[ifsmithy]

2010 ford escape hybrid AWD limited

Awesome vehicle, looks good and runs good. MPG‘s up where they’re supposed to be. Great Utility vehicle to get up to the mountains and also run around town.

186K miles on the clock, second owner but was previously owned by buddy of mine so I’ve been driving it on and off since bought in 2010. Been well cared for and maintained - I bought it 42 months ago from my buddy. I know what the vehicle has been through.

My upkeep costs costs are averaging 47 bucks per month (over 42 months) - that is everything i have spent to keep it on the road - largely new tires (1200), rust around windshield from an accident. Branch hitting it (800 for repair and new roof paint) and a bunch of preventative maintenance (maf sensor, sparks, TB, O2 sensors etc etc). I need new front control arms and hub assemblies which takes upkeep to around 72 bucks (1000 bucks installed). Was going to do this myself but have to put in shop due to other stuff going on.

So still cheap to keep on the road.

At what point do people start thinking about getting rid - this is still so much cheaper than a new car payment and likely id only consider a new car if one of the remaining big 3 fully went kaput - transmission, engine or battery….. i typically like to work on my cars but some jobs are worth getting others to do….. there isn’t really anything much else wrong with he vehicle….

thoughts?

 

[Mountain Escape]

2010 ford escape hybrid AWD limited

Awesome vehicle, looks good and runs good. MPG‘s up where they’re supposed to be. Great Utility vehicle to get up to the mountains and also run around town.

186K miles on the clock, second owner but was previously owned by buddy of mine so I’ve been driving it on and off since bought in 2010. Been well cared for and maintained - I bought it 42 months ago from my buddy. I know what the vehicle has been through.

My upkeep costs costs are averaging 47 bucks per month (over 42 months) - that is everything i have spent to keep it on the road - largely new tires (1200), rust around windshield from an accident. Branch hitting it (800 for repair and new roof paint) and a bunch of preventative maintenance (maf sensor, sparks, TB, O2 sensors etc etc). I need new front control arms and hub assemblies which takes upkeep to around 72 bucks (1000 bucks installed). Was going to do this myself but have to put in shop due to other stuff going on.

So still cheap to keep on the road.

At what point do people start thinking about getting rid - this is still so much cheaper than a new car payment and likely id only consider a new car if one of the remaining big 3 fully went kaput - transmission, engine or battery….. i typically like to work on my cars but some jobs are worth getting others to do….. there isn’t really anything much else wrong with he vehicle….

thoughts?

Rust is a booger, if your windshield frame rusts out, you're going to be leaking water into your dash. I would address any rust you see sooner than later.
otherwise, I think you're right. You can't get a rental car for that much per month. The only reason I would stop driving a car is because of safety issues.

unless you've been in a wreck, you only need to replace the bushings in your control arms.

in a throwaway society, a lot of people feel like a failure of the big three is reason to trash the car, but I love rebuilding things, swapping engines, transmissions and keeping things out of the trash pit. You can almost always repair a car for cheaper than buying a new one... even if you have to pay somebody to do the work

 

[ifsmithy]

Rust is a booger, if your windshield frame rusts out, you're going to be leaking water into your dash. I would address any rust you see sooner than later.
otherwise, I think you're right. You can't get a rental car for that much per month. The only reason I would stop driving a car is because of safety issues.

unless you've been in a wreck, you only need to replace the bushings in your control arms.

in a throwaway society, a lot of people feel like a failure of the big three is reason to trash the car, but I love rebuilding things, swapping engines, transmissions and keeping things out of the trash pit. You can almost always repair a car for cheaper than buying a new one... even if you have to pay somebody to do the work

Yeah i got the windshield removed and small patch of rust fixed - that was from a branch falling on it when out on a hike - wasnt visible until it became a reasonable sized job. I really enjoy the car - like the boxy look and the utility of the AWD - want to keep it running as long as possible.
I got the control arms as a pair for pretty cheap - given I was going to (try) do the job myself I thought it easier to just replace the whole things - i needed to replace the hub assemblies (bearings already pressed in) so I wouldn’t have to worry about separating the ball joint either…… probably not the best way to go about it….. hey….garage is doing it now - pretty good deal….

 

[LX302]

Only you know when the best time is to give it up. I got rid of mine when the rust got too bad and I didn't enjoy driving it anymore.