driving I have spoken to seen happy with their lot, if its cheap well, up to you.

_peas, May 26, 7:54am
Guy at work is on trans number 3 and engine number 2. I would avoid like the plague. Seems to be a common story not even touching on the petrol consumption.

cammey, May 26, 7:59am
Engines are fine. They just need decent oils as they spin well.

Electrics are typical Mazda, poor quality connectors etc lots of little faults.

Transmission is a Ford CD4E. IMHO the worst transmission ever made.

321mat, May 26, 10:34am

unclejake, May 26, 10:37am
^ I think you're getting the Escape and Explorer mixed up there boss

321mat, May 26, 11:00am
Yeah. I realised that about 2 minutes after posting.

kajams, May 27, 1:05am
I tried towing a light boat(4.7m) from Akld to Whitianga using an Escape. Got as far a Thames when the trans gave out. Apparently the gaskets expanded and shot the fluid out and went back into place when trans cooled. Garage couldn't replicate problem and I drove it back to Akld (not towing!) fine. Sold the thirsty POS a week later. Garage told me I was lucky as replacing the trans is very labour intensive and expensive in these vehicles.

equiis, May 27, 5:06am
Thanks everyone. appreciate the thoughts/advice

equiis, May 27, 5:07am
Forgot to answer what to do with driving wise. someone wants to part trade with me for my horse truck. I would only be looking to sell really.

tamarillo, Sep 7, 5:22pm
Well then price and condition are all that matters. They might not sell hot due to gas use etc, but once you've worked out what you can get, if that's worth it you're fine.
Find out condition, milage etc. scour ads and try and work out what sell for. You can use expired listing search to help.