05 Ford Escape
Due to unfortunate financial issues we had to sell off truck and trailer a few years ago and are getting back into camping again. I have a 2005 Escape 3.0 AWD currently, wondering about it's manners w...
Forum Discussion
carringb wrote:Thanks forgot about the Escape being built on a different platform.
The first gen Escape was actually on the Mondeo/Contour platform rather than the Focus platform. So besides the suspension being decently robust it also got the Mazda developed 4-speed originally in the 626, rather than the ford designed units in the Focus and Taurus. The only common issue I've seen is very neglected fluid. Like 150,000 miles on the factory fill. Remains run about $1,100 and used takeouts are under $500, and generally cheap prices suggest there's not much demand for replacements.
That all said, if I were buying used and towing with it, if change the fluid first thing, and plug in a data monitor and keep an eye on temps.
