We just bought a 2020 Ford Escape today; actually, we're leasing it. Given her work with the Center she founded, my wife needs a more dependable and presentable car and, since she likes getting different cars every few years anyhow, we opted to lease. The monthly payments were a lot less than buying, and we're a few months short of paying off the Ford Focus. It's a decent-looking car, with all-wheel drive, and it doesn't require a key to start or drive it. I think it'll do well in Maine winters. It was a program car but only 1,600 miles on it. As for me, if I can find someone to fix the roof on my 2002 Chevrolet Tracker, I'm fine with that. On the other hand, it doesn't do very well in the winter because it's so light that it tends to get stuck a lot, even with snow tires, so I might drive the Focus in the winter and just leave the roof off of my Tracker and use it only during the summer, covering it with a tarp otherwise. It's a fabric roof but the mounting brackets are broken.
I have a Ford Fusion AWD that I bought new in 2018. First Ford and I am very happy with it Since 1986 I had only Toyotas AWD
Good for her. There's nothing like the security of driving a low-mileage car. I've driven cash-on-the-barrel-head beaters most of my life. Since my truck has 136,000 on it, I wanted something with fewer miles on it. Long story short, the payments on a new car @ 0% financing were not much more than the payments on a used car @ 4.5% financing, so I bought a new Mazda in 2019. It's the 3rd vehicle I've purchased since 1989. It, too, requires no key. That takes some getting used to, especially remembering to turn it off at the end of each trip. I've not taken it out in the snow. We don't get enough of it here for me to bother with winter tires. As an aside, people have been waiting for car prices to bottom out because of The Flu. New car prices remained solid because factories closed down, so repressed supply and repressed demand remained in parity. I read articles that rental and corporate fleets were liquidating because business dried up, and the market was flooded with used cars. This was obviously after I bought my 2019 Mazda. I don't know if used prices have really fallen...people keep waiting.
We bought a Ford Edge when they came out in 2007. We still own that vehicle today and it's been a dream come true. We have taken good care of it and it still looks brand new. When we had to take it in for some recall work last year they loaned us an Escape. It was fun to drive and my first exposure to keyless. That was strange ! The only thing I did not care for is that when you come to a stop - it shuts off. The first time that happened it scared me. They told me is it supposed to be a gas saving feature? Seems like a lot of wear and tear on the starter but regardless, it was a fun car to drive and a nice looking one too. Congrats to Mrs Anderson !
By default, it does shut off whenever you come to a full stop, It starts automatically again though, so it's not a big problem, and that can be disabled, I think. It will do your parallel parking for you, as well as maneuver your way out of a parallel parking space. It can center your car in the lane and nudge it back whenever you begin to drift toward one side or the other. It will automatically slow the car or stop if you're too close to the car in front of you or if there is an obstruction in the road. The reverse cameras are nice, too.
My new[ish] Mazda has a lot of the new technologically advanced features. Some I love and others I have disabled, like nudging me back to center if I wander. I have the Lane Departure Warning enabled, but I've not even played with Steer By Wire. Funny, I have no problem delegating the accelerator and braking (for Adaptive Cruise Control), but not steering. Some older Mazdas used to shut off at a full stop (i-Stop), but it's no longer offered in the states. That feature stopped the engine so that one of the cylinders was at Top Dead Center. Restarting involved a squirt of gas in that cylinder and then firing the plug...no starter was involved. They now have automatic Cylinder Deactivation in most (all?) of their engines except the turbo (the engine in my car.) It's a setup that they had problems with when it was new (2018 models.) A recall for software upgrade was involved, as were a small number of replaced engines. Mazda's Cylinder Deactivation is not a function the customer can disable as you can in some manufacturers. The baffling thing is that for all that effort and change in programming and manufacturing (and some damaged reputation), they only squeezed 1 MPG extra out of the car.
Since I haven't driven it yet, I don't know half of what it does. I don't think she has to press the starter button after it shuts off at a stoplight. Also, she can start her car through a phone app, from a hundred miles away if she wants to. It sounds like it's running, but it still can't be driven until she clicks the thing on her keychain. There are keys for the door, but not to start the car, and there is an option to use a code to open the door as well.
My Owner's Manual is over 700 pages. If you want to learn all the features in the Entertainment System (using the USB stick or using the phone apps), there are separate guides for that. Regarding all this remote stuff, using FOBs and theives...
Driving this thing can really spoil a person. I've seen backup cameras on ambulances before but this one is much better. There is a light on the rearview mirrors that will let you know if anyone is in your blind spot. When backing out of a driveway, it won't let you back out until the way is clear. And the cruise control will keep the car at the level set even when going downhill. If you let the car drift toward either side of your lane, the car will automatically nudge you back to the center of the lane and, when using cruise control, it will automatically maintain a safe distance from the car in front of you. So, if the cruise control is set at 75 mph and the car in front of you is doing 70, it will slow you down so that you're not tailgating the car in front of you. Once you move into a passing lane, it will speed up to whatever the cruise control is set at. At lights or stop signs, it isn't even necessary to have your foot on the brake. I doubt that I'll ever get out of that habit but once the car has come to a stop, it will remain stopped until you hit the gas pedal. I can remember being impressed with power windows, and having a hell of a time learning to drive a car with power steering and power brakes.
It's addicting, isn't it? My car came with the stuff you talk about. I had no choice when I bought the model with the engine I wanted. I never would have separately paid for the stuff that now I would not want to live without. My Blind Spot Monitors are on the side view mirrors, on the heads-up display on the windshield, and they beep if there's a car beside me when I put my turn signal on to merge. I would not 100% rely on the technology, but it's sure nice to have the extra set of "eyes" to confirm what I see. And that adaptive cruise control IS nice. I use it even in non-highway driving.
When we went to Colorado Springs, a couple of weeks ago, we ended up renting a 2021 Ford Escape. The car we were suppose to get had expired tag (year) on the license plate, so we got the Escape. Plenty of room for our luggage, backup camera, navigational system, etc., etc. that our 2005 Durango SLT doesn't have. Had a hard time getting the Cruise Control to work properly, so didn't use it much. Unlike our Durango, the Escape sat to low for us. but, then again, we have high Wrangler All-Terrain tires on our Durango. The backup camera is nice, especially for folks that haul something, like a horse trailer or boat. But, I'm pretty darn good at backing up our boat/trailer since I done the backing up for a number of years with a horse trailer. Navigational system is nice, but our iPhones do that as well. In general, the Ford Escape was nice, but we did miss our Durango SLT.
Yeah, it's different. I've had to ask Michelle how to do that a couple of times now. It works great once you figure it out, though.
@Ken Anderson I have been a member of an Explorer Forum for quite a few years now. We bought our first one, a used 1996, in 2002, replaced it with a second one, a 1999 in 2007, then a 2004 in 2010. Each had just under 100,000 miles on it when we got it. Transmission quit in the '96, so I replaced it with a remanufactured Ford unit for $2200. Vehicle was a 4X4, performed well until I got the '99, which was misrepresented by the dealer as 4X4, which it was not, but had a manual transmission which I wanted. After getting mildly stuck in the snow with it, I sold it and bought the 2004 we still have. It is a 4X4, automatic, now pushing close to 170,000 miles, mostly trouble-free; got it in 2010. The forum has covered every conceivable problem encountered, even some imaginary ones! Opinions fly, but a few technical individuals have contributed much valuable insight for prospective Explorer owners. The general concensus lately seems to be that following 2005, changes instituted by Ford to the Ex have been detrimental to it's usefulness, such as employing Front Wheel Drive for all-round driving, and leaving the body-on-frame type of construction behind. One excellent improvement came in 2003, independent rear suspension. I believe that was kept thereafter. I personally regard all the famous do-dads as extraneous and unnecessary, but if folks want them, who am I to disagree? Over the years I have become quite knowledgeable about the Explorer and it's foibles. For example, in the mid-90's Ford introduced "PATS", Passive Anti-Theft System, using the so-called "chip key" which is detected by the vehicle's computer (PCM) as soon as key is inserted, then disables the vehicle if key is not "recognized". First introduced, PATS disabled the fuel injectors, but the engine would still "turn over". Truly a stupid oversight, maybe, as the unknowing, unthinking non-thief driver could imagine some problem was present, and crank the battery to death, never suspecting the cause was a WRONG key! The final solution involved disabling just about all running systems, no engine crank, no fuel injection, no ignition, if incorrect key used. A red LED light mounted in the upper dashboard, visible from both within the vehicle and outside it, blinks visibly when the vehicle is standing unused, but blinks in code fashion, quickly, if incorrect key is inserted, alerting driver. This is all explained in the Owners' Manual, which it seems few take the time to read. Does the PATS system fail? Yes, occasionally, like any of the bells and whistles. For All Wheel Drive (AWD), I favor Ford's system of using a centrally mounted Fluid Coupling, like a small torque converter, which provides power to the front wheels at all times, rear wheels being conventionally driven at all times. Of course, various other AWD "schemes" are in use by others, some being of doubtful longevity, but again, WTH do I know?? Frank
I don't like the anti-skid feature in our 2013 Ford Focus. Intended to prevent hydroplaning in wet weather, it doesn't allow you to make a hard stop, but brakes as if you were lightly pumping the brakes. While that might be fine if hydroplaning were actually occurring, I could figure that out for myself and it's dangerous not to have control over the brakes just because it's raining. If a moose is stepping into the road, I'd rather be in control. While the Ford Escape has the same feature, it's been improved considerably.