Trade Focus for Escape?

[t2sj1]

Due to a job change I need to get an all wheel drive/4 wheel drive vehicle. I'm thinking about trading in my automatic 2012 SE Hatchback Focus for an automatic 2009 Escape XLT 4x4/AWD. I've read that the 2009 Escapes have had some transmission problems. I'm worried about trading one problem automatic transmission for another. Does anyone have any experience with the Escape? Thanks!

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[Phokus]

Dunno about the 09 but my aunt has a '10 Escape 4WD Limited with all the goodies except park assist and chrome wheels.
No problems there. She did have two of the wheels de-laminate and chip though. They replaced those under warranty

[mac.mogul]

I would shoot for a 2011/2012 Escape. Lots of dealers are trying to get rid of them to make room for 2013 Escapes. You might be able to find a good deal.

[kam327]

I had a '08 Tribute V6 AWD, just a rebadged Escape. I sold it at around 30k miles but had 0 issues during that time. Fuel economy sucked though. Was only getting around 20mpg on the same commute I'm now getting almost 35mpg with the Focus. Even my Explorer V8 2WD got 17mpg on that commute.

[BiffTannen]

Might be an option, however you could run into issues if you don't have much equity in the Focus. Let us know how it turns out.

[American Henchman]

I have an 05 escape. and I would not trade it for the world. 130k on the clock and she still runs like a champ. only issue i have had is the alternator. which is in the worst possible location ever. behind and above the half shafts below the exhaust. you have to take the half shafts out to replace the alt. Oil leaks at the valve covers are common on all years of escapes. easy repair to do. i will be fixing mine in a couple of weeks. other than that, it has been the best vehicle for snow and ice. and my wife and i can tow our fishing boat with it.

[PratoN]

Originally Posted by American Henchman

I have an 05 escape. and I would not trade it for the world. 130k on the clock and she still runs like a champ. only issue i have had is the alternator. which is in the worst possible location ever. behind and above the half shafts below the exhaust. you have to take the half shafts out to replace the alt. Oil leaks at the valve covers are common on all years of escapes. easy repair to do. i will be fixing mine in a couple of weeks. other than that, it has been the best vehicle for snow and ice. and my wife and i can tow our fishing boat with it.

My 2002 Escape has 170k on it. Transmission was replaced under warranty fairly early and I replaced the power steering pump.

Most recently I've had to replace the valve cover gasket, pretty much the entire front suspension, and a few other things. But now the cats are bad/clogged... of course they're built into the manifolds and cost $300+ a piece just for the parts. I'm debating if it's even worth my time - which would suck if it's not considering how much money I've just put into the thing replacing every component in the front suspension.

[kam327]

Originally Posted by t2sj1

I paid about $18,000 for the Focus. I can't remember the exact amount.

Perfect, thanks.

Originally Posted by PratoN

My 2002 Escape has 170k on it. Transmission was replaced under warranty fairly early and I replaced the power steering pump.

Most recently I've had to replace the valve cover gasket, pretty much the entire front suspension, and a few other things. But now the cats are bad/clogged... of course they're built into the manifolds and cost $300+ a piece just for the parts. I'm debating if it's even worth my time - which would suck if it's not considering how much money I've just put into the thing replacing every component in the front suspension.

I don't know dude, for a 11-year old car with 170k on it, that doesn't sound all that bad to me. Now that you've replaced all that stuff you may have another 100k care free miles.....

$1,000 a year for maintenance or $5,000 a year for payments......

[mark3inline]

The Focus isn't an automatic, it's a DCT, manual trans shifted automaticly. The Escape is an automatic, it's parts are more closely shared with the Fusion now.

[suss6052]

Originally Posted by mark3inline

The Focus isn't an automatic, it's a DCT, manual trans shifted automaticly. The Escape is an automatic, it's parts are more closely shared with the Fusion now.

The Escape and the fusion were related at the hip powertrain wise from 2009 at least when the Escape got the fusion's 2.5L i4 and 6F35.

The newer escape shares more with the MK3 Focus, except for the automatic transmission from the second gen Escape and the Fusion.