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My 2013 Escape Review


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Quick update on my 2013 Escape, came in a few weeks ago and taking official delivery this week.. It's very quiet on the road except for some (normal) wind noise around the side mirrors (only help would be SoundScreen glass on the side windows like the windshield, ala the new Taurus). The tires I have mixed feeling on, because of past experience with Continental tires, they do emit some noise on roads that are worn. Not sure what the longtivity of these tires are, but when they were putting these on the Fusions back in 06-09 they looked worn by 30K miles. Bad news is the 19" rims and this tire size the alternatives are limited. If I could of bought some Michelins for this thing that wouldn't throw off the speedometer I would. I have requested on Michelin's site to please come out with a tire replacement for this size. If someone would be interested in trading for their 18" rims for mine I might entertain that idea. The outside diameter of all 2013 Escape rim/tires are the same so the speedometer would be accurate after the swap.

 

The 2.0 ecoboost is a strong motor, very quiet and refined for a 4 cylinder. Not the same 4 cylinder noise and vibration from my previous 2012 Focus with the naturally aspirated 2.0. It has such linear torque in it's RPM range, that it doesn't feel any stronger when you get on the accelerator harder, which is mostly perception. It's just plain fast with this engine. Fuel economy is pretty good so far with only 1K miles on it, 26MPG in mixed driving and I have seen up to 32MPG in my 80 mile drive to/from work. Premium fuel with FWD 2.0. I expect the fuel economy to get slightly better as the vehicle breaks in. I am keeping the fuel log of the vehicle on fuelly.com.

 

The HID headlamps with LED running lamps are excellent and make the vehicle look much more expensive than it is running down the road. Precise in low beam and when the brights are turned on, above average throw distance. Never have had HID's on a vehicle I have owned, much better color temperature and clarity of vision at night. One neat additional touch is they have cornering lamps built in which come on with the turn signal, OR when the steering wheel is turned in that direction. Very cool and unexpected in something that doesn't have the Lincoln name on it.

 

Kick to open liftgate works great and much more useful then I thought it would be. Never noticed how many times I have my hands full loading or unloading. Great convienience and I am suprised no one has thought of it before now. Panoramic Vista roof is impressive and everyone notices it the first time they look inside the vehicle. MyFord touch is OK, same as other vehicles with the newest update, but still has some work to be done. I want the temperature readout in MFT back next to the clock and to get the song names in Sirius you have to go into the entertainment tab now, which sucks. Lost the names of the preset buttons once so far, but it's a known issue on all Fords with MFT on this update. Fix is to go to FM radio then back to Sirius. Sony 10 speaker radio is surperb otherwise.

 

Assembly of the vehicle seems good so far except for a stray nut or bolt that is rolling around either the drivers door or drivers footwell area. Disappointed this happened in assembly as I watched a video on training on the plant, an this is one of the things they were telling trainees to make sure not to let these things happen without telling someone as it's a major warranty and customer perception issue. Not sure what I am doing about this yet, was hoping it would lodge itself somewhere because I don't want the dealer tearing up the interior trying to find this thing. I hear it when I slow or accellerate whicle turning, not all the time. The Center console seems to have a little more shake than it should, maybe it's normal.

 

Also upon delivery the hood was tweaked on the drivers side that it didn't sit flush with the headlamp and bumper cover join when closed. Technicans at the dealership were able to coax it back into decent condition by tweaking the hood the opposite way. Not happy about this but happy that I didn't have to get a new hood without factory baked on paint.

 

That's it for now!

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Thanks everyone.....I am enjoying it.....much more vehicle than the 2012 Focus.....especially the overall refinement in NVH and transmission.

 

Maybe if you get that loose bolt or screw, you can use it for your centre console. :)

Thanks for the review, many happy miles.

 

That's a good point!

 

Thanx for the review. What are these "cornering lamps built in". These sound similar to the adaptive headlamps as seen on the lincoln MKX?

 

They are extra lamps built in the side of the headlamp assembly are positioned to illuminate the side you are turning, so you can see pulling into a dark driveway, etc. These lamps turn on when you activate the turn signal for that side, or when you turn the steering wheel to that side. So they are similar in what they provide, but not the same as the adaptive headlamps.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I picked mine up today and went on a 50 mile drive. I'm planning on a 4-5 hour road trip tomorrow and all I wanted to do is drive to my Brothers house, show him and come home, but I couldn't stop driving and never made it to my Bro's house. The MPG guage read 3.2 when I picked it up so after a reset and a drive on the inner city freeway, first ring suburb freeway and a County road, I pulled into the garage at 31.7 and the best I got was 33.4 All I can say is it's smooth, quiet and goes like crazy when you need it to. Everything is tight, fitted perfect and all lined up. I'm going to post a more complete review and pics tomorrow, but for right now I'm going to take it out for a drive... I can't help myself.

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This rambles on, so I hope I don't lose your interest.

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. The Escape 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 channels) 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 care for the look of side window deflectors, but they're a must if you want to have 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.

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I was going over the notes I dangerously scribbled down while driving (old school texting) and I'll just add: in my opinion the sound system is very good. I'm by no means an audiophile and I listen mostly to older and some newer rock, jazz and some country. I set the levels at +2 bass, +3 mid +3 treble and the balance and fade to 1 back and 2 right, all the sounds were clear and undistorted even at higher volumes.

A couple of nice touches are the secret under floor storage in the back seat, a hook to hold up the spare tire cover and there are several places to store tools, first aid, rags or whatever in the styrofoam support for the rear cargo floor. One thing that is poorly designed is the way the rear window gets covered with rain and I'm assuming in the winter snow and in the desert dust. I know all hatchback and SUV rear windows get covered because of the air flow, but this is particularly bad and my Focus wasn't nearly this bad. With the rain yesterday, I had to swipe the wiper every 10 seconds or so if I wanted the window clear, the intermittent wipe couldn't keep up. (I know there's a continual wipe). I'm no engineer, but if the rear spoiler extended out a little, some of this might be avoided. That's it.

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I used the Active Park Assist for the first time tonight, man, is that slick. I didn't need to park, but found a row of cars in my neighborhood, activated the feature, rolled past the first available spot, came up to the second and let her rip. It worked like a charm.

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What are the tire specs? Tread wear rating, etc... I see there aren't many replacement options (at this time) to choose for the Titanium Model.

Take a look at this.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiProContact&partnum=345HR9CPC&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Ford&autoYear=2013&autoModel=Escape&autoModClar=Titanium&tab=Specs

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The new Car and Driver came today with a six-way small SUV comparison...1.6 EcoBoost SEL (most expensive in the group) came in third topped by the Honda CRV (ugliest in the group in my opinion) and the Mazda CX-5 (slowest in the group). Other contenders (from the bottom) were the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV 4. The Escape came out on top in Motor Trend's comparison against the Honda, Mazda and Kia, It will be interesting to see where the new Hyundai Santa Fe lands in this group.

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So, day three of our new Escape...

 

The first 200 miles have been fun and have averaged about 26.6 mpg. The handling, performance and ride is reminds me very much of our 3 series BMW, one of our all-time favorite vehicles. We did have a little scare when, on the trip to the theater last night in West L.A., the GPS lost its mind and displayed the GPS symbol with a red X over it the whole way. It thought we were some 25 miles from where we really were… Fortunately, when we came out and restarted the car, it found itself. Unfortunaterly, it did it again the next day... This morning it complained about not having a SD card that had address capability but that went away after the second attempt... I’m hoping these were isolated incidents… My initial impressions are that MyFordSync is very powerful but still also a little buggy... I checked and I have 3.0.2 which is apparently the latest software rev.

 

I will bring up the GPS issue when we bring it in. It looks like a bad GPS module to me. Interestingly, a L.A. Times reporter who tested one a couple of months back mentioned in his review that he had problems with the nav system "getting lost" and not knowing where he was, so I wonder if he was experiencing the same issue...

 

There is a blemish on the top of the driver's side rear door they need to address anyway, so we'll get them to take care of all of it at the same time. The only other fit and finish or quality problems I have noted to date was a couple of wire harnesses hanging down from the rear, below the bumper. Apparently they never got clipped in to place and I took care of that myself, using some tie wraps to insure they stay in place (we have the tow package on ours). Hopefully this will be it for new car glitches...

 

I have splash guards and color matched side moldings to put on it, so those will be my first real projects...

 

BTW, I really like the looks and handling of the 19" wheels and tires, and that was one of the pluses of the Titanium package for us. They have a decent review and wear rating on Tire Rack so hopefully there wil be more options and a lower price when it comes time for replacement...

Edited by mogur
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We picked up our Tuxedo Black Titanium Escape last night. My first impressions are wow. Amazing tech, and amazing interior!. Going to take weeks to get comfortable with Nav, and all the other 8 billion settings. It rides super and seems to be really quiet. We dumped a 09 Jetta TDI, and that thing launched after the turbo lag, but the Escape is quite quick, and gets right on down the road. So far, impressed! :hyper:

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I doubt I will play with any of the tech on the car as it will be the wife's and I have no real interest in anything other than how to use the nav. I will also have to know how to use the tire pressure monitor and reset the oil life monitor, but that is about it. I have about as much dread in getting the car as she has giddiness.

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I washed and put a coat of wax on mine this morning and she is looking good. I can't wait to get it out in the sun. I found ONE small paint blemish on the right side rear panel, too small to notice or worry about. The paint quality is really stepped up on the Escape, my Focus had multiple paint flaws that I learned to live with. Someone mentioned in another post about all the plastic and the possibility of wax getting on it; yes, it's possible, very possible. It came off easily with my tried and true method of Windex on a tooth brush. One place that's easy to get wax on is the honey comb detail under the headlights, once again Windex and tooth brush took care of it. On and off rain and cloudy today, so it stays in the garage until tomorrow.

 

Queue the "What's the Best Wax to Use" topic.

 

I also got my fronts tinted with Llumar 50% with ceramic coating.

MN law only allows 50% for front door windows.

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I suspect the HVAC stays in whatever mode it was last in when the car was turned off...just like any other car.

 

The range is over 1 block with line of sight. I haven't tried further. You can configure the remote start in the driver's information panel. The options are:

 

Heater/AC: Auto or Last Settings

Front Defrost: Auto or Off

Rear Defrost: Auto or Off

Duration: 5/10/15 minutes

Quiet Start: On/Off

Restore Defaults

System: Enable/Disable

 

In the manual, the section on Remote Start and settings appears to be generic across all Ford models because it discusses heated steering wheels, cooled seats, etc. Since the heated seats are controlled by a manual dial and are not configurable in the driver panel, I imagine they will return to last setting.

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