Working the Vehicle

[kyratshooter]

I just traded into a Ford Escape. It is an older model, 2007.

V6/FWD and basically I would consider it a Ford Fusion with an SUV body on it.

It does have slightly higher ground clearance and a set of heavy duty truck tires mounted but it is not a rock crawler. (if I need a 4wd rig I still have my Jeep)

This weekend I loaded the Escape down heavy with twice as much crap as I should have for a weekend camp, most of which I never unloaded from the vehicle, and proceeded to put 800+ miles on it.

Everyone at the jamboree will attest that we had high speed interstate miles, moderate speed secondary roads, mountain switchbacks where one could look out the side window and see their own taillights, gravel tracks and at least one tiny stream to ford.

While others might consider their BOV a machine to take them farther into the woods than anyone else can go before they remove the contents and abandon the rig to proceed on foot, I sort of consider mine a "long distance refugee transport vehicle".

I want a vehicle that will get me out of harm's way and down the road to the grandchildren's' house either before SHTF or after everything has calmed down a bit in the wake of troubles. Fighting battles out of this rig is not part of the plan and neither is long distance cross country off road travel with a trail of cut fences behind me.

My primary concerns are good gas mileage and moderate hauling capacity.

This weekend I learned that the little Escape will haul a lot of stuff, pull a bit more stuff, average 23mpg while doing it, with highway miles pushing the 27mpg mark at 70mph.

One nice thing Ford did was install a 16 gallon gas tank on this vehicle. Even on the low end of the mileage scale I can get nearly 400 miles on a tank of gas. That mileage will get me to either one of my children's homes, 300 miles away, without a fuel stop.

Most of the time one buys a vehicle and never really gets to know it until after the first good road trip. I find myself pleasantly surprised with this one. It might not be right for everyone, but it is just about what the doctor ordered for this old man.

[MrFixIt]

Sounds great krat!
One of these days I'm going to have a vehicle dedicated to my outdoor interests.

[1stimestar]

Oh very cool. That's pretty darn good gas mileage.

[kyratshooter]

Sounds great krat!
One of these days I'm going to have a vehicle dedicated to my outdoor interests.

I have had dedicated outdoor vehicles since I began driving.

When I was a kid, before the days of the SUV, it was common for the businessmen in town to have dedicated "hunting/fishing cars". Usually an old well worn sedan or wagon with a heavy duty roof rack and mud tires all around. It kept their Caddys and Lincolns from getting all messed up when they went fly fishing or bird hunting.

My first one was a 1961 Rambler Classic Wagon that thought it was part Jeep. I inherited it after the family thought it was worn out and I wound up driving it all through my college years with it being my daily driver some of that time. I bought my first Jeep during my last year in college.

Fact is, the Jeep I now own is part Rambler Classic Wagon !!!

My 1997 Jeep Cherokee has the same engine that the Rambler had with the simple addition of fuel injection and a computer for the ignition.

[hunter63]

Sounds like a a good mix of carrying capacity and mileage.
You were kind of discussing it here, a while back, and was kinda wondering how it worked out for ya.
Good report from the shakedown cruise. sounds like.

It still is customary to have a winter/hunting/fishing, truck and the summer/Sunday car or truck......
My father and all my uncles had them, as did my GF.....and on DW side same thing.......

The way was to keep the older vehicle and buy a newer one....and back then '50's & 60's women started working more out side the home and driving the "newer car", dad got the older car.

This also made you keep vehicles longer, and keep them up.

We seem to be more affluent these days, and it's not uncommon for there to be two (or more) car/truck notes to pay.

Never had to do that myself.....kinda just waited till something was paid for before committing to a new or newer vehicle.

I like my trucks, for carrying way too much stuff, far and deep in the bush, and pulling all sorts of trailers.....so mileage is a secondary concern.

[kyratshooter]

My big concern, in the past, was needing a good rig that cold do freeway trailer towing to get to the events, but also had 4wd so you could make it the last 500 yards in and out of some field full of mud holes.

Rondys are notorious for being 500 miles away in the middle of BFE and our final resting place being a raised platform in a swamp.

More than one time have I seen three 4wd rigs chained together in order to pull someone's one ton crew cab 4wd truck and 16' trailer out of a mud hole where the paved parking lot was only 50 yards away.

Seems like as time goes on there are fewer of those off the wall events and the ones that are scheduled have better access, so I opted for the front wheel drive only on this rig. But I am still holding the Cherokee in reserve. We have too much bad weather up here to do without a 4wd vehicle.