Seems to me with the current pricing anyone looking at a Ford Escape should conclude the hyrid is the no-brain winning choice. At some point the Hybrid might not make sense if Ford can't keep up with the demand for Hybrids and the price spread separates.

What's the availability on the Escape Hybrid, is there a waiting list?

One thing I noticed in the www.intellichoice.com article was this rather odd statement:

"It should be noted that as part of our methodology, we do not set Target Price above MSRP. As a company that evaluates ownership costs, we can't advocate paying over retail price for a vehicle, as that is financial equivalent to just tossing money out the door, both in terms of initial purchase price, as well as added depreciation costs."

Anyone that paid over MSRP please ignore this report, the author thinks you tossed money out the door? At least they are above board saying this, but it brings their "IntelliChoice's proprietary Target Pricing" presumably used in this analysis into question.

Can we just get an unbiased analysis with a clear methodology? This could be it but I have my doubts.