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2013 Ford Escape

663 messages,  Last post on Jun 18, 2013 at 2:32 PM

You are in the Ford Escape Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Escape, Car Buying, Car Comparisons, SUV

Messages Page 4 of 67

#24 of 663 Re: 2013 Escape underperforms and is not ready for prime time [al63017] by printerman1

Jul 28, 2012 (6:04 pm)

Replying to: al63017 (Jul 28, 2012 8:37 am)
Phil Edmonston guide also said, never buy a new version of the old car. Give a few years for the manufacturer to work out the bugs. We were going to buy the 2013, but the specs are so similar to the 2011, that is, the 4 cyl is half a liter smaller than the 6 cyl. so we opted.
no car drives as the manufacturers specs indicate. ie. hybrid. Ford want to sell a suv, advertised specs are usually so out of wack with real world, just be careful about the sales pitches.
this suv has been in europe for years. I am surprised at the bugs listed. Wikipedia has a good write up about the euro version.

#25 of 663 Re: Escape woes [slacker02] by al63017

Jul 28, 2012 (7:32 pm)

Replying to: slacker02 (Jul 28, 2012 5:24 pm)
When you are in the middle of something like that it is hard for others to really understand the helplessness it can make you feel. It sounds like you did what I did research and read and review and then look forward to a really neat car and get a problem child. I have to believe this is not the DNA of all these cars and you in fact have a "lemon" of some degree. I also believe your dealership is the one that should just take care of things. I also know from others that ZONE managers I think they call them come in when things do not go well. It may not be too early to just ask for another car. If they are replacing a car for a stained headliner because of a leaking sunroom--it would seem if these things continue you are in far worse shape than they are. Ask for the owner of the dealership at some point if service department and or your salesman do not help. I have most things resolved if I can deal with the person that has authority to make a decision and stay as calm cool and collected as possible. These people are like you and me in many cases they just work there and many times do not really have authority to make the decision you might want them to make. I don't think you have to over look those issues or would I or anyone be expected to do that or you. I read recently that National and Avis have bought these vehicles for their rental fleet so I got to believe they would not invest in something that would have safety and tons of down time. Sometimes the computer or brains of these cars can cause everthing you are experiencing and replacing that or who knows may fix everything.
Let us know now and then how things are going. I think there will be happy ending to this as I can't see Ford just leaving you hanging off a cliff. Hang in there!!!!

#26 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [steve_] by tim156

Jul 29, 2012 (10:20 am)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Jul 20, 2012 7:35 pm)
This morning I took a 210 mile road trip which consisted of approximately 105 miles on the interstate and 105 miles of two lane highway. It was a dream to drive and I don’t regret at all upgrading from my Focus, despite fewer mpg’s and a higher monthly payment. This 2.0 has great power and acceleration and goes like crazy when you need it to. The 6 speed is smooth, but sometimes seems to be searching for the best gear to often. Overall the ride is smooth and the cabin is very quiet. The ride is a little harsh going over expansion joints and imperfections in the road traveling at freeway speeds, but that’s to be expected for an SUV. The steering is very responsive in turns and curves and requires very little driver response in the straights. I tried to activate the Curve Control but couldn’t. I guess between the Torque Vectoring and me being chicken, I may never experience that feature.
If you want to squeeze out the best mpg’s, you will need to be very light on the accelerator. I noticed when you take off from a stop with a heavy foot, the average mpg’s drop very quickly. The highway portion of the trip in Western Wisconsin was all curving, rolling hills, with small towns every 8 to 15 miles or so apart. The mpg’s reading is really sensitive on this car, much more than my Focus. It reacts to nearly every transmission shift when it’s under any kind of load and drops a few tenths going up hills and vice versa going down, no surprise. The best mpg I got was 34.5, driving 55 on a straight flat road. On the rolling hills, with the cruise set at 58 (Wisconsin Troopers are notorious), I was getting 29-31 mpg’s and generally when I’d cruise into a town it would increase to 31.2 and drop to 28.4 as I got back up to speed. I’ve always done this, but it’s a good idea to use the accelerator to gradually get back up to speed then reset the cruise, rather than hitting the resume button, downshifting and racing to speed, your mpg’s will take a BIG hit when the turbo kicks in. I did take it up to 110 for a brief time, maybe 45 seconds to a minute and it was smooth and handled really well. I tried to run it at different speeds; at 75 for 10 miles it read 26.2, at 70 I got 26.6 and at 60 got 28.7 and climbing, but I had to exit to head east to Wisconsin. Seems the mpg sweet spot is right around 60, again, no surprise. For the entire trip I averaged 28.7 mpg on Trip 2.
It was a rainy and dreary morning and the rain sensitive wipers worked great, there are much more reliable and consistent than my Focus. Yesterday, after much work, I finally got the seat to where I like it. I only got out of the car twice and my butt and legs were comfy the whole time, no circulation cut off on my legs like in the Focus. Being able to tilt the front of the seat cushion down really helps. The Escape seat is wider and my left leg doesn’t get strained by the seat bolster. There are a few things that could be improved on. The interior could use a cubby for cell phones, change or whatever. The side windows could use a rain channel, (remember cars before the 80’s that had a big chrome rain channel) because the rain pours in off the roof. It was humid and the windshield fogged up easily, all I wanted to do is have some air flow but couldn’t, had to use the defroster, which runs the condenser, which lowers mpg’s. I don't like the look of side window deflectors, but they're a must if you want to drive with the window cracked when it's raining.
The fit and finish of my interior is perfect. All the pieces line up, are tight and evenly spaced. There are no rattles, squeaks or thumps. There is some minor creasing in one area on the passenger seat and on the drivers side rear seat where the cloth and leather meet, but nothing to get worried about and someone not looking for it would never notice. Other than those two minor things, I couldn’t find anything wrong with the interior, and I looked. The paint is flawless, but I suppose I might find something when I wax. All the doors and hatch are aligned perfect, all the body lines match and the tires were only inflated to 40 psi rather than 36. All in all a great package, excellent work LAP.
I hope this helps those thinking of buying one, and gets those waiting for theirs even more psyched.

#27 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [steve_] by tim156 by lateralg

Jul 29, 2012 (11:43 am)

Good report on a good vehicle.
 
FWD or 4WD?
 
Did you experience much torque steer?
 
Was there a passenger or any other load in the passenger side of the vehicle?

#28 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [tim156] by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Jul 29, 2012 (11:59 am)

Replying to: tim156 (Jul 29, 2012 10:20 am)
searching for the best gear to often
 
Seems to be a more common observation with new cars these days; I think the programming is "aggressively" searching for mpg savings (as further indicated by your mpg readings comment).
 
I miss "exterior" rain gutters.

#29 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [tim156] by al63017

Jul 29, 2012 (12:20 pm)

Replying to: tim156 (Jul 29, 2012 10:20 am)
Okay you have to be an English teacher or a writer. What a great write-up. I have not read anything nearly that helpful in any of the reviews. I hesitate to put that hypen in this response as no clue if that is good grammar. An actual driving experience rather than vague descriptions.

#30 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [steve_] by tim156 [lateralg] by tim156

Jul 29, 2012 (1:30 pm)

Replying to: lateralg (Jul 29, 2012 11:43 am)
I have a FWD, Titanium. I read your comments on torque steer and punched it a few times to see and I did not notice any. I went with the FWD because I live in the city and rarely need 4WD. I also wanted a little more mpg's. When I do go off road it's over there, not out there.

#31 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [al63017] by tim156

Jul 29, 2012 (1:27 pm)

Replying to: al63017 (Jul 29, 2012 12:20 pm)
At work I write a lot of reports for Senior Management so over the years I've had to learn to be a better writer. I wasn't all that smart back in high school. My majors were Parking Lot, with a minor in reefer and Under the Hood with a minor in Beer Drinking.

#32 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [steve_] by lateralg

Jul 29, 2012 (2:05 pm)

Replying to: Stever@Edmunds (Jul 29, 2012 11:59 am)
There's a good chance the shift quality will improve as the electronics compare actual shift timing with optimal, and tweak the shift points. You can help by repeating the "problem" shifts.

#33 of 663 Re: 2013 Ford Escape [lateralg] by Stever@Edmunds HOST

Jul 29, 2012 (2:15 pm)

Replying to: lateralg (Jul 29, 2012 2:05 pm)
Good point, could still be in "learn" mode.

Messages Page 4 of 67

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