WinnipegFord5.com

Sharon writes:
I’m not a car person. I’m not into fancy features and could care less what colour my vehicle is. Last year when our family needed to replace our red mini-van, I didn’t even go with my husband to look. I just told him to come home with a vehicle that goes forwards, backwards, was safe and had air-conditioning. And for about six weeks after getting our new grey (silver?) mini-van, I’d lose it in parking lots because I was still looking for red.
So it’s kind of strange that I was asked to test drive the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid. But I was up for the challenge because I’m a mom with two kids and I have to shuttle those kids around to hockey, swimming and karate plus drive to meetings, run errands and do the family grocery shopping. Not to mention hitting the drive-thru for a Timmy's.


First Impressions
I spotted my Ford Escape Hybrid as I walked across the parking lot and the first thought that came to my mind was “boxy”. I’m used to the sloped front of a mini-van and I was a bit concerned about my ability to park something with a large, square front end (more on that to come). But I will say for someone who doesn’t care about the colour of her own vehicle, I loved the green. Officially it’s called “Kiwi Green Metallic” but in my head, it said “Soothing”.

I got in the vehicle, turned on the ignition and started adjusting. Seat adjustments and mirror adjustments were super easy but I had to look in the instruction manual in order to figure out how to adjust the steering wheel. It was easy to do too once I figured it out. Finally I was ready to go!

The Drive
And go I did! Both the accelerator and brakes needed only a light touch, something I’m not used to, and I lurched my way out of the parking lot. But by the time I got to my house, it was all smooth sailing….or driving as the case may be.

When I got home, I had hubby install our car seats which he did easily once we found the tether anchors. When he was done, I went outside, hopped in to go for a drive, turned the key and….nothing. Zero, nadda. The radio came on, the dash lit up but the vehicle wouldn’t start. What the hell? I tried different key positions. Nothing.

At this point I was FREAKING OUT because I thought I had broken this brand new vehicle and holy cow, I was in so much trouble. Out came the instruction booklet (again) and I quickly started flipping through to figure out what the hell I had done. In the meantime, Paul got into the driver’s seat, started it up and put it into drive. Lo and behold… engine sound.

You see….we had never driven a hybrid before so we didn’t realize when you turn the key, the vehicle is on and once you put it into drive the engine kicks in and I was so busy adjusting the mirrors and seat when I first got the Escape, I didn't notice the lack of sound.

I drove more than I typically do – highway, city, suburbs - and I was impressed. I was under a pre-conceived notion that because it was a hybrid, it wouldn’t have good acceleration. This isn’t the case, it had better get-up-and-go than my mini-van.

The steering was amazing. I could literally steer with one finger (not that I did! I’m a ten and two girl) I maneuvered my way through the Timmy’s drive-thru, the pick up/drop off area at my kids’ school (and any parent with elementary aged kids knows what a nightmare that is) and throughout a multitude of parking lots. And the larger front end I was worried about that I mentioned earlier? Not a problem. Parking was actually much easier for me in the Escape.

The one thing I didn’t like was the rear window – I felt it was small and that I had a limited to view. Having said that, the Ford Escape has large side mirrors to compensate and comes with something called Integrated Spotter Mirrors which pretty much eliminates blind spots. It worked well during the day but one rainy night when my side windows were dotted with raindrops, I found it hard to see in the Integrated Mirrors.

Interior Comfort
The front of the vehicle was great – lots of room and the console comfortably fit my stainless steel water bottle and Tim Horton’s Medium Double Double. The back was okay for the kids but the cup holders were out of their range so they had to hold on to their drinks (sorry for the spill Ford!). And also, they could access the button to open and close their windows. That sucked.

Storage:
Our mini-van’s third row of seats folds down giving us plenty of room. Between the two people in the family who play hockey, the green bins we use for shopping and our emergency kit, the small space in the back of the Escape just wasn’t enough. On one grocery excursion (with two hockey bags in the back and three full green bins) I ended up having to place one of our green bins full of groceries on the front passenger seat.

And this is me being persnickety but the doors on the Escape were difficult to close. I had to really slam them to ensure they were indeed shut. There were more than a few times when I would get the kids in, get myself in, belt up and start the vehicle only to realize one of the doors was still ajar and then I’d un-belt myself, get out, close it and get back in.

Please make your doors easier to close Ford.

Gizmos and Gadgets
I have nothing but good things to say about the features on the Ford Escape – satellite radio (all Elvis all the time!), rear camera for backing up, a beeping sound if you’re backing up and getting to close to anther object, controls on the steering wheel and GPS baby!

As a mom who drives with two kids who are constantly asking questions and or/fighting, it gets distracting. Typically I yell at them to JUST BE QUIET, especially when we’re going someplace new and I need to look for road signs and landmarks because it stresses me out to be driving, looking for a street sign and talking/yelling at my kids. I loved having the soothing voice of Beth (that’s what I named our GPS voice) tell me I would need to turn left in 300 metres or how she automatically adjusted my route if I missed that turn.

In The End
I was really sad to take back the Ford Escape Hybrid and tried to convince the nice man at the security desk to give it to me. He wouldn’t bite.
If I was in the market for a new vehicle, I would seriously consider buying it. Most especially for the gas mileage. I don’t know how a hybrid works or the exact amount it of gas it uses but I do know with all the driving I did that week, I used a little more than a π tank of gas. A considerable amount less than what I typically use. Impressive.
I didn’t think I was a car person but it turns out I just wasn’t driving the right vehicle.