Hi,

Considering purchasing a 2006 Ford Escape Hyrbid with a little over 100k miles on it. The dealer selling it used was also the dealer that sold it new and did all of the factory scheduled maintanence. Clean Carfax, fwiw, and no accidents on record.

Asking price is $9k. Is that generally a good price? Been a long time since I bought a used car and paying near $10k (once you add in dealer fees and taxes/reg) seems like a lot for something that isn't shiny and new. That said, I am impressed by the stories of longevity this car has and the general fondness people have for it on this forum.

Thanks!

 

Forgot to say: Its got a lot of options on it - sunroof, leather, navigation, single color paint, etc. I am not sure about the safety options (I hope it does but its not local and haven't seen it in person). Having a mechanic check it out on a lift but told it was a sound car so planning as if news is good.

 

Try this: http://www.edmunds.com/used-cars/ Then "Appraise a Used Car".

 

Thanks. I've done that and KBB. Those numbers seem slightly inflated from just general observation of the local market though and, from what I understand, they use list price and not sales price in calculating pricing.

I'm a little thrown off on value because I just missed getting a private party sale of a 2006, loaded, in great shape and only 88K miles for $7500 because I couldn't get the day off work. Probably an outlier though as the guy wanted to sell fast.

 

The price is high, dealers usually make a lot of money on used cars. They probably have no more than $5500 in the car and are looking for a tidy profit.
IMO, the biggest issues with an old FEH is going to be battery aging and potential replacement of expensive components like the CVT.
Sealed batteries don't age well and those '06s have been on the road probably 8 years already.
The '06 nav system is an antique which uses CDs, maybe it would be entertaining to see if the dealer can still get it to work.

 

I doubt that the eCVT will need replacement due to its simple design and the lack of reports from owners that the issues exist with this unit. The hybrid battery is designed to run from 40% filled to 53% filled and can go higher with braking action. Ford designed it that way for durability purposes. Ford has bought back "older" FEH vehicles for a look at durability and even posted that one of these vehicles at 210,000 miles-not kilometers-had 94% of its orginal hybrid battery capacity/efficiency.

Your local market will also dictate used car prices.

 

I bought a 2006 FEH in March 2011 for $9283 out the door from a dealer in OH. Had over 100k miles but well maintained. D-mac is correct about navigation system so I use a Garmin. I use the display for fuel economy every day and like the 6 CD changer. Love the car but your quoted price is too high.
I do all my own maintenance so I found a used WDS which covers the 2006 FEH. Since purchase have replaced right rear half shalft because of a broken tone ring. Front axle tone ring subsequently broke and I replaced it without changing the halfshaft. Recently both u-joints went bad. In the process of removing the drive shaft, the front CV joint separated. That was a major mess but did get it fixed. Needed to use heat and hammer to free CV from transfer case. If this happens to you, it is best to let the dealer do it from the beginning--many components of driveshaft and transfer case not available. Battery pack still seems good at 142k. However, I do have an Enginer on it with a double LiFEPO4 pack (pack not purchased from Enginer). avg +/-30mpg in cold weather with frequent 4x4. 4x4 is very smooth transition so never fully aware of when it is engaged, but the car is very sure-footed....maybe the best winter driver I have ever had. Because of extremely bad road salt, I wash it every day and it is difficult to clean underneath. Good luck.

 

Tell us more about the Enginer kit as previous owners have reported on reliability issue with various components. Your double LiFEP04 pack means you have 8kWh instead of 4 inside the Enginer case?

 

I built another SS case to hold the second 4kw pack. My wife needed a winter car to take her Dobermans to competitions. Since we don't use the back seat, one dog crate can fit on top of the pack and a second crate fits in front of the cases. In the summer we use Ford Ranger EVs whenever possible. The Rangers are limited by their 100 mile range.
The Enginer reliability can be an issue and one has to be prepared to troubleshoot and do your own repairs. IMO the major flaw in the Enginer system was their battery pack and the BMS. I use the MINIBMS by CleanPowerAuto, the same one I use in my all electric Rangers. This equipment eliminated the cell balance problems. I also replaced the 48v charger because the one supplied by Enginer would not fully charge my LiFEPO4 pack. If you don't fully charge the pack, you will have performance issues. Another reliability issue was the way various components, mainly adjustment potentiomers, were placed on the circuit boards. If they were mounted upside-down (in a horizontal view) the adjustment might be clock-wise in one case and CCW in the other. This inconsistency could exist in the same run of CBs. This made adjustments difficult. IMO, The FEH was not as good a platform as the Prius.

 

Isn't that pretty much the whole system?