Has anyone traded their Ford Escape Hybrid for a Taco?

Hey guys,

I've been eyeballing a 2012 Ford Escape Hybrid. I've had my Taco for under a year and have already done almost 19k miles on it. People on Fuelly are AVERAGING 30mpg with it vs. my 19 in the taco. I hate that it can't tow anything and I'm sure I'll miss the bed on occasion, but honestly I don't tow much of anything these days or use the bed enough. I feel like I could get by without towing or the bed fairly easily. Moving would be more than just renting a trailer, but I think I could get by.

My question is: Has anyone here traded their Escape Hybrid for a Taco? If so, why (reliability, etc)?

Is anyone else taking a look at this thing?

Thanks!

 

Before you go out and buy a ford spend a day out infront of a ford delership repair garage and notice the amount of fords in getting fixed. Now...compare that to the number of Toyotas at the Toyota dealership getting repaired. Where i live there's absolutly no question as to which one to buy. Also...look at the resale value between the two. In the long run your better off staying with Toyota.

 

Yeah, I absolutely agree that the Taco will have better build quality. However, Fords HAVE been getting progressively better in the past 5 years or so.

Is the resale that bad for the Hybrid? I'd think that it would become increasingly attractive as gas prices go up.

 

I've looked at the Golf TDI, but they have a HPFP problem that I'm not going to be a part of. Vehicles from 500-100,000 miles have been affected for a total $7k repair bill that isn't always covered by VW's sketchy dealers.

I also want something thats 4WD/AWD and has cargo room. Preferably an SUV. I agree that the battery packs are very expensive, but they've also proven reliable so far.

Thanks for the input guys! Keep it coming!

 

I get your point-but you cannot judge a carmaker by its service center lines lol. How many of them are for maintainance, brakes, tires, upgrades etc. plus, maybe that Ford dealer is the only one for miles or Ford owners like it better than other service centers etc.
Far as the Escape-my personal opinion is it is way too expensive for a small SUV.

 

Hyundai has a lifetime battery warranty on their Sonata hybrid. The new Escape redesign might be out already so you should get a good deal on an Escape.

 

Absolutely agree. The way I had mine (tricked out of course) on the website...$38k!!! Butttt most of that comes back at resale time (I think).

 

Nice didn't realize they were redesigning. Hmm. I love the Taco, especially the 6 speed. But then again, I HATE my $450/mo gas bill, especially since I'm pretty careful with how much I drive other than commuting.

 

My girlfriend is looking at trading in her ford escape. Its an 08 limited and she paid like 32 OTD back in late 07. It has like 40k on it and the most she will get right now is like 18 and trade in is only like 16-17. The resale value is just HORRIBLE. My Tacoma holds its value SO MUCH BETTER. that, in itself, makes up for the gas mileage.

 

Wowww she's getting robbed, that sucks. Doesn't the hybrid have better resale though?

 

Have you done the math on how much more you'll spend to buy the Escape and trade the Taco vs. the gas cost you'll save? "Most" of the time re-capitalizing a vehicle isn't cost effective on mpgs alone.

 

I have no idea but that ford resale is just crap. I mean she is just hoping to break even cuz she still owes like 15-16 on it

 

ha man that's a lot of money-you can get a fully pimped Tundra for less!

 

op...have you concidered the Subaru Outback or Forester?

 

Nope, haven't. You're most likely very correct and it would be dumb for me to trade in my 1 year old taco for something new. But still. Having 1/2 again the gas mileage... man. Awesome.

 

Yeah for real. Tell me about it. But then I'd be doing 16mpg instead of 19! haha.

I have, yes, thanks for the suggestion. I really hate sitting low like that in a car. The Outback does look like a nice vehicle though and the gas mileage is pretty good, but I don't think good enough to trade in. I'm generally not interested unless a vehicle averages over 30. Less than that and it seems fairly insignificant.

 

I never understood the hybrids, I was averaging 28 mpg in my old 2wd GMC sonoma. And it was a 1991 with 120k on it! Point is like whipper said, there are plenty of non retarded (read non hybrid) cars out there that get 30+ MPG.

 

IMO if you are willing to trade out of your brand new Tacoma, it really isn't "doing it" for you. You seem to be not too happy with it. Especially trading down to such an unsalted cracker as the Escape

 

My wife has an '07 FEH (Ford Escape Hybrid). We will never buy another hybrid (or Ford, for that matter). Questionable battery life, dangerously reduced performance when performing its "battery maintenance" cycle, and extra coolant system parts that break down and leave you stranded.

I've had to replace the high mount brake light assembly due to sun rot, and it's about to need replacing again. The plastic HVAC blower squirrel cage cracked and went off balance, requiring a replacement. Driver side door weather stripping deteriorated and is melting (for lack of a better explanation). Hybrid system coolant pump went out to the tune of $550. Paint is chipping in odd places.

Two benefits to the hybrid...it never needs to be smogged and this one has 135,000 miles and it's still on the factory brakes.

 

I dunno, I do love my Tacoma. And I am 99% sure that I'll just suck up the bad gas mileage and enjoy the fact that it will always be running (unless I do something stupid to it). But I like to explore what else is out there. I've never actually driven a hybrid but I imagine the experience would be less than fun. Coming from a series of stick vehicles to a CVT hybrid is probably a leap.

Geez sounds horrible. Thanks for throwing in your 2 cents on this one. I guess that kinda goes along with what other people are saying about reliability vs. gas mileage. The equation pretty much evens it out. And at the end of the day, I'd prefer to have a running vehicle every morning.