Hi all, I have been lurking on here for several years.

Ive been driving a 2002 Grand Cherokee since 04. And been kinda drooling about a FEH since at least 06. I think it would offer 99% of what I need from my Grand Cherokee but at somewhat (or a lot) better mileage.

Now that the grand has 170,000 miles on it, and gas is headed back to $4+ a gallon, Im thinking seriously about a used FEH. I have several choices, all in the $10,000 - $14,000 range (which is absolutely the highest I will go).

Most are 05's. A few 06's and even a couple 07's. Mileage between 60K and 100K.

What to look for on these various years? Which would be considered the best year, and why? Were there significant problems in the 05's that were corrected in 06+? I also live where its COLD in the winter, so there was some discussion a while back about the heater options. What years deleted the heater from the battery box? (I dont really care if its fully factory installed, I could add the cabling, but not the heater to the box).

Anything else I should be aware of? I drive 25,000+ miles a year, commuting over rural 2-lane slightly hilly roads mostly, with a fair bit of city driving on each end, and a couple small towns (stoplights) in the middle. 35 miles each way. Average between 16 and 18MPG in the Jeep.

I have my eye on an 06 with 65K miles, $11,000, or an 05 with 87K for $10,000. There are others though.

Thanks for any and all advice and recommendations, even if it's "dont bother".

 

You mentioned it gets COLD in the winter where you live. This indicates you want a 05-07 vehicle with OPTION 41H (engine block heater) which provides the wired connection to the hybrid battery heater. This will enable you to plug in your vehicle at night (use a timer) and start it in the AM with a warm hybrid battery. Make sure this item is working as the cord can split with extended useage.

Since you claim to be visiting this site for several years, then you should be aware of the possible MCES pump failure and hybrid battery blend door issue in these vehicles.

Purchase a scanguage II device or similiar to help understand and operate the vehicle more efficiently. This item is cheaper than installing the hybrid display unit in these vehicles.

Someone is going to tell you to spring for the 09 and newer vehicles which are more fuel efficient but the lack of a wire connection to the hybrid battery heater is problemsome in this enviornment until the vehicle warms up. Owners of 09 vehicles in cold environments have reported on extended driving time required before electric drive is possible.

Good luck.

 

I would go for either a 2007 or 2008. If you need the battery heater, you can rig the 2008 to use it according to others here. I now live in Texas so I don't need it.

My reasoning for 2007 or 2008 is that I had a 2006 a while back but sold it because it just didn't get very good mileage. I tried stuff people post about but the best I could do was ~32MPG for a tank in the summer. I traded it in on a Ridgeline but after two years of ~15MPG I traded the Honda in on a used 2008 Escape Hybrid. The 2008 gets way better mileage than the 2006 did. I added a navigation radio to the 2008 but I wouldn't recommend it and regret not putting in a nicer aftermarket unit. The 2008 has a wide-band O2 sensor ( I know because I had to replace it) that the earlier models did not but I don't know if this is why it gets such better mileage. I looked at the fueleconomy.gov site and the revised MPG for the 2005 and 2006 is less than the 2007, which is less than the 2008. The 2005 doesn't have pats, auto doorlocks, tire pressure monitors, and a few other things that I can't remember now. The 2008 also has a nice display above the radio for outside temp. I don't like where they put the INFO and SET buttons on the 2008 but that is a pretty minor complaint. My 2008 doesn't have the steering wheel controls for the radio but I think a lot of them do.

 

I owned a 07 so this is a somewhat biased viewpoint. I like the body style and the over all fit and fitment. This was the perfected FEH in my opinion. I have looked at all FEHs and all of the competitors and driven most, and the 07 FEH is the epitome. Yeah the newer are vastly superior in terms of the drive line but the trade of is the interior and the exterior. I am biased so take that with a grain. The best FEH was mine. LOL.

mine
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...Ford%20Escape/

 

Thank you very much for your replies, and most importantly the reasons. I, too, like the 05-08 body style, and particularly the interior better. Don't get me wrong, I have seen some very sharp new ones too, but I'm a little partial to the more "soft" lines and interior of the older models.

As to the gas mileage thing - that is definitley a point to consider. Although when you figure that I live where it gets quite cold from Nov through March, the better fuel efficiency of the newer ones may be offset by lack of battery/coolant heater option.

Question: Do ALL 1st gen FEH have the battery heater option? (I.e is the heater element installed, even if disconnected?). I read on here that in certain models the engine block heater was installed but the battery heater left disconnected. That led me to wonder if they all have the heater, and its just not installed if the block heater option is not. I'm quite sure I could install cabling and a block heater, if the heater was installed into the battery tray already and all I needed was to wire it.

I hope to get down to look at an 06 over the weekend. Doing the math, its hard to justify spending the $11K or so, when my current vehicle is paid off. But longer term I think it makes sense. IF I don't incur huge repair bills at some point. I generally do all my own mechanical work on my current cars.

Still very open to opinions, and even specifics about various models, trim levels, and options to look for. Also - key maintenance/repair items to look for or check. Thanks!

P.S> - One other question - Is the infamous $6000 brake master cylinder/controller repair limited to the 05FEH? (MFG before 2.15.05) Or is this more widespread? That possibility, however small, would seriously negate any possible advantage to a FEH for me. So if ruling out 05's reduces or eliminates that threat, then I'm looking for an 06/07 I guess.

 

I wanted to comment on this. I went through what you
did late last year. My target was a standard Escape
with a 4cyl engine. I did a LOT of investigation
on reliability of 05 -> 08 Ford Escapes as those
all fell within the pricing range I could afford.
One of the challenges I had was that the standard
Escape is a relatively reliable vehicle so you
don't see a lot of failure stories. Given that
the O6 FEH I bought was a spur of the moment
opportunity so I had less then just few days
to fill in what little more details I needed from
the standard Escape, which was not much. I did find
some references to the "brake/master cylinder/controller"
thing but only a couple of them. There did not
appear to be a general plague of this failure
mode. Then I came across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeuRkoLuY5U

There are a number of videos on YouTube on
the "Escape Hybrid Taxi". From what I understand
there are somewhere around 900 NYC Ford Escape
Hybrid Taxi's. Go to:

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare/

Select any one of the live webcams and watch
the FEH Taxis roll by one right after the other.
If even a small percentage of these cabs experienced
the "brake/master cylinder/controller" failure thing
they would have tossd'em long ago. Or for any
other major mechanical problems.

Within 3-days of purchasing my 06 FEH ( 75k ) it was
at the local Ford dealer for a complete health
check bumper to bumper. It passed with flying colors.
I asked the service manager about the FEH in general
and specifically about the "brake/master cylinder/controller"
issue. He indicated all of the FEH's they sold don't come
back except for normal maintenance and he'd never seen
a FEH "brake/master cylinder/controller" repair issue.

 

Go for the 2008.

It has the newer body style, a great nav system if you can get that. It's got lots of comfort features over the previous generation. Discs front and rear. It's built extremely well with many updates from earlier year problem areas. It also has the SMALLER displacement engine. It's the only new body style that offers the smaller engine.
The 08 also gives you complete control over running in electric with the econ switch while using A/C. The 09 overrides this previous feature and will still start and run the gas engine even with the econ button pressed if the a/c is on. The 09 also uncontrollably revs the engine to over 2000 rpm when using the a/c in hot weather, regardless of your vehicle speed. This sucks copious amounts of fuel unnecessarily. The 08 did not have this programming.

I've owned the 08 and the 09, bought both brand new, and the 08 got significantly better gas mileage under my wife's non hypermile style driving. Not to mention that my 09 is falling apart literally (see my 50,000 mile post here on this site.)

Disclaimer: These are MY experiences only and don't apply to others on the site who have had great results with their 09's.

This post isn't meant to flame the 09, rather to justify why I think you should buy an 08.

Sean

 

Question: Do ALL 1st gen FEH have the battery heater option? (I.e is the heater element installed, even if disconnected?).

All first generation FEH have the wired connection the hybrid battery heater. But you must have option 41H (engine block heater) to utilized this connection. Option 41H can be easily added to the vehicle by the dealership or DIY for those handy in doing such work. This is what is looks like if you do not have a connection to the hybrid battery heater:


This is what it looks like if you have a connection to the hybrid battery heater:

You can look for this connection by lifting and removing the rear cargo carpeting-you may need to put the seats down first.

The FEH hybrid battery pack:


FIY: the non-hybrid Ford Escape vehicles 2005-07 have a chronic issue with the older transmission especially with the V6 engine. There are numerous threads on this at the escape-city site.

 

Cool Battery Pic Bill!

 

I've got the 1st gen 2008 FEH (AWD) and have been very happy with it. 75k km on it, and the shop says the brake pads still look new. The only issues I had were broken tone rings in the front suspension -not sure why but it happened twice, replaced on warranty both times. I also had the rear window explode one night when I turned on the defrost, but again, repaired under warranty no problems.

All in all it has been a great vehicle. But I did like the earlier body styling better.