Not so bad, but not same quality as Toyota

Kathy and I really love the vehicle.  The heated leather seats are especially nice in the cold Iowa winter.  The backup video camera is another great feature.  Dual climate control is awesome.  Getting around 29 mpg in the current weather- note that we do park in the garage, so not sitting out in worst- which is still yet to come here- Jan and Feb can get just nasty- with temps often at 0 for days.  Here is a picture of the vehicle:

We have the car and are driving like mad! Over a 1,000 miles already and are getting 29-30 mpg on two tanks of gas so far. In all we really like the vehicle, though Ford really needs to take some lessons from Toyota on the little things that make vehicle great- such as grab handles - there is only one for the passenger in the Escape and that one is positioned down the A pillar in an inconvenient location- and *none* for any other vehicle passengers. Just the small things like that make the difference between a car that you will rave to everyone about, and one that does the job, but is not excellent- "Ford makes good vehicles" is not a very strong statement.

And let's not get started about how many buttons or rocker switches there are to control the various systems- I am not kidding when I say there are over 20- maybe 30 buttons to control the AC, radio, and other options. Try finding the defrost button for the front while driving in heavy traffic - on the other hand - don't! As I drive the car and feel the various ways that things were done, I keep coming back to that idea that this car was not really designed by someone or a group of people that were very smart and working together. Not saying the folks at Toyota are genius, but boy they sure know how to make a car feel easy to operate.

Ok, enough negative- we do love the vehicle and there are some very nice features also. I like the dual climate controls and the "just turn the knob" to turn on feature. The external mirrors with the blind spot "super mirrors" are really a nice touch- as is the backup camera and warning system (we have small children).

Waiting for the vehicle

Ok, we have taken the plunge, put $500 down to get one of the last 2012 Ford Escape Hybrid Limiteds in Steel Blue Metallic. The local Ford dealer did a trade with a dealer from the Chicago area to bring us the vehicle. We asked the local dealer to order and install the running boards as the only add-on option.

Why? We have a 2009 Toyota Sienna that we really like... except for averaging about 19mpg. Last year we put 15,000 miles on just that vehicle. I put easily over 10,000 on mine. I wondered where all the money was going each month... now I know (thanks mint.com!). OK, so many of you are questioning the logic of going from a used vehicle purchase to a new purchase that we will have to finance a portion of the debt. I have this desire in life to have as little variability in the things that I can control- such as money cash outflows. I am trading a variable outflow of money for gas, for a fixed monthly payment for the vehicle and a lower variable amount on gas. Other point is getting a vehicle that is new, needs little maintenance for years, and makes my significant other happy!

Just waiting for the car to get here and complete the trade and purchase. Next post should be about that deal and how everything panned out.