Is 92K miles excessive for a '07 Ford Escape Hybrid? The car looks to be in very good condition, but having never owned a hybrid, I am not sure how to compare.

 

Since an 07 probably was sold in 06 this seems reasonable, around 16-17,000 miles per year by my calculation. Seems like it's spent a lot of time on the road and not in getting repairs which is a promising sign.

When I bought my 05 with 80,000 miles on it about 6 months ago I also bought an extended 2 Year/24,000 mile Ford Warranty and so far it's saved me a few hundred dollars with a brake repair so that might be worth investigating if you want peace of mind.

 

My FEH has 117,000 on it. I believe that this car is capable of much more than that.

 

I purchased my '05 with 102K on it. It just crested 125K last week. One of the things I looked at was the overall condition of the vehicle. Mine was immaculate and by all appearances had been very well cared for. Service records also indicated the same. These vehicles are well documented to have great longevity. You'll also find plenty of issues documented on this forum, most of which are not serious mechanical issues. As with any forum, keep in mind that those who are happy tend not to gripe. Those who are not happy tend to gripe enough to seem like many people.

You'll find many owners on this forum who have well over 100K on their Escape Hybrids. I believe that these vehicles are a great buy on the used market because people tend to be fearful of the technology. In general the technology is very sound and well engineered based on my own and other experiences documented on this forum.

There are some known common issues that you'll find documented here. One is commonly referred to as the "wrench light" or "service soon" message. This is typically caused by an electric actuator that controls cooling air to the battery in the back of the car and can be fixed with minimal mechanical ability by a do it yourself owner. I've read numerous posts about the electric water pump failing after 100K but I have not yet experienced this phenomenon... If and when I do I will fix it myself with guidance from the smart folks on this forum who have documented the path to getting it back on the road. Even when these things fail, you won't find too many examples of people being stranded in the middle of nowhere and having to spend huge amounts of money to fix their cars. That said, you will find examples of the things I just mentioned; just not all that many. Certainly not as many as other vehicles out there on the road.

Good luck. Negotiate hard... These vehicles are somewhat of a pariah on the used market for the reason I previously mentioned. You can afford to be picky and start low on your offering price. I ended up getting my loaded '05 for $11,600 in June of 2010. That was $3500 below their asking price. At the time it was well below blue book. It had been for sale for a long time and the dealer was hungry to get rid of it. Considering the price of new ones, you can do well to buy one used and drive it for many miles.

 

Good words. I've replaced my MECS pump on spec at around 55k, I just replaced my outer tie rod ends because their rubber boots were deteriorating and I didn't want to replace them in the middle of the winter, I replaced my brake pads early @112k (based on thickness remaining) because of a developing shudder on hard braking, and am contemplating replacing my fuel pump preemptively since I've noted that electric fuel pumps seem to go about 100k.

In the grand scheme of things these are not big deals.

Since I've now had a couple of Wrench lights that cleared without setting codes, I'm thinking of cleaning up the power cable connections (on spec that corrosion has gotten a start).

Overall I'm quite pleased with this car. corski67's got it right.

 

Got to agree with the value of used, Considering the depreciation it seems like you can pick one up for very little more than a used 4 cyl, and get more standard features a swell.
I bought my 07 MMH 4x4 in jan 2010 for 16K, with less than 20K miles. That's less than half price! Only thing it didn't have was leather int. Had to relplace the 12v battery this summer.

 

That was a sweet deal. Nice job picking that one up for that price with low miles!

 

I had my eye on it for 2 months started out 20, I think. I bought it during a blizzard in the first week of january, Dealer had dropped the price and I had to drive out of the way to test drive also had a clean low mileage pickup to trade which for a rural market is like gold. I sure he made 3-4 k on that but I had tried to sell outright and the market was slow

 

I purchased a fully loaded 4X4 2006 in July 2011 for 14500-trade of 10000. It had 30 day warranty which I used to get a leak fixed in air conditioner line to the main battery and also a wheel bearing in right hind wheel. It had 71000 miles and looks great with heated leather and all options. We really like it. It has averaged between 30 and 31 mpg since we purchased it in July. We have a 2010 Prius and were not afraid of the hybrid system.

 

My 05 is now over 130,000 miles. But it is my winter car, so I'll add 20k more by spring.
No complaints. No issues, and I beat the h ell out of it too.... off road, tow 3200lbs. more than a few times, and have used all the way up to 85% ethanol in it. I think the ethanol keeps the insides clean. You will get a warning light above ~40% ethanol but the engine runs great.
-john