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Test driving the Ford Escape Hybrid

29 Jun 2009

29 Jun, 2009  Miscellaneous, social media

I was lucky enough to be asked by Ford to test drive the Ford Escape Hybrid for 6 days… how fun! I currently own a Honda CRV, which is a great car, but, mine is a 2000 and was one of the first of its kind, so is very basic and boxy. Before that I drove an Audi A4, and am definitely missing many of the upgraded features in the CRV.  So to be able to drive ANY new car is exciting to me, not to mention testing out a Hybrid. Overall, I loved the car, but here are my specific thoughts:

Positives

me in Ford Escape Hybrid

  • Features
    • AC plug and USB port… very cool!
    • Speaker phone wired directly into the car
    • Built-in GPS (although I think it was turned off for my test-drive as I couldn’t get it working)
    • Funny disco lights around the console — optional pink, white, blue, green (!)
    • Overall comfortable leather seats
    • Cargo cover in the back (yea!  no more hiding my stuff under a blanket !)
    • Car charger in the back seat
    • Radio controls on the steering wheel
  • Driving
    • The car was smooth to drive
    • It handles well in the rain (good thing, because we’ve been drenched in Boston lately!)Ford Escape Hybrid mileage
    • Good pickup — loved getting up to speed quickly when getting onto the highway
    • I felt safe driving it
    • It was roomy in the front and back
    • Beeps while reversing when getting close to something (great for city parking!)
    • Good turning radius
  • Hybrid
    • Very quiet when idling
    • 30.2 miles per gallon when driving around the city

Negatives

  • Ford Escape HybridI think the front of the car looks manly — maybe I’m  not the target? (guessing I am though, or they wouldn’t have asked me to test drive)
  • No lumbar support in the seat — big for me, as I have a back problem, so need good lumbar support
  • Childproof windows in back (although I understand all new cars have that as a safety feature)
  • VERY sensitive brakes — tough to brake smoothly
  • Loud when accelerating
  • No reverse view (some new cars have a camera that shows you the view from the back of your car when you are reversing)
  • Door locks, when locked, are not flush with the door, so they can more easily be opened if the window is cracked

Thanks to Ford and their social media agency Social Media Group for asking me to test drive the car!

Note: I was NOT paid to do the test drive or write this post. Ford gave me the leeway to talk about the car in any form I wanted (twitter, video, blog, etc), and write positive and negative comments about my experience.

What do you think? Have you driven a Ford Escape? Hybrid?

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  • http://www.scottmonty.com/ Scott Monty

    Hi Rachel,

    I’m glad you took the time to experience a new Ford product for an extended period of time and that you thought enough about it to write it up.

    Interesting points you brought up on where we can improve. While the seats are eco-friendly, being made out of soybeans (http://www.fordvehicles.com/suvs/escape/features/#page=Feature6), clearly we need to think about lumbar support from your point of view. The braking system regenerates power into the hybrid engine, so that may be the source of some of the sensitivity.

    Thanks again for the frank and honest opinion and for your feedback. I’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.

    Scott Monty
    Global Digital Communications
    Ford Motor Company
    @ScottMonty
    .-= Scott Monty´s last blog ..Are Your Priorities Screwed Up? =-.

  • http://www.scottmonty.com Scott Monty

    Hi Rachel,

    I’m glad you took the time to experience a new Ford product for an extended period of time and that you thought enough about it to write it up.

    Interesting points you brought up on where we can improve. While the seats are eco-friendly, being made out of soybeans (http://www.fordvehicles.com/suvs/escape/features/#page=Feature6), clearly we need to think about lumbar support from your point of view. The braking system regenerates power into the hybrid engine, so that may be the source of some of the sensitivity.

    Thanks again for the frank and honest opinion and for your feedback. I’ll make sure it gets into the right hands.

    Scott Monty
    Global Digital Communications
    Ford Motor Company
    @ScottMonty
    .-= Scott Monty´s last blog ..Are Your Priorities Screwed Up? =-.

  • http://www.padgettpr.com/ W Robert Padgett

    Rachel,

    Nice review. I thought for a moment I was reading Consumer Reports. Also heartening to see an American car company so out front with social media. Ford didn’t take bailout money and appears to be the most solvent and relevant domestic auto maker right now.
    .-= W Robert Padgett´s last blog ..Our friend the fly: PR Buzz helps even messy, annoying animals =-.

  • http://www.padgettpr.com W Robert Padgett

    Rachel,

    Nice review. I thought for a moment I was reading Consumer Reports. Also heartening to see an American car company so out front with social media. Ford didn’t take bailout money and appears to be the most solvent and relevant domestic auto maker right now.
    .-= W Robert Padgett´s last blog ..Our friend the fly: PR Buzz helps even messy, annoying animals =-.

  • http://www.scottmonty.com/ Scott Monty

    Thanks for taking time to write about your experience and for being willing to check out a new Ford, Rachel.

    The speakerphone & steering wheel radio controls are all part of Ford’s SYNC system that allow you to use phone & mp3 devices hands-free. There’s so much potential with that system it’s not funny.

    Thanks for your feedback about the seats – while the soy-based seats are pretty comfy, it’s important to know about things like lumbar support (which frankly, I’m surprised about – I know a number of our other vehicles have lumbar support). I’ll make sure the team knows about it.

    As to the brakes, I’m not sure if that’s typical or not. I can tell you that the newest hybrids have regenerative brakes – 94% of the energy from braking gets recycled into the engine. Maybe that had something to do with it.

    Either way, your honest and candid feedback was welcome. I’m glad you had the opportunity to spend some quality time in the Escape.

    Scott Monty
    Global Digital Communications
    Ford Motor Company
    @ScottMonty
    .-= Scott Monty´s last blog ..The Herculean Effort to Stop Ignoring Customers =-.

  • http://www.scottmonty.com Scott Monty

    Thanks for taking time to write about your experience and for being willing to check out a new Ford, Rachel.

    The speakerphone & steering wheel radio controls are all part of Ford’s SYNC system that allow you to use phone & mp3 devices hands-free. There’s so much potential with that system it’s not funny.

    Thanks for your feedback about the seats – while the soy-based seats are pretty comfy, it’s important to know about things like lumbar support (which frankly, I’m surprised about – I know a number of our other vehicles have lumbar support). I’ll make sure the team knows about it.

    As to the brakes, I’m not sure if that’s typical or not. I can tell you that the newest hybrids have regenerative brakes – 94% of the energy from braking gets recycled into the engine. Maybe that had something to do with it.

    Either way, your honest and candid feedback was welcome. I’m glad you had the opportunity to spend some quality time in the Escape.

    Scott Monty
    Global Digital Communications
    Ford Motor Company
    @ScottMonty
    .-= Scott Monty´s last blog ..The Herculean Effort to Stop Ignoring Customers =-.

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  • http://www.martinsfarm.com jstratford

    Thanks for the great review on the Ford Escape. It certainly gets good mileage for it's size and has a lot of creature comforts. It may look manly, but I've only seen it from the front, and the side, but it seemed that it suited you well since you were sitting up at a good level. It's good that you mentioned the lumbar support since that's an essential detail for a vehicle.

  • http://www.martinsfarm.com jstratford

    Thanks for the great review on the Ford Escape. It certainly gets good mileage for it's size and has a lot of creature comforts. It may look manly, but I've only seen it from the front, and the side, but it seemed that it suited you well since you were sitting up at a good level. It's good that you mentioned the lumbar support since that's an essential detail for a vehicle.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JBUA4LAQOSU2PPT5VILOVEQCD4 Aaditi Lathi

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  • Summer

    thanks for this review for ford escape and for your feeback bout the seat relly helps. need some auto parts.

    http://www.drivewire.com

  • Anonymous

    Hey good information about Ford. I was planning to buy an escape and was confused about as to buy it or not. This blog has given a clear idea of what i want.
    More about 2012 escape
    http://ford-escape.net/2012-preview/