between Jeep Liberty and Ford Escape

[ktang]

Hi All, I'm about buy the used 4x4 ( 2004-2006 ) of above SUV, I need expertise who could give me some advance or input. I choose both base on my budget what I can afford. Thanks very much for the input or advance.

Ktang

[wookie]

I would recommend the Ford Escape over the Jeep Liberty.....

**I own a Mazda Tribute (2006)
**Parents own a Jeep Liberty (2007)

Gas mileage is better on the tribute/escape, I find the tribute/escape to have more room and overall more comfortable.

Downside is that you may think the tribute/escape is underpowered in which case take the Liberty has it has the larger engine (3.7L vs 3.0L). Also I would check out the Tribute as the 2008 just came out and usually the Tribute is a little more deluxe than the Escape.

[Spud72]

Neither are fuel misers nor have fantastic reliability or quality.

I'd probably go with the Escape, but the Liberty is a far more capable 4x4. Probably come down to price and KMs, all other things being equal.

[bionicbadger]

I'd go with the escape. Jeep reliability isn't the greatest.

[jzemel]

I owned a Jeep Limited 2004 (4x4) and I was very happy with the car. Never had to bring it into service other than the basic oil change. The only complaint I would have to say is the gas milage. It's terrible. On my Jeep the computer is giving me a rating of 17.4L/100KM. That's very bad. If i'm lucky I can get between 250-300KM per tank. I'm so happy that my lease is up in a few weeks. I'm going smaller and more gas efficient for my next car.

[DavidY]

The 2007 Consumer Reports Annual Auto magazine recommends the 2007 Jeep Liberty. Average reliability. Worse than average satisfaction. Average depreciation. CR overall mileage was 15 mpg.

The same report does not recommend the 2007 Ford Escape because of a tip-up in the government rollover test. Better than average reliability. Worse than average satisfaction. Average depreciation. CR overall mileage was 18 mpg for the V6.

For each model year as a used car, the Liberty and Escape were rated by CR as folllows:

Jeep Liberty
2002 average
2003 better than average
2004 better than average
2005 average
2006 worse than average
Overall average

Ford Escape (4 cyl)
2001 average
2002 average
2003 better than average
2004 average
2005 better than average
2006 average
Overall average

Dave

[stevethewheel]

If you plan to truly off-road or otherwise put stress on the vehicle (eg pull heavy trailer) then the Liberty wins.

If you just want the security of 4x4, high driver viewpoint but stay on regular roads then I'd go for the Escape.

We have a Liberty. Nothing to complain about. Except gas mileage, which is horrible. We get 325-375 km on a 60L tank.

If you do test drive a Liberty be sure and take a tire pressure gauge with you. Many people will under-inflate the tires so that the ride seems nice and smooth....but you won't drive it like that when you own it because the gas mileage will wipe you out and underinflation on the highway contributes to roll over. The ride will be nice and smooth though, and will give you the wrong picture of what you are buying.

[jzemel]

The only other issue I had with my Jeep Liberty is in the winter, the tire sensors keep going off saying your pressure is low. This is due to the temperature change. The colder it is, the more it will go off and beep. Also it has a tire sensor for the spare on the back of the Jeep. Still don't understand how it knows the pressure on the spare :) The spare tire went off a few times. If I had to take a tire pressor monitor in my next car, I would pass on it. It gets annoying going off all the time in winter.

[Spray]

Why not something like a Hyundai?

Liberty is allright, but the hatch space is a joke.

[Eclipsed7]

I drive an Escape, 2001 XLT. I test drove a new Liberty, 2007 Limited, and a used 2006 Escape Limited. Liberty did not impress me. Smaller on the inside and that engine roar is what really made me happy about my Escape, even 6 yrs old. But the Liberty does have a true 4x4 system, and can tow 5000 lbs vs the Escape's 3500lbs (if we are talking V6 engines). The ride was nicer in the Escape, nicer seats and better shifting and a little quieter at highway speeds as well.
Good Luck.

[Beradon]

I drive an Escape, 2001 XLT. I test drove a new Liberty, 2007 Limited, and a used 2006 Escape Limited. Liberty did not impress me. Smaller on the inside and that engine roar is what really made me happy about my Escape, even 6 yrs old. But the Liberty does have a true 4x4 system, and can tow 5000 lbs vs the Escape's 3500lbs (if we are talking V6 engines). The ride was nicer in the Escape, nicer seats and better shifting and a little quieter at highway speeds as well.
Good Luck.Anything go wrong(minor or major) with your Escape since you had it?

[BartBandy]

From a reliability standpoint, it looks like a tossup. Fuel economy is middle-of-the-pack for the Escape, bottom-of-the-pack for the Liberty. I took the Liberty for a test drive two years ago, and was unimpressed by the brakes and the steering. Be sure to test drive them both.

In this category, I'd be looking for a CR-V, Forester, X-Trail, Tucson or (newer) Sportage ahead of the Liberty and Escape. Older Rav4 also if space is not as important.

[Samir]

I just drove a Ford Escape over 1,300 km in 4 days.

I had a 2007 XLT 4WD edition, which I used on a round trip between Montreal and Manhattan. The engine was a Duratec 3.0L V6.

It is a reasonably comfortable ride. I used about 2.5 tanks to make the trip, driving around 70-80 mph most of the time. That is way better mileage than a Jeep Liberty.

The ride is reasonably compliant, but handling limits are pretty low (don't try anything resembling a curve beyond 85 mph). Noise is decent.

The interior is really, really cheap. The steering wheel feels like it's made out of a Fisher Price mold, the radio head unit is really ugly, the glove compartment is small, the center armrest is pretty spartan, etc.

In the snow of the Adirondack Mountains (it snowed on Sunday), it seemed fine. The mountain roads are a good place to test handling, they require some turning, some climbing, some turning+climbing, etc.

As soon as I hit even a moderate upward climb, I had to really REV that engine to maintain a speed of 80 mph. It reminded me a lot of the Ford Focus I drove through the Albertan rockies in 2005, to be honest. I can imagine with a full truck, loaded bags, loaded roof rack, that little Duratec is gonna have to work mighty hard.

The car was fine for suburban driving and sitting in traffic - which is where it belongs, far away from the mountains or the trails.

Overall I'd say it was a decent car, but I priced out my rental on Ford.ca and I see a MRSP of $34,995 for what I had with options I had (4WD, Sunroof, privacy glass, etc.). $35,000 is a pretty crowded neighbourhood, and if I were in it, I'd surely be looking at a Legacy GT.

Photos of my rental escape

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/cacaouette/FordEscape2007/IMG_4576.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/cacaouette/FordEscape2007/IMG_4573.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/cacaouette/FordEscape2007/IMG_4574.jpg

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/cacaouette/FordEscape2007/IMG_4569.jpg

[Eclipsed7]

Anything go wrong(minor or major) with your Escape since you had it?

Since my Escape was the first production year, I got a few bugs, but nothing that made me regret my purchase. I have 109,600km on my Escape, and still enjoy it.
For me, the major repair I had was with the ignition coils. The Escape has an ignition coil for each cylinder, and the #5 cylinder tends to get wet and mine got wet and failed. So I have had (2) different coils fail, #5 and #1, and the idle air controller was full of carbon reside. But put these together and your engine runs very bad. It was hard to diagnose, and I would say that was the biggest major repair I have done, besides brakes and scheduled tune ups.
Minor repairs, lower left control arm bushing, leaking brake cylinder due a cap seal size issue by ford.
My mother in law has the same year as me, and her issue is the brake pads Ford uses, she goes thru them and she had the same issue on the master cylinder leaking, but she has had no mechanical issues.
A fellow here at work has a 2005 and his MPG is a little better than mine, and he sure likes it. And he has had no problems with his at all.

[Beradon]

Since my Escape was the first production year, I got a few bugs, but nothing that made me regret my purchase. I have 109,600km on my Escape, and still enjoy it.
For me, the major repair I had was with the ignition coils. The Escape has an ignition coil for each cylinder, and the #5 cylinder tends to get wet and mine got wet and failed. So I have had (2) different coils fail, #5 and #1, and the idle air controller was full of carbon reside. But put these together and your engine runs very bad. It was hard to diagnose, and I would say that was the biggest major repair I have done, besides brakes and scheduled tune ups.
Minor repairs, lower left control arm bushing, leaking brake cylinder due a cap seal size issue by ford.
My mother in law has the same year as me, and her issue is the brake pads Ford uses, she goes thru them and she had the same issue on the master cylinder leaking, but she has had no mechanical issues.
A fellow here at work has a 2005 and his MPG is a little better than mine, and he sure likes it. And he has had no problems with his at all.
I guess it wasn't that bad considering it was a first year production run. Were all the repairs covered under the 3yr bumper to bumper warranty or 5yr powertrain?

[Eclipsed7]

I guess it wasn't that bad considering it was a first year production run. Were all the repairs covered under the 3yr bumper to bumper warranty or 5yr powertrain?
No, cause all my issues on the ignition coils were well after the 3yr/60k period. The coils just happened to me in 2005. Issues started around July 2005 and I changed the coils (all 6 and big $$$) and the problem was still there. I changed out the idle air controller and it runs like new again.
As for the other items, no to them as well, most of the problems were after my warranty was up, I chose not to get extended warranty.

[malbadon]

I have a 2005 limited and have had no problems with it. I will agree with Samir that its "cruise" ability up a hill is underwhelming, it always wants to downshift to climb a hill (coming from a camry owner where the car was gutless at accelerating, but laughed as it rolled up hills). That's probably mostly due to the fact the engine/tranny were originally in cars, that extra 1500 pounds adds up. Its fuel greedy but my shock should be expected switching from a camry :)

Back when we bought it we were also deciding between an Escape/Tribute and a Liberty. I used to own a YJ so had a natural affinity to the Liberty but liked to body styling of the Escape better.

I probably would have ended up liking the Liberty if we had gotten that, but we got a deal on the Escape so thats the way we went.

[smurfy71]

Okay, through my employment I have driven both these vehicles recently. We had a 2006 Escape and traded it in on a 2007 Liberty. We lease our vehicles and do so solely on the price.

My personal opinion is that the Escape is the nicer ride, better reliabilty and better on the gas. If you are looking for a city driver, this is the one to get.

We have had the Liberty for a short time and have had issues with the 12 volt outlets, and twice with the power mirrors. The liberty rides very stiff, not much of an issue for me (I drive a truck), but if off roading then this would be the better of the two.

$0.02

[Sprite_TM]

jeep liberty because of the looks