[FrEEdom]

My Element is 6 days old. My previous car was an '01 Escape. My prior 4 cars were Explorers and Escapes! (My husband is a Ford guy.)

Anyway, this time I put my foot down and demanded something different. We bought an '07 Element instead of an '07 Escape.

Arguments for Ford:
Less $$ for same options
Ford had a better financing deal (1.9% vs. 3.9%)
Long EXCELLENT history w/Ford (no lemons - all safe, comfortable and reliable)
More plush interior
More ground clearance (for deep Colorado snow)
Apparently better, more controllable 4WD (Auto or On)
More sporty appearance
Can seat five total (vs. Element seating 4)
Husband was in favor of the Ford.

Arguments for Element:
Just so ugilily darn CUTE
Deck a little lower so my older crippled up dog can get in easier.
Lots of room for driver and passenger. Esp. head room for my tall husband.
No carpeting in cargo area to get dog hair and hay stuck in.
It is DIFFERENT than my last 5 cars.
I was in favor of the Element.
Makes me smile.
Somewhat rare on the roads still. Gets looks (esp. my color combo.)

Probably not statistically good enough arguments to get the Element - but you bet I did!

Love it.

I was waiting for the "My husband was in favor of the Escape" argument to be listed under the Element...

 

[dparrothead1]

The best reason of all "makes me smile"........I'm still smiling after almost 3 years!!!!! Bet you couldn't say that about the Escape!!!!

 

[TracyDP]

My Element is 6 days old. My previous car was an '01 Escape. My prior 4 cars were Explorers and Escapes! (My husband is a Ford guy.)

Anyway, this time I put my foot down and demanded something different. We bought an '07 Element instead of an '07 Escape.

Arguments for Ford:
Less $$ for same options
Ford had a better financing deal (1.9% vs. 3.9%)
Long EXCELLENT history w/Ford (no lemons - all safe, comfortable and reliable)
More plush interior
More ground clearance (for deep Colorado snow)
Apparently better, more controllable 4WD (Auto or On)
More sporty appearance
Can seat five total (vs. Element seating 4)
Husband was in favor of the Ford.

Arguments for Element:
Just so ugilily darn CUTE
Deck a little lower so my older crippled up dog can get in easier.
Lots of room for driver and passenger. Esp. head room for my tall husband.
No carpeting in cargo area to get dog hair and hay stuck in.
It is DIFFERENT than my last 5 cars.
I was in favor of the Element.
Makes me smile.
Somewhat rare on the roads still. Gets looks (esp. my color combo.)

Probably not statistically good enough arguments to get the Element - but you bet I did!

Love it.

Congratulations! I had the same issue with my husband who was not a big fan of the Element and tried his darndest to avoid getting one. Problem ended up being that he wasn't coming up with any better alternatives that I could live with. Like he told the guys at his work "Yeah, my wife really wanted an Element, but I didn't. So, we compromised and got an Element". It's growing on him though, like a big square orange fungus. I was surprized when he didn't put up a fight about the Tangerine color, he actually kind of likes it.

 

[hownowcb]

I was waiting for the "My husband was in favor of the Escape" argument to be listed under the Element...

and

Like he told the guys at his work "Yeah, my wife really wanted an Element, but I didn't. So, we compromised and got an Element"

are wonderful examples of what I respect about my female friends. Mine, anyway, are charming enough to pretend that I'm kinda knowledgeable, and maintain a modest degree of respect in public. But I know they're laughing and doing the "bunny ears" behind my back! Luckily, I'm OK with that. (As if there's a choice?) :roll: :lol:

 

[Moonbeard]

Give that Mazda Tribute er...um...I mean that Ford Escape a chance to be on the road for 30-40K mi. You'll really start to see the really important differences of overall quality and endurance of the Honda product. :???:

 

[Moonbeard]

Originally Posted by 3_3rdHonda
If profit isnt job one @ Honda I'll eat my Blue Light Special money clip. [But I'l remove the duct-tape 1st.]

You know, I thought Blue Light Special money clips were made out of crow and tasted especially good with mustard!

Truth be told...you couldn't give me a Ford product for free and pay me to drive it! For goodness sakes, I have personal standards as well as a reputation to uphold.

 

[Grannysmuncher]

Originally Posted by 3_3rdHonda
If profit isnt job one @ Honda I'll eat my Blue Light Special money clip. [But I'l remove the duct-tape 1st.]

You know, I thought Blue Light Special money clips were made out of crow and tasted especially good with mustard!

Truth be told...you couldn't give me a Ford product for free and pay me to drive it! For goodness sakes, I have personal standards as well as a reputation to uphold.

I dunno...I kinda liked that Ford...hmm...I've forgotten. Guess I didn't like it as much as I thought I did. Oh, well.

Honda all the way! Or maybe Toyota...or Nissan...or....You know what, I retract that statement.

Imports all the way!

 

[ScLoopy]

Wow Ford Verses Honda........... I wouldnt lose any sleep the Honda will still be on the road with 200,000 mls on it while the Ford is melted down into a Honda at Half that!!!!

 

[Grannysmuncher]

Wow Ford Verses Honda........... I wouldnt lose any sleep the Honda will still be on the road with 200,000 mls on it while the Ford is melted down into a Honda at Half that!!!!

Hear, hear!

 

[xequar]

You know, I'm very curious why so many people have such genuine and deep-seated hatred for Ford Motor Company. I have three different co-workers with different flavors of the Escape, and they all love their cars. The V6 Sport doesn't ride all that bad and seems like it gets up better than my E does, and the interior is as comfortable as my E. But, if I had bought an Escape, the interior would already be trashed from me hauling my bike and doing all the other stuff I do, and the V6 is not available in a manual transmission, so the Escape really was not a choice for me.

As far as longevity, I've seen a lot of Fords with just a ton of miles on them, the best example being a friend of the family's 1991 Econoline van that had over 300,000 miles on it when they bought their Expedition a couple of years ago, or my co-worker's 2001 F-150 that had 200,000 miles when she traded it in for the Escape she has now (and the only reason she traded it in was the $100-$200 in gas per week she was spending with the F-150).

Yeah, I'm an Element owner, and I love my Element and don't regret my choice for a minute, but I am an advocate of educated shopping and buying, and it seems like so many people here and elsewhere go into these things with various pre-conceived notions and don't give good products a fair chance.

 

[Bellz]

You know, I'm very curious why so many people have such genuine and deep-seated hatred for Ford Motor Company. ...

Yeah, I'm an Element owner, and I love my Element and don't regret my choice for a minute, but I am an advocate of educated shopping and buying, and it seems like so many people here and elsewhere go into these things with various pre-conceived notions and don't give good products a fair chance.

Those comments seem to assume that people who dislike Fords have no previous experience with them and base their hatred purely on Fords reputation for shoddy quality.

I can assure you that Fords reputation is well-deserved. I can also say that many people on this forum have owned various Fords in the past and are full entitled to their negative opinions.

I personally have owned 4 Fords in my lifetime and I have a negative opinion of them. The Ranger I had was junk. The Nissan truck that later replaced it was so far ahead of it in quality that it is pointless to compare them. The Fiesta hatchback I drove for awhile was a decent enough car, probably because it was actually a european Ford, imported and sold here. This led me to believe that european Fords tend to have higher quality than their american counterparts. In the late eighties, I drove a Mercury version of the Mazda 323. Not a bad car, built by Mazda, but years later I read they had oiling problems that caused the engine to lock up. This was AFTER I traded the car for something else. And finally, I had a '96 Taurus SHO that I drove for several years, before trading it for an '01 Civic. The SHO had an over-engineered expensive motor, shoe-horned into a pedestrian grocery-getter body. It was heavy, had no manual transmission (unlike the first two generations of SHO) and drank the gas. It was getting up there in mileage and tended to be expensive to maintain, due to the exotic Yamaha heads, so that's why I traded it off. Again, I found out later that the cams had a tendency to BREAK at a certain mileage. I read this from the v8sho forum and I was relieved to have gotten rid of the car before it could happen to mine. My mileage was approaching that magic number that most people had problems with the cams. The fact that ford and yamaha quit making replacement motors only solidified my good decision to move on.

That said, I've owned 3 hondas, and I have virtually NOTHING to complain about any of them. All 3 ran like a top and never gave any problems. They were a '93 Prelude Si, '01 Civic DX and now my '04 Element EX.

So, you see, many of us have histories with Ford and are justified in our negative opinions. Quality is not Job 1 at Ford, Profit is Job 1. It's also no surprise that the highly acclaimed new Fords are based on Mazda designs.

 

[Grannysmuncher]

You know, I'm very curious why so many people have such genuine and deep-seated hatred for Ford Motor Company. I have three different co-workers with different flavors of the Escape, and they all love their cars. The V6 Sport doesn't ride all that bad and seems like it gets up better than my E does, and the interior is as comfortable as my E. But, if I had bought an Escape, the interior would already be trashed from me hauling my bike and doing all the other stuff I do, and the V6 is not available in a manual transmission, so the Escape really was not a choice for me.

As far as longevity, I've seen a lot of Fords with just a ton of miles on them, the best example being a friend of the family's 1991 Econoline van that had over 300,000 miles on it when they bought their Expedition a couple of years ago, or my co-worker's 2001 F-150 that had 200,000 miles when she traded it in for the Escape she has now (and the only reason she traded it in was the $100-$200 in gas per week she was spending with the F-150).

Yeah, I'm an Element owner, and I love my Element and don't regret my choice for a minute, but I am an advocate of educated shopping and buying, and it seems like so many people here and elsewhere go into these things with various pre-conceived notions and don't give good products a fair chance.

My mother used to have a Ford Taurus. The entire undercarriage forward of the firewall fell out of it while she was driving. I don't think I'd ever want anything made by Ford.

She also worked in one of the Ford factories here in the U.S., and was told by the quality control officials that up to a half inch of bare wiring could be left out of the connectors in the dash. All they were instructed to do is wrap the excess in electrical tape. Pathetic.

Again, I will never own a Ford.

 

[bobmak57]

I have to chime in on this one. I just sold a 1998 Ford Explorer 4WD Sport with the SOHC 6 cyl. I loved that truck! It was very comfortable to ride in, much more so than my E, and had every option. We had lots of great adventures together throughout the northeast. It carried my bikes, kayaks and skis with no problem, as well as my dogs, several large pieces of furniture, and most recently both a dryer and a gas stove. Six way adjustable leather seats with adjustable lumbar support, sun roof, rear air and heat, great sound system with a 6 cd changer. I was pretty hard on the old girl, did lots of hauling and camping trips with her, drove through almost 10 NE winters with no body damage or rust. Just routine repairs (brakes, alternator, battery, some front end parts). Engine was still running strong and the tranny was fine. Why did I get rid of it? It had 145K+ on it, I hardly ever used the 4 WD, it was only getting maybe 16-18 MPG, and I wanted something new, so I sold her to one of my best friends daughters for short money (NADA wholesale). She has horses, needs to pull a trailer and does mostly local driving. I am sure it will serve her well.

I started looking for something with better fuel economy, 2 WD with the same utility. I didn't really need a full SUV and the crossover look wasn't doing it for me. I looked at minivans, the Rav 4, the Escape, Outback, etc. but the Element SC really fit the bill with its funky look and utility. It had the fun factor I was looking for plus plenty of room for my dogs and my toys.

My summer car is also a Ford, an emerald green 1990 25th anniversary 7 Up Mustang LX convertible that is still running great with minimal repairs at 120K. That's a keeper, always garaged, still running strong. I haven't babied this one either, had a few fast starts in her, other than a clutch, tires (I am on my 4th set), brakes etc. she has been good. Ford has had some design problems in the past, and I'll concede that Asian automakers in general have a better rep for long term reliability, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Ford if it was something I strongly desired. Maybe I just got lucky with the two that I have owned, but so far I am 2 for 2.

 

[Honu]

Ford???

Dissing Ford is easy for me.
I owned a Taurus wagon once. Even my excellent mechanic was shocked when it died such a premature death.
I will never forgive Ford for a "minor defect" that could have burned my house and family to the ground, with my attached garage....and they had the problem TWICE in their history.
I have watched my neighbor battle their falling apart and prematurely dying Fords. While my Toyota, Hondas, and even Nissan just keep cruising along. (4 drivers in my family).

My family reunion rented 4 Ford Exploders a number of years ago for a week in Wyoming, doing relatively light duty off-road. They were fun and comfortable cars, but after that week, they felt more like they had 100k miles on them, not 10k.

I kept hoping Ford would finally figure out CONSISTENT quality was important. I am NOT convinced they ever figured that out.

My theory is that people who like Fords assume dumping a few thousand dollars a year into a low mileage car is NORMAL.

 

[EXwSCnose]

You know, I'm very curious why so many people have such genuine and deep-seated hatred for Ford Motor Company. I have three different co-....

I can fill in the blanks for you!!!
I bought a nice looking '91 continental (note lower case spelling!) in '97. It was a low milage car from a retired gent living locally. At first it was a nice riding and solid feeling car and I was quite happy! But then the self disassembly process began! In about 18 months I had a blown head gasket, a blown transmission, leaking airbags on all four corners, a faulty radio head unit, a faulty A/C control module, a delaminating dashboard, the paint started to look as if it were painted before the civil war, the return spring of the door handle broke causing a perpetual rattling, the leveling system kept kreeping and had continously needed adjustment, windshield leaking... When I contacted ford early on insisting that I would expect better quality and durability from their flagship brand, I was given the middle finger, straight up!!! ...over and over again!!! My mother in law had to park her '93 sable at the curb, I wouldn't allow an f... product in my driveway. On the flipside, my 16 year old HONDA Accordis running fine with no rattles and hickups, and at three times the running miles. HONDA replaced my transmission on a 7 1/2 year old van without me having to do a fire dance, and charged me <$200.00 to replace two motor mounts and do a service on a '99 Ody with 84K miles on it. (I know they got sued, but ford should have gotten sued too!) My other two HONDAS are just a joy to drive. Wify's '05 CR-V is a sweet ride and I just love my '07 E. Since we have expelled all other brand cars from our lives, motoring is bliss!!! ...and that is how I came to hate anything f... I will not touch a mazda or saab either, NEVER!! f... corp. killed me off as a customer forever with this one experience! It was so consistent and fundamental, I will never own a f... again!!!

 

[tangerine07lx]

for what its worth, a saab is a gm, not a ford. and the new mazdas are nice. i came very close to buying a mazda3 hatch before i got my E. as for fords, they are crap. a couple years ago, before i bought my nissan i test drove a 98 ranger at a dealer with 80k on it. during the test drive, the check engine light came on. a hour after i left, i got a call from the dealer letting me know it needed $1000 in emmisions work. thank god i passed on that thing. also, my sisters 95 escort caught on fire when she was driving down the highway one day.

 

[Bellz]

... also, my sisters 95 escort caught on fire when she was driving down the highway one day.

Speaking of ford fires, I have another story. At my previous job a couple years ago, my boss's '96 F150 spontaneously caught fire in his driveway one evening. It nearly caught his house on fire and singed the back of his explorer. The truck was a total loss. His insurance company hauled it off to their investigation center in Atlanta. It wasn't but a few weeks after that, when good 'ol ford issued a major recall for faulty wiring. Check out the article quote below. He had been a big Ford fan up until that point. He replaced the F150 with a Nissan Frontier and also got rid of his Explorer because he was afraid it might also burst into flames. He now has a happy Nissan/Honda household.

Ford Recalls 4 Million Trucks to Fix Fire Risk
September 7, 2005
After years of turning a deaf ear to reports of fires in unattended F-150s and other trucks and SUVs, Ford Motor Co. is finally recalling nearly 4 million of the vehicles to replace a faulty speed control deactivation switch that may cause underhood fires.
The estimated 3.8 million Ford vehicles affected by the recall are from the 1994-2002 model years and include the Ford F-150 pickup as well as the Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator and Ford Bronco SUVs.
It's the fourth largest recall in Ford's history.
The brake fluid in the recalled vehicles may leak through the speed control deactivation switch into the speed control system electrical components, potentially corroding them and leading to fires, the company said."

 

[Hondamade4dogs]

I have a 2006 Ford Taurus company car with 146,000 miles on it and then we have a 2001 Taurus with 384,000 miles, it is starting to crap out on us.... It depends on if you wanna take care of them or just let them rot.

 

[HIPCHICK11]

I have owned BOTH

I just purchased I new 07 Element EX 4WD as my lease ended on my 05 Escape Limited. I have to say The Escape was my most favorite car that I ever "owned". With that said, Im done with leasing and now its time to buy again. A friend recommended the Element and I couldnt be happier. I was nervous going from a 6cyl to a 4cyl (not to mention, my limited had everything in it) - But the Element is so much more fun - From the cool Kiwi cool - to all the neat gagdets inside.... plus Im not even noticing the 4 cyl thing! I definitely DO NOT regret my decision. If you are leasing I would say go for the Escape (because I dont feel that its going to last much more than 5 year- already starting to rattle) plus its price tag is too pricey to buy! If you are going to buy - the Element is the way to go

 

[FrEEdom]

Hi Hippie Chickie! Welcome to the crowd! The longer you have it, the more attached you'll be.... its trouble! You have been warned!