Ford Escape

[kateyes]

Looking for a smaller SUV. Found a 2003 with 130K mileage for $7K online. Is 130K a problem with a Ford? I wouldn't blink an eye if it were a Honda or Toyota. I would be there when they opened.

[DenCat]

Looking for a smaller SUV. Found a 2003 with 130K mileage for $7K online. Is 130K a problem with a Ford? I wouldn't blink an eye if it were a Honda or Toyota. I would be there when they opened.
That's a lot of miles for any 4 year old vehicle. I would check the maintenance records just to make sure oil changes and such were completed. Some people keep these records and some don't. Do you know whether the vehicle was a leased vehicle? Scheduled maintenance is usually kept up on these vehicles. I would still have a trusted mechanic check the vehicle over. Technology has gotten better so vehicles are lasting longer, as long as they are maintained.

[kateyes]

I found a 2002 with 121K same price and a carfax record where it was serviced regularly with no accident report. Had 80K on my Camry which was 2 years old at the time. Nothing but routine stuff to maintain. It just has 228K on it and I am a bit tired of driving the same vehicle for 12 years.

However, there seems to be several Escapes on the marker where as used Rav4/CR-Vs are hard to find. I read where the Escape drives better, but it is a Ford.

Obviously, I won't be paying 7K for it, even if I were to get it. Don't want it that badly and I still have other options.

[CATHYnKY]

I have a '02 Escape that just turned 80K. Bought it little over 2 years ago. I love it. If we didn't have to replace the entire HVAC system in our house would be seriously looking to buy a new one. Bought a used one mainly because had never driven a SUV and wanted to make sure I liked it. I'm hooked! Mine is a 6 cylinder 4WD

[TrueblueCATfan]

I just gave my 1998 Ford Contour to my daughter with 80,000 miles on it and I bought a 2008 Escape...I love it..of course I have very low miles....so far so good
I have a friend that had a 02 with about 90,000 miles on it...she loved it until her husband totaled it..now she is driving a Toyota RAV...she likes the Escape better

[sardiscat]

130K on a four year old car wouldn't bother me. Means they're mostly highway miles. My father always said that highway miles take nothing out of a car, that you kill a car by stepping on the gas pedal after starting it before the oil has had a chance to circulate all the way through the engine. It's worked for me. I put 40K on my cars each year, almost all of it highway miles. I've never had a car, American or otherwise, get fewer than 250K. I've never had engine trouble with any vehicle I've owned. Have to replace some parts every 100K or so, but the interiors and body wear out long before the engine stops purring along. I do make a point of changing the oil every 3000 miles or so. (And I don't stomp on the gas after starting the car. I drive real easy for the first few miles. The car lets me know when it is ready to rumble).

[ukwebfan]

The '03 Escape has a "better than average" used car verdict from Consumer Reports. The '02 has an "average" verdict. The major problems for the last 6 years of the Escape have been surveyed as follows:

Transmission
Drive System
Brakes
Body Hardware
Audio System

Have your mechanic pay particular attention to these areas.

[matt57]

wow, i never really realized just how much i "baby" my car!!!! it's a 2000 mercury sable. i bought it in 02 with 12k on it. it's currently only got 59k on it. that means i'm putting about 12k per year. of course, it's currently wrecked and on the verge of being totaled out but, we'll see what happens.

[kateyes]

Thanks for the Consumer Reports report. I was getting ready to head to the library and pick up a copy. I do know that the car dealer told me that they had the '03 transmission replaced by a mechanic I am familiar with. Makes me leary about the '02.