Ford Escape?
 

My daughter has saved her pennies and wants a small SUV. She has her eyes on a used Ford Escape. Anybody have any experience?

What's the good, the bad, and the ugly?

Love my '14 titanium. Coming up on 30k trouble free miles. My parents and grandparents both have them too and love them. Great driving cars.

This is what you have to deal with here in the rust belt on a 2004 Escape. Most prevalent on the passenger side.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1469831699.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1469831724.jpg

Poison
 

Rusty rear wheel arches, and once it gets a taste for front wheel bearings at $4-5oo each it never stops. I wouldn't recommend it. There are better small SUV's

What year Escape would her pennies buy?

Plenty of Ford Escapes running around here in Mississippi, but I've found they have a fairly choppy ride partly due to the short wheelbase. I prefer my Subaru Legacy Outbacks, and any service or repair parts I ever could need are found through online dealerships in the PNW at a major discount vs. the lone Subaru dealer in the State, where OEM parts are typically Retail + 25%.

Bought a 2009 and wouldn't do it again. My 20001 CRV was better than the 2009 Escape. Rust in the wheel arches and just a cheap feel.

Rusty... they are Mazdas. A friend has a 2012 and the rear wheel arches are done. CRV is a great vehicle.

They are o.k but here in the rust belt, they do fall apart. I do quite a bit of service work on these, axles, wheel bearings, driveshafts, 4x4 wiring, plugs, coils. Id take a CRV all day over an escape, but the Ford is probably a whole lot cheaper to purchase .