Welcome Visitor! Please take a few seconds and Clem
Well-Known Member
After reading all the responses to date and being old and BIASED, I have to say, get whatever appeals to YOU!
But don't plan on using that new SUV to go where the venerable old BII or any Ranger is going off road, unless you don't care about the dents, sprung body panels and an increase in your insurance premiums.
A new Escape used by one of the locals didn't last through the hunting season last year. The first road trip encountered a large rut that dented the external panel into the interior panel, (that was the beginning of the end). 3 months after the Escape was purchased on a flat concrete floor, the right front corner and left rear corner were over 3" different height than the other side. The Escape was totaled in 3 months with 1600 miles on it.
The moral here is, the guys brother went everywhere the Escape went and some places the Escape wouldn't go, with about the same amount of fuel and that was done in a 87 BII. The BII is still running with an original 2.9 and 210,000 miles. By the way, the BII pulled the Escape out of a number of stuck places, but the Escape never pulled the BII once.
So you get whatever you want, a pavement driver (newer SUV) or a go most anywhere, old framed SUV.
YOUR DECISION, make it, then live with it!
But don't plan on using that new SUV to go where the venerable old BII or any Ranger is going off road, unless you don't care about the dents, sprung body panels and an increase in your insurance premiums.
A new Escape used by one of the locals didn't last through the hunting season last year. The first road trip encountered a large rut that dented the external panel into the interior panel, (that was the beginning of the end). 3 months after the Escape was purchased on a flat concrete floor, the right front corner and left rear corner were over 3" different height than the other side. The Escape was totaled in 3 months with 1600 miles on it.
The moral here is, the guys brother went everywhere the Escape went and some places the Escape wouldn't go, with about the same amount of fuel and that was done in a 87 BII. The BII is still running with an original 2.9 and 210,000 miles. By the way, the BII pulled the Escape out of a number of stuck places, but the Escape never pulled the BII once.
So you get whatever you want, a pavement driver (newer SUV) or a go most anywhere, old framed SUV.
YOUR DECISION, make it, then live with it!
