New Vehicles, Input Requested

[frayne]

Since moving from of a somewhat rural Ohio area to Chattanooga, Tn. last year I have been thinking about upgrading vehicles. Both vehicles (Explorer & Taurus) are 99s, and getting somewhat long in teeth and at some point will start to get to the nickel and dime stage. Have been a Ford guy for quite a long time and have been looking into getting a Fusion for my car and an Escape hybrid for the DW. Just wonder if anyone has experience good or bad with either of these types of vehicles and would also entertain any and all practical alternative suggestions. Always pay cash for vehicles and keep them for 7-10 years. Reliability, maintenance costs, fuel costs and safety are key inputs into my selection process.

Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

 

[rogdeb]

Reliability, maintenance costs, fuel costs and safety are key inputs into my selection process.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies.

A Honda would fit those criteria.

 

[C&C]

Both those vehicles you describe would do you well especially if you are confident and comfortable with Ford. The products from Detroit are as good or better than their competition these days. Buy what you want. I'm afraid, if you ask for advice here, you are going to get brand loyalty prejudices as opposed to genuine recommendations. There are a lot of sites that do comparison tests (with owner reviews) that may do you in better stead. Car and Driver, Motortrend and Edmunds come to mind. Good luck in your decisions. Personally, I'm a GM man, so I'm biting my tongue now.

 

[FJRay]

I bought the Edge from Ford and am very pleased with it. It gets 26mpg running 80 on the hwy and 20+ in town.Has lots of options available although mine is more of a plain one. All the drivelines are tne same and the only choice is frt wheel or all wheel drive. I got the all wheel because I live in snow country. the frt drive is supposed to give a little better milage.

 

[Silent]

You could step over to Chrysler side and check this out

Looks kinda interesting, no batteries to worry about.

The ForTwo's three-cylinder, 700cc engine has significantly lower emissions than other cars and gets an average of 40 miles per gallon in combined city-highway driving and will sell for less than $15,000.

Clickie B)

 

[frayne]

Both those vehicles you describe would do you well especially if you are confident and comfortable with Ford. The products from Detroit are as good or better than their competition these days. Buy what you want. I'm afraid, if you ask for advice here, you are going to get brand loyalty prejudices as opposed to genuine recommendations. There are a lot of sites that do comparison tests (with owner reviews) that may do you in better stead. Car and Driver, Motortrend and Edmunds come to mind. Good luck in your decisions. Personally, I'm a GM man, so I'm biting my tongue now.

I agree about the brand loyality comment and I have checked out numerous reviews from epinions as well as other sourses and sites. That said, it is still nice to hear comments from people that you somewhat know on forums as opposed to total strangers. I think some of the reviewers lack objectivity hating to admit they spent $25K on something they aren't satisfied with. IMHO anyways.

 

[SilveradoSlick]

The Fusion got Consumer Reports' top rating on reliability. It's young but it's off to a good start.

 

[juniorfjr]

We own an 03 escape with the v6, not hybrid and love it. currently 43k on the odometer and no problems. Couple of months ago we tried out a fusion awd. Very impressed with the ride and handling. If we were ready to trade that would be our first choice. I'm also a blue oval fan so I am biased. jr

 

[RsvlFeej]

We own an 03 escape with the v6, not hybrid and love it. currently 43k on the odometer and no problems. Couple of months ago we tried out a fusion awd. Very impressed with the ride and handling. If we were ready to trade that would be our first choice. I'm also a blue oval fan so I am biased. jr

Test drove an Escape (4Cyl, 5spd manual) last fall. Wife and I each had it "sidestep" for no good reason. Don't know what else to call it, but the front of the little beast hopped sideways a good inch - no bump, no wind, gentle corner. Maybe the weight of the hybrid batteries would settle that down; maybe make it worse. She bought a Rav4 (4 cyl, our first automatic). Gets about 23 City, 28 Hwy, but cost a bunch more...