I dunno, I kinda like it. Looks like they’re resurrecting the Escape body, the pre-2013 type before they went with the bicycle helmet profile. I had a black 09 Escape Hybrid loaded. That was a sweet ride. Wish I still had it.
My wife has been looking at the New RAV4 TRD, Highlander and 4runner-which is completely imported and still has a 4.0l 6cyl that it’s had for a while. I think 4 runner will be next to make a big change. And briefly thought about the Subaru Outback and Ascent.
I told her to wait on the new Bronco lineup. Then I heard Ford somewhat redesigned the Explorer for 2020 and it sits a little higher than before with a jump in power.
Safety, 23mpg +(average), AWD/4x4, 250+ hp/torque, 8.5"+ ground clearance, seating 6-7 would be nice but rules out the RAV4, Outback and maybe the baby Bronco.
5000 towing would be nice but 3500 would be fine too. My 2007 Tacoma is 6500.
I come from a Ford family, I’m Canadian but my father worked in middle management in Dearborn for them, they treated him very well and he has a nice pension from them. My sister worked for them in Windsor. I worked for them for a summer. I will always give them a chance when it comes to buying vehicles. Problem is I wouldn’t buy new here, cars are outrageously taxed here. Buying Ford used here means dealing with very expensive and sometimes hard to find parts. Labor cost is cheap, but finding a good Ford mechanic is challenging. I brought my Escape from Canada (long story) and at ten years old the prospect of starting to replace a lot of parts let me to decided to get my money out of it. I’ve decide to go without a car for a bit and take my time to find the right one here. Japanese and Korean vehicles have lots of parts and lots of guys skilled at working on them. I’ll probably buy some kind of Toyota with a good suspension so I can drive it anywhere here. Some of the best places to go to have the worst roads, naturally.
I grew up all about Ford’s. My whole family. First vehicle was a '90 F-150 300 straight-6… I sold it to an uncle with 268k on it. Then I played around with DSMs for a good 3-4 years, miss my '99! During that time I had a 6cyl '90 Taurus wagon for 1 winter for $500, beat the piss out of that thing!!!
Then I got my 07 Tacoma, love it and still have it! Only 145k on it. We had an '11 Sienna (swagger wagon) which I loved. But my wife wanted a truck so we traded it in for a '15 F-150. Her grandma retired from Ford so we got to use the Z plan on it. Had some bad luck with it, and my wife doesn’t always look where she’s backing up, even with a camera. Not does she slow down for deer! Lol…
First claim, an old guy backed into her at a Walmart parking lot while looking for a spot to park. Second claim, she backed into a tree at camp where she had no business trying to turn around. I had enough, time for steel aftermarket bumpers!!! Then she backs into my sister’s explorer, no damage to us but 1100 to the explorer-could hardly notice it(no claim, told her that ones coming out of her pay checks!!! Lol… Then she smoked 2 deer with the front bumper. Two dead deer and fortunately only one busted signal light.
Most fun I had with a vehicle:
With my Taurus wagon I hit a Coke truck while speeding the side streets to a Menards interview on black ice roads. I got out and assessed possible damage to the truck(not the car) and there wasn’t any so I said ‘hey, we got places to be, we good?’ On my way I went with a smashed passenger fender! Then a buddy(that was living with me) and I had an issue with starlings shitting on our vehicles so I had my BB gun from when I was a kid and one was sitting on my car of course I miss and shatter the rear driver side window! Nothing a roll of saran wrap and duct tape can’t fix-did the entire door and kept it locked. My buddy put a stick in the grill and an M&M wrapper in the hubcap… So I cruised around with it like that until the salt was off the roads! Took that thing drifting and busted into several snow Banks in the turn lanes and through snow drifts. My best memory with it was when 5 of us were going bowling, dressed kind of clean-cut and preppy, and went for a quick bite first. Rusty ass wagon runs out of gas at an intersection in UP ‘rush hour’ traffic and we had to push that ugly beast nearly a 1/4 mile to the nearest gas station! Maybe this is my favorite memory, that summer I sold it to a buddy for $50 and a week later the motor blew! Lol
