[Ticmxman]

I've been looking at the new Nissan Rogue, or the Ford Escape. The Escape is out of contention now that it's on its seventh recall in its short life, and you may actually need to escape from it.

The Rogue is competitive for its looks and relatively low price, but Nissan dealers have none to sell yet, so they're kind of taking themselves out of the Christmas gift market.

As far as I know almost all of the recalls on the Escape have been on the 1.6 turbo engine the 2.0 turbo has been recall free.

 

[KepeliTH]

I've been looking at the new Nissan Rogue, or the Ford Escape. The Escape is out of contention now that it's on its seventh recall in its short life, and you may actually need to escape from it.

The Rogue is competitive for its looks and relatively low price, but Nissan dealers have none to sell yet, so they're kind of taking themselves out of the Christmas gift market.

I test drove the 13 Rogue (maybe the 14 is better) but what made me rule it out was when hitting a bump on the road, the interior rattles drove me nuts. We hit one bump in the road and both immediately ruled out the car and test drove a Pathfinder which I liked but it seemed to lack power, I think it's more that the Pathfinder is just too heavy for the 6.

 

[PookiePrancer]

As far as I know almost all of the recalls on the Escape have been on the 1.6 turbo engine the 2.0 turbo has been recall free.

Yeah, I'll need to research that better, but it's disconcerting in any case. I'm concerned the bad press will drag the whole lineup down at resale time.

 

[PookiePrancer]

I test drove the 13 Rogue (maybe the 14 is better) but what made me rule it out was when hitting a bump on the road, the interior rattles drove me nuts. We hit one bump in the road and both immediately ruled out the car and test drove a Pathfinder which I liked but it seemed to lack power, I think it's more that the Pathfinder is just too heavy for the 6.

Having owned several Nissans, I can attest that interior quality is not quite top notch. One of the things that impressed me about the Cherokee was how solid it seemed. Quiet, and not a rattle heard.

 

[KepeliTH]

Having owned several Nissans, I can attest that interior quality is not quite top notch. One of the things that impressed me about the Cherokee was how solid it seemed. Quiet, and not a rattle heard.

I traded in a 06 Lexus IS350 and kept our '04 Nissan Altima for fuel economy. The Altima has only 37'000 miles on it, the Lexus had 53,000.

 

[Ausgti]

I checked out he Subaru Crosstrek. After taking a test drive it reminded me a lot of my Subaru GL wagon. A very well made sewing machine with wheels. I'm ordering a Trailhawk next week. Just can't decide between the 4 and the 6.

Go the 6! drove both engines, and the 6 defiantly has some pep with a minor MPG decrease

 

[Ausgti]

Simlar to everyone else, reviewed the Forester, XV Cross Trek and the CX5 were on my list, drove all 3, but one I drove the Cherokee, I knew my decision was made!

 

[Texas Trailhawk]

Besides the Cherokee, I drove the Mazda CX5 & 9, Acura MDX & RDX, Lexus RX, Mitsubishi Outlander, Subaru Crosstek & Forester, Buick Encore, Land Rover Evoque, Infiniti QX70. The ones I liked best were the Land Rover Evoque, Subaru Forester, Infinit QX70 and the Cherokee. I mostly drive around town, but I love adventure, so that requires some off-roading. I wanted power, looks, technology and decent gas mileage. The Evoque price and maintenance was a stretch, but it is a sweet vehicle. The Infiniti is an awesome car, but I couldn't afford the AWD and the maintenance would be a stretch. The top of the line Forester is very nice, more affordable, but the NAV/AV technology and styling were way too practical and bland/dated. So I decided on the Cherokee Trailhawk V6 with Nav & Tech. I hope you find what works for you, too.

 

[ib516]

We shopped the Mazda CX-5, Subaru Crosstrek, Subaru Forester, and the Honda CR-V.

We liked the Crosstrek and CX-5 the best, but when the Cherokee came out, it was exactly what we were looking for. Decent mpg, off road worthy, nice looks, cool features, and a decent price.

 

[Ausgti]

We shopped the Mazda CX-5, Subaru Crosstrek, Subaru Forester, and the Honda CR-V.

We liked the Crosstrek and CX-5 the best, but when the Cherokee came out, it was exactly what we were looking for. Decent mpg, off road worthy, nice looks, cool features, and a decent price.

Thats was exactly my finding, both cars are great, however the Mazda is lacking the power of the Cherokee

 

[willk]

As far as I know almost all of the recalls on the Escape have been on the 1.6 turbo engine the 2.0 turbo has been recall free.

I have the 2.0 turbo. No recalls. No problems (except squeaky brakes which they fixed) after 13,000 miles.

 

[disco29duck]

Was looking for a small suv to replace a Subaru impreza outback. Also something with a little more bells and whistles.

Wife liked her Subaru and wanted to stay with brand, so we looked at both the outback and forester. Engine was very underpowered (has same specs as 2007 model, don't think it's ever been updated), interior was blah, not a huge fan of the CVT, towing options weren't very good, seemed like not a good deal for money.

Ford escape, I test drove one and liked it, not a fan of myfordtouch. she didn't drive it, but by then I was steering her towards the Cherokee. probably would have been my second choice.

chevy equinox- I test drove one and it was ok. didn't really research it too much.

went with latitude almost fully decked out. basically a limited without leather. got all the fancy bells and whistles, V-6 if we need to tow anything, gas mileage took a little hit, but after she test drove it, she liked the extra power. But I think it was the heated steering wheel that put her over the edge I'm happy because I wanted to stay American, grandpa retired from Chrysler. have put around 300 miles so far on it, and it's been great so far. She also really liked the inseat storage.

 

[Ticmxman]

I have the 2.0 turbo. No recalls. No problems (except squeaky brakes which they fixed) after 13,000 miles.

I have the Escape SEL 2.0, zero problems in 8 months 8000 miles, low 20s mpg in town and upper 20s mpg on the hwy, have gotten low 30s at 55 mph striving for best economy. Generally get around 24 mpg combined. The 2.0 turbo is a beast, 240lbs of torque at a low 3000 rpm is a blast to drive. Ford My Touch works well after you get used to it, has standard dials for temp, volume, seat heaters. Hatch lift height can be set with the power hatch.

Negatives, fuel economy will suffer if driven aggressively with the spool happy turbo, some owners report poor milage, interior console is a space hog limiting the drivers leg area, seat comfort is lacking for my taste on long drives, smaller interior width than the Cherokee, no storage nooks on the dash or console, rear seats do not slide forward. Interior styling is not for all.

We have driven several Cherokees and like them a lot, the TH was impressive but probably overkill for our use. We tend to like the lighter colored interiors and so far none of the Cherokees interior colors have wowed us, need to see the brown interior in a TH.

 

[Ticmxman]

Yeah, I'll need to research that better, but it's disconcerting in any case. I'm concerned the bad press will drag the whole lineup down at resale time.

Resale could take a hit I suppose. Also Ford must be having fleet sales on the Escape, I see insurance agents/adjusters and exterminators driving them this could lower the resale value.

 

[Ausgti]

Resale could take a hit I suppose. Also Ford must be having fleet sales on the Escape, I see insurance agents/adjusters and exterminators driving them this could lower the resale value.

Indeed, its always interesting to see what % makes up in fleet sales, whether the sales goes to rental or government agencies, just perusing the Avis, Hertz, Enterprise or National lot at the airport will give you a good interaction!

 

[lardo]

I did a final round of comparison shopping to see if my opinions changed. I looked at the Subaru Forester & Outback, Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, Mazda CX-5, and Cherokee.

I didn't really checkout the Ford Escape other than sitting in it. I'm not a fan of the Escape exterior or MyFord Touch. The interior width seemed more cramped as well as the driver's right leg area (as mentioned by others).

A longer second test drive in a Mazda CX-5 AWD didn't improve my opinion, as it likes to upshift early (I'm sure to improve gas mileage) which is frustrating. Also the upper part of the seat is too narrow for my shoulders. As mentioned earlier, the deck and interior are lacking. To fold down the back seats apparently requires you to remove the head rests. But it does handle nice.

I didn't have time to test drive the Santa Fe Sport AWD, but the interior seemed good. The 2.0 turbo requires premium gas and the mileage is just less than a V6 Trailhawk. The regular Santa Fe is too large for me.

I took two more test drives in the Cherokee and was again impressed. This time I tried Sport mode and it's a nice option to have.

Bottom line for me is that if I considered just on-road, the Cherokee is still near the top of my list. When I also consider occasional off-road and towing, it's pretty much a slam dunk for me.

 

[willk]

Resale could take a hit I suppose. Also Ford must be having fleet sales on the Escape, I see insurance agents/adjusters and exterminators driving them this could lower the resale value.

My fully equipped 2013 Escape Titanium had an MSRP of $37,000 when I bought it one year ago. I paid $32,000. Two months ago I went to Carmax out of curiosity and they only offered me only $26,000. The vehicle only had 11,000 miles. If I go to a Cherokee I will need to get a great deal to make up for the bad resale value of my Ford.

 

[willk]

I almost forgot. One of the main reasons I have been leaning towards keeping the Escape is the changeable ambient lighting. It is really cool. There is a button you push that cycles through red, ice blue, green, purple, yellow. The lighting extend to inside the cup holders, footwells and inside door handles etc. I know that is a stupid reason but I don't know of any other vehicle that does that.

 

[mmooretrailhawk14]

I know someone on here had mentioned the cx5 and potentially the rogue? Here's a decent picture of them all in front of my house from this morning.

 

[willk]

I test drove the 2014 Nissan Rogue today. I wasn't too impressed. The 4 cyl just seemed loud. Did not seem to sit up as high as in other SUV's. This was a base model with FWD (only one they had). The Rogue is a good deal price wise and gets 25 city and 32 hwy with AWD. The all around view on the monitor is neat too. MSRP $32685 for a fully loaded SL (top of the line).