Hey Scotty greetings from Manitoba. I bought a 2008 Ford Escape 3.0, 4 speed auto,4wd. 74000km/46000miles. Any common problems? Things to watch out for? Reliable? I'm very impressed with it in the snow. Love the vids, you've taught me a lot. Keep up the great work. Thanks
These cars are absolutely excellent in the snow. Unfortunately, that's about where the compliments stop. The most frustrating problem with them is the rear shock mounts rust out. A class action lawsuit in the U.S. was attempted for earlier models but the problem persisted. If I was you I would spray a rust inhibitor or protective coating around the rear shock mounts taking care not to spray the shock itself.
Like many other vehicles of this era when aluminum blocks started to take over, the exhaust studs are a constant problem.
There are two other ways I personally use to find out common problems with cars. 1): type the name of your car into Google and look at the suggestions Google makes to complete your search. This is a good way to tell what problems other people are researching. 2): go on RockAuto.com, search your car and look at the parts highlighted in BOLD font. These are parts that people are frequently replacing on your vehicle.
You are going to find that Ford Escapes do not age well but for now enjoy the awesome driving performance and keep an eye out for signs of aging. Once its clear its getting a little tired, get rid of it.
We had a 2005 Ford Escape 4-cyl AWD for 12 years. It was, as you say, great in the snow and it could handle potholes. I had all maintenance done, timely, by the Ford dealership and changed the oil every 3000 miles.
The transmission blew around 65K miles ( ~$4,000).
The plastic throttle body assembly got stuck one day when my 16-year old son was driving. He couldn't accelerate. The gas pedal was stuck because the throttle cable was stuck because something inside the assembly was stuck, and he pressed harder on the pedal and the cable snapped. Luckily he was going down a slight incline and was able to coast into a parking lot. We had the throttle cable replaced and the throttle body assembly replaced but that sticky cable issue would recur every 7,500 miles or so. I would take it into the dealership and try to get them to do something about the throttle body but Ford had no routine service for this issue at the time. The NHTSA eventually got involved because enough owners reported the problem, which could be life-threatening in some situations. Ford eventually instituted a scheduled service for the throttle body.
So if your gas pedal ever feels hard to press, you should get it checked out.
