My Brief Experience with a 2020 Escape SE

[rmc523]

My dad has recently had his truck in for service, and he wound up getting a loaner vehicle - a 2020 Escape SE.  I know we've all seen pictures, read reviews, etc. of it - good and bad - but I figured I'd take the opportunity to see what the real deal was and took it for a short drive around town.

 

First a couple of pictures:

 

The overall exterior design is nice looking, though perhaps not necessarily "exciting".   I personally like the back end more than the front, which is a bit bug eyed - other iterations of the European front ends look better.  It does have some nice curves and surfacing that may not be evident in photos.  Being an SE, it is missing some nicer trim pieces, but I don't think I'd say it looks cheap.

 

 

 

Moving to the interior - it's mixed.  Some people have said it's ultra cheap/low rent, and I'll disagree with that assessment.  It's not anything extravagant (I don't think higher trims change drastically aside from the silver piece across the dash becomes a wood look piece and the digital gauges), but it's not horrible either.  It is, however, missing some of the nice detailing and trim pieces that I've seen in photos of the competition.  Upper pieces are a nice "rubberized"/squishy, while lower parts are hard plastic.  Switchgear is mostly Ford parts bin stuff, but I don't see that as a problem - the switches and everything works just fine.  The lower center console area where the shifter is is a sort of textured plastic.  In an odd obvious cost cutting move, the center air vents have a nice looking silver accent on 2 of the 5 slats, as well as an accent around the bottom of the vents.  The outer vent doesn't have those same silver accents, which gives it a cheaper look.  I'm not sure if higher trims resolve this issue.

 

 

The standard gauges.....when I saw them in pictures, they look very cheap.  Seeing them in person, I do agree that they look out of place in a modern car without some more detailing (even just some chrome rings around the speedo and tach would dress it up some), but they aren't as bad as photos suggested.  The small color screen in between them is nice to have, as well.

 

 

The door panel design also leaves something to be desired.  The front doors are better than the back, but the little cutout accent things look like what they are - filler to have some sort of "design" in an otherwise giant expanse of soft touch plastic in the front and in the back an even bigger expanse of hard tupperwear like plastic.

 

 

I still don't understand the complaints on the rear seat legroom.  I'm 6'0" and have the front seats set how I'd sit, and while I do have the rear seats all the way back in the photo, there's plenty of room in that setup.  If the rear seats were set all the way forward, my knees would be against the chairs, but when you can slide the seats, unless you had to, I don't see why you'd have them in any position but as far back as they go.  One each of a USB-C and USB-A port are in the back of the lower center console for rear passengers.

 

 

 

Now for the driving part.....

 

First, for some reason, the tilt feature on the steering wheel/column was not working on this model.  I even looked up the order guide to see if it another cost cutting move and whether it just didn't have it, or if it wasn't working.  Well, under the standard equipment, it lists the tilt/telescoping wheel, so it wasn't functioning here for some reason.

 

Going into this overall look at the new Escape, after having read reviews of how sluggish and slow and noisy and terrible the 3 cylinder EcoBoost was, I expected to be vastly underwhelmed and as if I could go faster if I pedaled car Flintstone mobile style.  With a Mustang GT in the garage, just about anything else will feel slow, so when driving different vehicles, I always try to judge the vehicle on what it is/what it's supposed to be doing/competing against and not a blanket "THIS IS SLOOWWWWW" compared to what I'm used to, as that wouldn't serve a purpose.  I'm also not afraid to say if the powertrain didn't live up to expectations and underperformed, even if they were low to begin with because of the aforementioned reviews.  So with that said, I 100% disagree with the reviews that said the 3 cylinder EcoBoost was a bad or horrible sounding engine.  On the contrary, I was absolutely impressed by the little engine, and would've thought it was a 4 cylinder had I not known otherwise.  I thought it performed quite well in this vehicle - it didn't feel sluggish at all.The only time I found some sluggishness was when I had to brake quickly for a car in front of me unexpectedly turning, and then quickly speeding back up, it took a second for it to "catch up".  Otherwise, under normal driving, it worked great.  I was also surprised to find the SE has driving modes including normal, sport, eco, and weather (I think there's a 5th but I don't recall).  Sport model also wakes up the gearing and tightens the steering to make the driving even more fun.  

 

I found the ride to be smooth and relatively quiet.  Upon full acceleration, the engine does make noise, but I didn't find it obnoxiously loud or harsh like reviews have said.  I've included a video below for you to see.  Guess I should've continued it down to idle to see a comparison, but oh well.  I didn't observe fuel economy, because in such a short drive, had I reset it, the number would've been ridiculous and not at all representative of what it could get.

 

 

https://i.imgur.com/MqKedDm.mp4

 

 

 

I should preface my closing thoughts by saying I have not driven any of the newest competition, nor have I been in them at the auto shows in a while (I need to make a better effort at that should Covid have not been the final nail in the coffin for auto shows - let's hope not).

 

On its own, I found the Escape to be seemingly very competitive.  It drove well, despite what certain other reviews have said.  The engine has some pep despite being a 3 cylinder, and the selectable drive modes in even this SE trim help you further tailor the driving experience to whatever way you want to drive.  The interior, while I'd agree is not as detailed as the competition and would benefit from some stylistic upgrades, it's not the horrid playskool level interior it's been made out to be.  Interior space was great front and back and in the storage area.  I think it'd be a great choice for anyone looking for a compact crossover.

[fuzzymoomoo]

Your description of the rear door panel is exactly how I would describe that of a 2012-18 Focus, and I haven't heard many people say bad things about the interior of that car outside of the rear seat room. 

[T-dubz]

Nice review. It’s funny how people can drive the same vehicle and come away with completely different impressions. I remember the interior being a noticeable step down from my 2013 fusion se and 2017 escape, both in quality and design. For an almost $30k (msrp) vehicle, I just expected more, especially when my fusion was less expensive. It would seem to be a perfectly acceptable interior on a 22-23k vehicle, which is probably the range this is selling at anyways. 

 

 

[tbone]

I appreciate you taking the time to provide your thoughts on the Escape. With any media nowadays it’s hard to determine if there are ulterior motives behind their stories.  Hopefully you can get an opportunity to drive a couple of its competitors, so you can see how it stacks up.  I think that will provide the best perspective in relation to what the automotive reviewers have said.    

[MKX1960]

I got to ride in the back of one of these. I'm nearly 6.2 and had plenty of room. The seat was comfortable as was the ride quality. My sister was trying it out. She didn't like that it felt too low to the ground and she wasn't liking the rotary shift dial, although, she thought she could get used to it. In the end, she bought a 19 Titanium. I like that better as well. I like the way the back end sits up high

[fuzzymoomoo]

I'm still not a fan in a sense of its an answer to a question that wasn't asked but the rotary shifter doesn't take long at all to get used to. 

[tbone]

49 minutes ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

I'm still not a fan in a sense of its an answer to a question that wasn't asked but the rotary shifter doesn't take long at all to get used to. 

I agree. It is still unnecessarily taking up space in the center console.  I really don’t get the point.  

[probowler]

What was wrong with column shifters? With normal handle shifters?

 

Shift dials just seems like fixing something that wasn't broke.

[rmc523]

2 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

I'm still not a fan in a sense of its an answer to a question that wasn't asked but the rotary shifter doesn't take long at all to get used to. 

 

42 minutes ago, probowler said:

What was wrong with column shifters? With normal handle shifters?

 

Shift dials just seems like fixing something that wasn't broke.

 

The only "problem" I see them "solving" is that they can use the same rotary shifter across every vehicle in the lineup if they want, so they only have to design one part instead of different shift levers for each model like they had been doing.

 

Beyond that, it's "new" and "trendy" since shifting is electronic these days anyway.

[kyle]

Nice review and looks like you took the time to compare what has been said, to what you see and experience.  Like others have said, for the cost of the vehicle (MSRP-since that is what Ford set that price), it fails to impress me. Besides the damn near 100% one color dark gray interior, I hate the gauge layout. It just looks so dated and cheap. The fonts and needles are the same one's Ford has been using for ages, on top of the small center screen, it just reaks of cost cutting. Back seats look like plenty of leg room which is good to see. 

 

Can't comment on the drivetrain performance, nor have I been in other small SUV's much at all (besides the everly more popular Rogue courtesy of National Car Rental-which besides being huge inside-just is terrible) and my own Jeep Cherokee, 4 cyl. which is slow, but I'm not driving the dog shit out of it either. 

 

I do like some of the exterior styling and color choices, with me still undecided about the front end-just looks like it needs some more push from the designers-almost looks like it was "design by committee and don't fuck it up."

 

If it was my money, I would probably be leaning towards the Mazda CX-5, Subaru Crosstrek or maybe the Escape Hybrid. 

[silvrsvt]

7 hours ago, probowler said:

What was wrong with column shifters? With normal handle shifters?

 

Shift dials just seems like fixing something that wasn't broke.

 

I think it was two things-simpler/cheaper to make (no linkages needed) and from what I understand it also removes a step in using parking assistance or other automated driving features. For example, if I use the parallel parking feature, I need to shift it into R (its been so long since I used it so might be wrong), having a digital/non linkage based shifter, allows the car to change the gear for you and all you need to do is control breaking. 

 

I've driven a couple Fusion hybrid rentals with the rotary shifter and it was fine. 

Edited June 7, 2020 by silvrsvt
fixed a word

[fuzzymoomoo]

8 hours ago, tbone said:

I agree. It is still unnecessarily taking up space in the center console.  I really don’t get the point.  

I think that's my biggest gripe. It was stated when they started switching over to it that it saves space on the console, yet it doesn't like they actually did anything with that space that was supposedly saved. 

 

26 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

I think it was two things-simpler/cheaper to make (no linkages needed) and from what I understand it also removes a step in using parking assistance or other automated driving features. For example, if I use the parallel parking feature, I need to shift it into R (its been so long since I used it so might be wrong), having a digital/non linkage based shifter, allows the car to change the gear for you and all you need to do is control breaking. 

 

I've driven a couple Fusion hybrid rentals with the rotary shifter and it was fine. 

There is a neat safety feature where if you turn the car off with it still in gear it automatically shifts to park. I've accidentally done that before in my garage and noticed the dial shifting itself. 

[sullynd]

I loath the dial. 
 

It’s one of the things that bothers me about my Mach-E reservation. 
 

I’d even rather have column mount than dial. 
 

The buttons on Lincoln aren’t much better.

[2005Explorer]

20 minutes ago, sullynd said:

I loath the dial. 
 

It’s one of the things that bothers me about my Mach-E reservation. 
 

I’d even rather have column mount than dial. 
 

The buttons on Lincoln aren’t much better.

I know it's all electronic shifting anyhow these days, but I really like having an actual shift lever in the console of my Ranger. It just feels good to shift it. I know that sounds silly, but it just does. I also still have to turn a key on the steering column to start it and although most people want push button start these days, I still like the action of putting the key in and turning it. Maybe I'm just old fashioned. ? 

 

I hope they keep an actual shift lever for the Bronco, Ranger and F-Series going forward.

[akirby]

8 hours ago, probowler said:

What was wrong with column shifters? With normal handle shifters?

 

Shift dials just seems like fixing something that wasn't broke.

A.   It’s a lot cheaper 
 

B.  No mechanical bits to break or wear out

 

C.  The computer can control it - puts it in Park when you turn it off, etc.

[fuzzymoomoo]

22 minutes ago, 2005Explorer said:

I know it's all electronic shifting anyhow these days, but I really like having an actual shift lever in the console of my Ranger. It just feels good to shift it. I know that sounds silly, but it just does. I also still have to turn a key on the steering column to start it and although most people want push button start these days, I still like the action of putting the key in and turning it. Maybe I'm just old fashioned. ? 

 

I hope they keep an actual shift lever for the Bronco, Ranger and F-Series going forward.

Yeah I'll disagree with you on the key. I never want another new car with a key ever again. 

[probowler]

Interesting, I didn't realize there were technical benefits with the dial shifters. While I'm still not a fan, I appreciate actually knowing better how it all works.

[T-dubz]

 

if they really wanted to save room, they’d just use the piano key shifter from Lincoln. It takes up zero console space, and is easier to use.

[tbone]

3 hours ago, akirby said:

A.   It’s a lot cheaper 
 

I’m sure this is primarily the reason, if not the only reason. 

[dlghtjr90]

It would be good to further clarify exactly what aspect of rotary shifter that folks don't like.

It is correct that the dial shifter, or shift-by-wire in general are necessary for automated parking where it can automatically shift between R and D, and also provide safety benefit such as when you open the door while in D and shift to P.

 

If people simply don't like the dial design, then it's possible to have something like you see in BMW i3:

 

Where is it column shifter, but it is more or less the same shift-by-wire mechanism that is positioned next to the steering wheel column.

 

 

[rperez817]

Thank you rmc523 sir for your detailed Ford Escape review. You are an excellent photographer! ? In particular your photo of the instrument cluster is the best "real world" one I've seen. Just about everyone who has driven a 2020 Escape S, SE, or SEL probably got memories of a cheap 1990s econobox or a lawn tractor when looking at the instruments.

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by rperez817

[ole]

Regarding plastic door panels on rear doors.  Kids in car seats kicking them and no damage, easy to clean and the kids don't care that they are plastic.

I have dial shifter on 2017 fusion SE and like it, it eliminates reaching around a shift lever to reach controls, cup holders and cubbys.  Also not mentioned above is that if you open the drivers door it automatically goes to park.

 

[FordBuyer]

4 hours ago, 2005Explorer said:

I know it's all electronic shifting anyhow these days, but I really like having an actual shift lever in the console of my Ranger. It just feels good to shift it. I know that sounds silly, but it just does. I also still have to turn a key on the steering column to start it and although most people want push button start these days, I still like the action of putting the key in and turning it. Maybe I'm just old fashioned. ? 

 

I hope they keep an actual shift lever for the Bronco, Ranger and F-Series going forward.

 

I felt the same way before I bought my Escape hybrid. Had never had a rotary dial or push button start. Like all new tech, you get used to it and never want to go back to the way it used to be.  I don't even think I could go back to an all ICE ever again. If I live long enough to buy a new vehicle again, it will have to get better than 50mpg. Three years ago, I thought my 2017 Crosstrek getting 29mpg combined was good mileage. Not anymore. It also had gear shift selector, keyed start with starter motor, and noisy engine. Not going back to that. 

[CKNSLS]

1 hour ago, rperez817 said:

Thank you rmc523 sir for your detailed Ford Escape review. You are an excellent photographer! ? In particular your photo of the instrument cluster is the best "real world" one I've seen. Just about everyone who has driven a 2020 Escape S, SE, or SEL probably got memories of a cheap 1990s econobox or a lawn tractor when looking at the instruments.

 

 

[CKNSLS]

It is a "rental grade interior" at least in this trim model.

 

Exterior is uninspiring.

 

Final verdict-a vehcile made to appeal to three product segments-that doesn't do an adequate job of appealing to one.