Same for my 18 and 21. I bought the 21 when the lease ended as it had so few miles on it. Plan on keeping it for several more years at least as I now WFH but I’m always monitoring the changes each year.   Lack of a second row bench is a deal breaker for me as I’m in a wheelchair and need the flat surface to lay my wheelchair on. 

I got a bench seat in a 2019 Navigator. I special ordered it.

You may enjoy this video showing the battery removal process.  It’s long but worth it if you want to see what’s involved.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SX0K5MvCHQ     Also, MSN article mentions a price for a 91 kWh battery and it’s ~ $25k.    

It's good to know that Ford made removing the battery pack relatively easy and straightforward, that shows ease of repair and people being able to own these vehicles long term are important considerations to them.    As for the escape hybrids, yeah super reliable. I know they made some tweaks and adjustments here and there, but from my understanding, the hybrid system in the maverick is pretty similar to what's in those older escapes, that's why I was ok with buying a first model year because it was such a proven powertrain lol. 

I don’t know about the supposed car news, it’s probably not what people are expecting in terms of of low cost affordable vehicles. I have a hunch that Ford wants to charge buyers just as much for a Mustang based car as they do for a similar utility…   Europe and ROW markets may want smaller more efficient cars but I doubt that most American buyers will want to go back to one,  I feel like Farley thinking out loud.

Granted, what Hackett inherited from Fields was awful  and MEB would have been great  if just ordered in from VW with different top hats, Ford doing its own production is where the six year time lag came in…

It is no different than someone putting a "Police Interceptor" badge on a (insert non-descript Ford model here) and driving it around Michigan....

Aaaaand the second row bench is once again gone from the Black Label. 😡   Was not available when Black Label started, was added around 2020/2021, and is now gone again.   And that split gate is very problematic for loading my wheelchair. Ugh!   Anyone know the weight capacity of the bottom part of the tailgate? Can two adults sit on it?

If my memory serves me correctly, tin a discussion with a mechanic at the dealership related to the MME I was driving, they indicated that you remove the rocker panel covers and other odds and ends which allows access to the lift locations in order to allow the battery to be dropped out. They had a special rack for them  which helped handle the battery.  It sounded like a fairly simple process to gain access to the pack, but I’m sure there’s a little more to it.  He didn’t elaborate on actual module replacement or anything like that, so I’m unsure how hard that process is but it doesn’t seem like it would be that complicated to pop modules out.    Regarding your comment about Ford’s hybrid system, when I was living in Chicago, a lot of taxi services used Gen two Ford escapes with the hybrid system. In talking with the drivers they could put a couple hundred thousand miles on them typically without major problems. Obviously that’s anecdotal, however, taxi service is very hard on vehicles, especially when dealing with roads from the Midwest and the stop and go traffic.  There were many Ford escapes back then, which is why I was disappointing when the next gen arrived without the hybrid system.  

I’m not crazy about the 64-68 or 71+ mustangs styling.  I think the 69-70 is the pinnacle of Mustang design, especially the Mach 1 and Boss versions.  If I had the room I would seriously try to find a 70 Boss 302 in grabber blue with black stripes and black interior.  To go with the 77 F100 Ranger XLT short bed two tone red and black of course…. 😎