2008 Ford Escape Hybrid Road Test

i dont get this

"temporary solution before diesel or a more efficient technology is fully implemented"

hybrid something before going over to diesel???

diesel is old and i hope never realy a sollutions for the future

here in europe diesel is already almost the nr engine used in small cars to

 

Yeah, that's a half-baked article. The first sentence was wrong, the last paragraph is a misconception, and you pointed out a third thing in the middle (and I just skimmed it quickly). Despite all this, the author did come out in favor of the vehicle. I added a feedback, which luckily was easy to do, with the following information, much of what I gleaned from a Feb. 7th report at GreenCarCongress.com:

 

perhaps a little off topic, but is there a good compendium of Ford Escape Hybrid (that'll probably be FEH, right?) information? I've found myself in a position to want to have a little back up research done in case my subaru outback transmission repair goes badly.
I'm looking for real reviews and real-life issue reporting: stuff like does the FEH have a traction control problem? Are the seats comfortable, etc.

Thanks

 

Its obvious from the comments about the CVT that the author doesn't have the slightest clue how the hybrid system works.

BTW, does anyone have any links to Technical Articles about the FEH? I am interested in how similar / different it is compared to THS and also I know of someone on another board who is on the fence whether to buy one or not. I could pass the links on to him.

 

Dog,

Sorry no technical articles. Maybe try Wikipedia?

However, I have read that Ford spend a good deal of money developing their hybrid system only to find that it was very similar to Toyota's. They ended up signing aggreements with Toyota so Toyota would not go after them for patent infringement. All in all I have heard it is a well designed, fairly sophisticated Hybrid system. Not some cheap Rube Goldberg system like the Saturn Aura.

 

I test drove its twin the Mercury Mariner Hybrid and was pleasantly surprised. It had an ECON button that basically just allowed the car to shut off the A/C when coming to a stop to allow the ICE to shut off. Like I said, it wasn't a bad drive. If you wanted 4wd it's be the way to go as long as you don't mind that it's a little smaller than most SUVs ... otherwise I'd have to say the Toyota Highlander Hybrid is the way to go ... until they redesign the Lexus RX 400h.

 

No joy at Wikipedia. I tried the external links, but I'm thinking of something like John1701's Prius owners guide or Hobbit's links for the Prius.

The Ford website is really awful for getting any technical information. Under "Technical" they feature a MP3 player jack and the optional Navigation system.

 

He is absolutely right when it comes to hybrids losing momentum--at least when it comes to the Escape and Mariner hybrids. However, it has nothing to do with the vehicle itself, but supply. Here in San Antonio, there have been two Mariner hybrids on dealers lots (all of them) in the last six months. When people go to look at them, the cars are simply not there, and salemen tell me takes six months to order one. Most folks will buy another car rather than waiting six months!

 

I test drove a FEH over a year ago and the dealer there came with me on a testdrive. He spent the entire time poo-pooing the car and saying that high gas prices are temporary. What an idiot! I drove there in my Prius and expressed interest in a 4x4 hybrid, and he was falling all over himself trying to persuade me NOT to buy his car.

I don't know if all Ford dealers are instructed to sway people away from the FEH and into other cars or what, but I haven't been back to a Ford dealer since, and don't plan on it. It was a strange experience.

 

I think that sales people are sometimes given bonuses for selling the slower moving inventory. So they try to steer you to those cars.

My last visit to a Ford dealer was Labor Day weekend 2006 before I bought the Prius. I was looking at 4 door hatchbacks, so I wanted to check the Ford Focus. They were offering 0%, 72 mo financing on all new vehicles. The salesman wasn't sure if they had a Focus w/ 4 doors & Hatchback on the lot. We managed to find one, but I could tell by my GF's reaction that she didn't like the car when we sat in it. She started asking about the Mustang that was nearby. The salesman didn't attempt to sell the Focus at all, immediately steering us over to a Mustang GT convertible. (I did make it clear that the car was for me, and I was looking for a commute vehicle). We test drove the Mustang, probably burning more fuel in a short test drive than I would use in a week of commuting with the Prius.

We also looked at many trucks that they had on the lot. Most had discounts of 10 - 11k from the MSRP because they were last years model. I made it clear that I already owned a vehicle with bad mileage (Ford Explorer), I was interested in something with good mileage.

I came away from the experience realizing that even with the 0% financing deal, they didn't have any vehicles that I wanted to buy. I ended up buying the Prius the following February.

 

The strange thing is the guy knew I drove a Prius. He also didn't try to steer me to another car either. Maybe he knew I wouldn't be interested. All he kept saying is that hybrids are a fad, since gas prices were going to come back down. This was a year and half ago, when gas was cheaper, BTW.

 

Its a pretty rare salesman that bad mouths his own product. Not an effective strategy in most cases.

As far as I know, the FEH is a pretty good vehicle reliability wise and otherwise. I'm just curious about the operational details for my own knowledge. But so far, I haven't seen any good technical articles.

 

When my GF was car shopping, she finally decided she wanted an Avalon, but to meet her budget, she would need to find a used one. We went to one of the local Toyota dealers, and she specifically told the sales guy that she wanted to see a used Avalon. He said "Sure I think we have one right over here". He led us around the lot for a couple of hours and tried his best to get her to buy a Camry (they had a ton of them).

Finally, we left and she says to me " I feel kind of bad, he spent so much time with us"

I said " Why do you feel bad? He never showed you any used Avalons, in fact, they didn't have any on the lot. He could have saved you a lot of wasted time."

It was only then that she realized that I was correct, he never showed us what she specifically asked to see. She ended up buying a used '01 Avalon from another Toyota dealer. They actually brought the car in by doing a dealer trade because they knew she wanted to buy one.

 

I didn't say I wanted one--I am very happy with my HCH. I just made the comment they are not very available. I just checked local inventory, and there are no Escape or Mariner hybrids available in San Antonio. You can walk into a dealer's lot and buy a Honda or Toyota hybrid; you have not been able to do that at a Ford or Mercury dealer in San Antonio for about the past year. They probably lose money on their hybrids, and quite simply don't want to sell very many of them!