My wife is looking for an SUV or a 4 door car as we plan to have kids soon. I have been looking at the Ford edge, escape. Also the chevy equinox and the Jeep compass. I was just wondering if any of you drive these or not. I like the looks of the jeep and the equinox but I am a ford guy so naturally I lean towards the Edge or Escape. What are your oppinions on these?

 

SPORT TRAC!

 

I vote escape. My dad just got one and he loves it. AWD with a v6 and gets about 24 mpg. In my opinion one of the best if, not the best SUV we have owned.

 

Go with Ford !. Escape has more room in the cargo area and maintenance cost is cheaper. So if your priority is only room for kids and low ownership cost you cannot go wrong with the Escape 4 Cyl.

Skip the Jeep, As long as I know this is a fake Jeep, it actually shares same platform with the dodge caliber, so you are paying for an SUV but you get only a car with a "rambo" costume.

 

Not in your list there, but the wife and I have an Expedition and like it. It's not as fun to drive as my truck but it's very roomy and comfortable.

 

I would love to get an expedition but she is small and she doesnt want a big car. She thinks the edge is too big but is willing to test drive it again to be sure!! Sport trac is a no go. I dont really like them and I know she wont

 

trac>ranger but out of your options, i'd definitely go with an Edge

 

Go with a escape, mom had one, it was a good little suv and she loved it, aside from some problems she had, but im guessing those were due to very poor maintenance :/

 

take a look at the toyota highlander also...those are very nice

 

If you go Escape check it out reallly good. I bought my 3.0 v6 brand new in 2009. They have quality issues in the trans ,drive shaft, shaft bearings leaking from sun roof and the transfer unit. Took 3 years to get all the bugs out of mine, and some things like the drive shaft had to be replced twice.
We like it and it is very peppy and great in snow, but had alot of issues and sadly to say these are common to the Escape. I have seen people buying 2011's and they are having the same problems I did from 2009. Ford hasn't corrected the issues!

I would go Explorer. Had a 2006 before my Escape. Much better SUV and 0 problems. Just my 2cents.

 

With one kid you don't need to buy a car, if twins or trips are in order then you might want too.

 

We would be trading in her cobalt not my ranger. Both of our cars will be paid off this year so I am happy.the ranger only has 75000 on it so I am good for another 5 years.

 

My mom has an Escape... hasn't had many issues with it at all! A couple minor things, but that comes with any vehicle.

 

Edge has more room than an Escape. It is amazing the legroom they have for the size.

 

I would say to look at a new explorer.

 

Those are really nice but also expensive. The Edge is worth a look as well.

 

I'm a Jeep guy and the Compass is not a jeep.. It's a pos.... Drove like crap, no leg room , no pep even when I floored it, It's a piece of junk....

I'd go for the Edge or an Explorer as well..

 

Fiance has a Escape, she likes it so far.

 

Wirelessly posted (Droid2)

I like the Escape with the 4 cylinder. Heck of a lot cheaper than an Explorer.

 

I'd vote for the Escape as well. I'm not sure how the newer ones are. Sounds like they have some issues as read from above. I have a friend who has one. He loves it! Weird considering he is 21 and most 21 year old's wouldn't really be into things like that but whatever. I love it as well. Great little suv. 3.0 v6 I think his is like an 03? Something like that. My mom has a brand new Edge. I hate it. Way to much plastic and just feels cheap. She has already had to take it back for a few problems she has had with it. As far as one of the new explorers I would say no right off the bat. Very nice but I think ford thinks they are made out of gold. 48k for a fully equipped one. They are crazy. I would skip the jeep right off the bat. Sorry that is just a bias opinion. Not really a fan of the new/newer Honda's. They have really gone downhill in the last 10 years. They are starting to have a lot more problems then they used to. You might even want to look into some of the new Hyundai's. They have defiantly come up in the last 5 years or so. 1 question I have is that you never really specified...Are you specifically looking for new vehicles? Or are slightly used ones also in consideration?

I guess at the end of the day your best bet is really go around with your wife and look at everything. Who knows, you might find out you love something that you never really thought you would like in the first place. Go look, touch, drive, feel and compare. From their check a ton of reviews and compare the specs of all of them. Find out what things you want most. Do you want a small suv with great mpg's with a fwd 4cly with a little bit of pep? Or are you looking for something with a bit more power and just a tad worst gas millage? Rwd, 4wd, awd, fwd. Will you be in the snow quite a bit? Back to mpg's...A lot of the newer bigger powerplants are getting the same/better mpg than the older smaller motors. (Example: SOHC 4.0L, around 17mph give or take...Most of the never v8's make way more power and are getting like 22mpg +) I'm sure most people here know about that of course...Anyway also things like what you know is also nice sometimes. You could jump into a model that has been made for the last 5-6 years with the same motor and know if it's for the most part reliable. Were if you buy something completely brand new (motor trans chassis etc.) you never really know if it's going to last long and well. Will the motor hold up a really long time? Electronics? Etc. Then it's really luck I guess depending on the overall reliability of the car manufacture. Example. Old honda's generally run forever. Same with a lot of the new ones. Things like there k20's and k24's are great little motors. There D17's suck. (Headgasket problems.) Also most auto trans in Honda's in general suck....All things like these are to be taken into consideration.

 

this all day, my sister is expanding her family by the year and she loves her escape. gets good mileage, ford reliability and drives like a car (which is better for women)

 

excursion