Hello Rob!

** On Monday 29.12.25 - 08:12, you wrote:

I thought all Ford Escapes were some form of 4WD. Ie.
SES 4WD, AWD etc..

Apparently not all.. At times I wish I had some sort of
AWD.. Mine is the Turbocharged 1.5 Litre engine, higher HP
than the 2 Litre engine, which also worried me a bit but
it sounds like they usually stand up fairly well. No
estimate on how long the Turbos last since so few have
failed. I haven't had any problems with it so far, but
mine only has about 72,000 km on it.

My Rav4 is 2.4L. I think I would miss that size. Factory
mileage has been pretty consistent between 10L/100km and 9L/
100km. Winter driving and winter fuel grade is dragging it
down to 12L/100km though.

Mine has just squeezed past 145K km since 2007.

Most of the Escapes I see at the local dealer are all 1.5L.

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--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

Hello Mike!

** On Monday 29.12.25 - 09:29, Mike Powell wrote to ROB MCCART:

My other "car" is a 1993 Dodge Dakota. It is nice to
drive in part because it has no "modern goodies" to speak
of. The radio doesn't even work. :D

LOL. :D

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.64
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

It is surprisingly good on slippery roads and snow covered
hills though, especially considering I just have Michelin
'Mud and Snow' tires on it. Obviously a good make but not
True snow tires.

Just don't put any heavy loads over the rear tires. That could

>fishtail the back-end out of control.

I drive fairly sedately these days. Too many of my younger years
driving Supercars so I don't feel the need to push things when
I'm driving around. I rarely carry anything heavier than my
groceries in this car anyways..

I am looking at some Escapes listed at my local dealer. There

>is a cute 2019 Bronco Sport 4x4 that looks interesting. But I
>am still inclined to consider an Escape - and *only* AWD or
>4WD.

I like mine well enough. It's bigger than most of the other
compact SUV's, which I prefer. My biggest complaint with the
car would be paint related. I've had some minor paint peeling
issues so I've had to touch up a couple of areas that should
not be a problem spot, and there's no rust involved, just paint
peeling off of the primer.

---
* SLMR Rob * Sssss.. Gotta go! My girlfriend's developed a slow leak
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Mine is just a 2017 too. My previous car was a 2006 so it didn't have

>> any of the modern goodies.

My other "car" is a 1993 Dodge Dakota. It is nice to drive in part because

>it has no "modern goodies" to speak of. The radio doesn't even work. :D

Until recently I was usually buying cars just rebuilt that were older
and I'd only keep them for 3 or 4 years. As long as a car looks and
runs okay I don't worry too much how new it is. These days it's a lot
harder to tell how old a car in in any case. Not like things were back
in the 50's and 60's.. B)

A local Wreckers had a thing for Neons and were always fixing those
up to sell. I bought two Neons from them. They had better than
average warranties on them and, if the car needed work after the
warranty period, they often did it ridiculously cheap. If it wasn't
complex work, only charging me not much more than minimum wage rates
since their apprentice could do it and that's all he was being paid..

---
* SLMR Rob * Must be Jelly 'cause Jam don't jiggle like that
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No estimate on how long the Turbos last since so few have failed.

Back in the 80s, friends with Saab Turbos swore by letting the car

> settle for 10 seconds to let the turbine slow down before turning the
> car off and depriving it of oil. Sounds like a good idea.

I've heard that too. I probably don't keep that in mind all the time
but I also am rarely in a big rush so it would be left to idle for
a while before I shut it down. I assume the turbo is spinning all
the time. Too bad it couldn't be set up to only turn on when extra
power is required, then I'd almost never use it. I drive pretty
sedately for one who was into muscle cars in my misspent youth.. B)

Okay.. I had a look online and found various info on Turbo speeds
and in general most turbos spin very slowly at low RPM's, say
1000 rpm at idle compared to up to 200,000 rpm when pushed..

But, that said, I looked it up for my specific car and it said
that the turbo does not spin at all unless you put the engine
under the stress of high acceleration or when pulling a heavy
load, which might be why the lifespan on that model is usually
quite long.

---
* SLMR Rob * I'm a serial monogamist
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Mine is the Turbocharged 1.5 Litre engine, higher HP
than the 2 Litre engine, which also worried me a bit but
it sounds like they usually stand up fairly well.

Correction.. The 2 litre engines are usually turbocharged
as well and have fairly high HP (250), but the Ford 2.4 litre
engine that is not turbocharged puts out about 140 HP compared
to my 1.5 liter engine's 180 HP..

My Rav4 is 2.4L. I think I would miss that size. Factory

>mileage has been pretty consistent between 10L/100km and 9L/
>100km. Winter driving and winter fuel grade is dragging it
>down to 12L/100km though.

Mine is usually about that or a little better when the computer
actually checks it but, in theory, I should be able to get as
high as 7.8L/100km.. Mixed Highway/City is supposed to be 9.1.

Yes, winter gas especially, and most gas year round contains
ethanol and the only benefit of that in winter is you never
get frozen fuel lines. The rest of the year it's a scam to
employ farmers who grow any of several crops used in making
ethanol but, if you put 10% ethanol in the gas, your fuel
economy drops by 10%.

Mine has just squeezed past 145K km since 2007.

The high miles used to worry me, having grown up back when
most engines didn't last much longer than 160K km, but one
of the Neons I bought had 175K on it which worried me a bit
until I looked into it and most if properly cared for were
good for 250K to 300K km.. (300K = 186,000 miles)

Most of the Escapes I see at the local dealer are all 1.5L.

If they stand up as well as claimed it seems a good engine for
general use, although if I were pulling heavy trailers or something
I'd want a bigger engine not turbcharged.

---
* SLMR Rob * Old Accountants never die. They just lose their balance
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

My other "car" is a 1993 Dodge Dakota. It is nice to drive in part because

>it has no "modern goodies" to speak of. The radio doesn't even work. :D

Until recently I was usually buying cars just rebuilt that were older
and I'd only keep them for 3 or 4 years. As long as a car looks and
runs okay I don't worry too much how new it is. These days it's a lot
harder to tell how old a car in in any case. Not like things were back
in the 50's and 60's.. B)

I never had a thing for new cars, either, until the price of older ones
went up so much ~15 years ago. After a bad experience buying a used one, I startred to figure that if I am going to spend that much money on
one that doesn't come with any warranty, I might as well buy a new one.

That said, the first brand new one was a lease. The next one was also. On
the second one, when the lease was near up, I saw that new cars the same age were selling for about $10k more than the contracted "resale to me" value on the lease contract. So, knowing all of its history, I bought that car
"used." ;)

So I guess I still have not bought new. :D

A local Wreckers had a thing for Neons and were always fixing those
up to sell. I bought two Neons from them. They had better than
average warranties on them and, if the car needed work after the
warranty period, they often did it ridiculously cheap. If it wasn't
complex work, only charging me not much more than minimum wage rates
since their apprentice could do it and that's all he was being paid..

My sister had a Neon back in the late 1990s. IIRC, she liked it. I rode
in it a few times and it was not a bad car.

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * Pregnancy is a side effect of sloppy birth control.
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Rob Mccart wrote to KURT WEISKE <=-

I've heard that too. I probably don't keep that in mind all the time
but I also am rarely in a big rush so it would be left to idle for
a while before I shut it down. I assume the turbo is spinning all
the time. Too bad it couldn't be set up to only turn on when extra
power is required, then I'd almost never use it. I drive pretty
sedately for one who was into muscle cars in my misspent youth.. B)

I'm sure it's spinning at some lower-than-normal speed to minimize
turbo lag and wear and tear on the bearings from stops/starts.

I started driving in high school, spent my time reading Road & Track
and driving way too fast for conditions. Now, I'm in my 60s, I'm
driving a Lexus ES300H, a turbo semi-luxe 4-door sedan. Why does it
need a sport mode and a flappy-paddle gearbox? I'm in the same boat as
you, drive the speed limit in the slow lane and get crazy gas mileage
in return.

Driving to my office I can get 51mpg.



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Until recently I was usually buying cars just rebuilt that were older

>> and I'd only keep them for 3 or 4 years. As long as a car looks and
>> runs okay I don't worry too much how new it is.

I never had a thing for new cars, either, until the price of older ones

>went up so much ~15 years ago. After a bad experience buying a used one, I
>startred to figure that if I am going to spend that much money on
>one that doesn't come with any warranty, I might as well buy a new one.

That said, the first brand new one was a lease. The next one was also. On

>the second one, when the lease was near up, I saw that new cars the same age
>were selling for about $10k more than the contracted "resale to me" value on
>the lease contract. So, knowing all of its history, I bought that car
> "used." ;)

Usually, at least in the past, a car loses about 1/3 of its value
in the first 2 to 3 years so you can often find a low mileage car
still under warranty and save a lot of money over buying new.

I have also suggested to people a number of times if they don't
have the cash to buy a fairly new car, to lease one and take good
care of it, and then buy it when the lease is up. The one time I
got a brand new car (Thunderbird) I leased it with that intent, but
then a job change didn't let me keep it so I ended up finding a
way to sell it out of the lease. I suppose the dealer can block that
but they rarely do.

I also once bought a 2 year old F-150 that turned out to still be
on lease, and when I went to the dealership to straighten that out,
they just let me buy it for what I'd agreed to pay and they changed
the ownership over for me which saved me a bunch of tax since I'd
bought it for lower than the DMV said it should sell for..
But because it was a dealership doing the 'sale' they accepted
the figures they put in.

My sister had a Neon back in the late 1990s. IIRC, she liked it.

>I rode in it a few times and it was not a bad car.

They had a bigger engine than many sub compact cars and they were
much more solidly built and better finished, especially inside.
I liked them quite a bit, plus I was buying them rebuilt by the
wreckers for about 2/3 of what they would have normally sold for.

I worried a bit about that but these guys were very thorough making
sure everything was as perfect as possible. I had no complaints.
One time something quite expensive did fail shortly after their
warranty period ended but they ended up fixing it for free anyways
without me even suggesting they should..

---
* SLMR Rob * Acme Parachutes - Good to the last drop
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Rob Mccart wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

Usually, at least in the past, a car loses about 1/3 of its value
in the first 2 to 3 years so you can often find a low mileage car
still under warranty and save a lot of money over buying new.

Off-lease cars are 3 years old, well-maintained, and like-new. I bought
my last 2 cars that way, and got a car with low miles and some warranty
left.

I have also suggested to people a number of times if they don't
have the cash to buy a fairly new car, to lease one and take good
care of it, and then buy it when the lease is up.

A couple of years back, there was a crazy deal on leasing Chevy Bolts -
$99/month on a 36 month lease. My wife's boss paid the lease upfront, a
little over $4000 out the door, and got 3 years worth of driving for
that.

The 10K miles/year lease limitation was always a problem for me, but
she lived 10 miles from work.









The one time I

got a brand new car (Thunderbird) I leased it with that intent, but
then a job change didn't let me keep it so I ended up finding a
way to sell it out of the lease. I suppose the dealer can block that
but they rarely do.

I also once bought a 2 year old F-150 that turned out to still be
on lease, and when I went to the dealership to straighten that out,
they just let me buy it for what I'd agreed to pay and they changed
the ownership over for me which saved me a bunch of tax since I'd
bought it for lower than the DMV said it should sell for..
But because it was a dealership doing the 'sale' they accepted
the figures they put in.

My sister had a Neon back in the late 1990s. IIRC, she liked it.

>I rode in it a few times and it was not a bad car.

They had a bigger engine than many sub compact cars and they were
much more solidly built and better finished, especially inside.
I liked them quite a bit, plus I was buying them rebuilt by the
wreckers for about 2/3 of what they would have normally sold for.

I worried a bit about that but these guys were very thorough making
sure everything was as perfect as possible. I had no complaints.
One time something quite expensive did fail shortly after their
warranty period ended but they ended up fixing it for free anyways
without me even suggesting they should..

---
* SLMR Rob * Acme Parachutes - Good to the last drop
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

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I assume the turbo is spinning all
the time. Too bad it couldn't be set up to only turn on when extra
power is required, then I'd almost never use it. I drive pretty
sedately for one who was into muscle cars in my misspent youth.. B)

I'm sure it's spinning at some lower-than-normal speed to minimize

> turbo lag and wear and tear on the bearings from stops/starts.

Yes, I think most of them do that. I saw info online for some that
will spin at 1000 rpm at idle and up to 200,000 rpm under stress..

I started driving in high school, spent my time reading Road & Track

> and driving way too fast for conditions.

I got a small motorcycle at 15 so I'd be ready to go hen I turned 16.
That bike got me a job, and then I bought a 650 Triumph at 16 and
then at 17 I got my Chevelle SS. I heard later that there were bets
on the back road where I lived as to how long I'd survive before
getting into a serious accident. I'd often drive home on the flat,
decently paved 2 lane road at over 120 mph at times..

Now, I'm in my 60s, I'm

> driving a Lexus ES300H, a turbo semi-luxe 4-door sedan. Why does it
> need a sport mode and a flappy-paddle gearbox? I'm in the same boat as
> you, drive the speed limit in the slow lane and get crazy gas mileage
> in return.

Yes, my car, obviously not nearly as flashy, has a sport mode for
manual paddle shifting as well, which I haven't even tried in the
4 years I've owned the car.

Driving to my office I can get 51mpg.

Wow.. that is truly amazing. I assume you are talking US gallons
as well? I believe you're in California?

My Escape (1.5 litre Turbo) can get around 30mpg in Canadian gallons,
about 23.3 in US gallons.

Ha.. don't ask AI to figure that out. It converted my 8.1L/100km
to 50.3 MPG US which is so wrong it's a joke.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Sometimes you get the beer. Sometimes the beer gets you.
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

I have also suggested to people a number of times if they don't
have the cash to buy a fairly new car, to lease one and take good
care of it, and then buy it when the lease is up.

A couple of years back, there was a crazy deal on leasing Chevy Bolts -

> $99/month on a 36 month lease. My wife's boss paid the lease upfront, a
> little over $4000 out the door, and got 3 years worth of driving for
> that.

That sounds like a pretty good deal. I don't know I've ever heard
of paying the lease up front. What's the advantage of that?

The 10K miles/year lease limitation was always a problem for me,

but she lived 10 miles from work.

These days my biggest problem is not driving my car enough.
So far it hasn't caused me any problems but I usually only use
my car one day every 2 weeks for my shopping and any other
appointments. I try to keep organized.. B)

Otherwise I stay close to home and walk, jog or bicycle anyplace
I have to go, usually just out for mail which is about a mile
from the house. I only put about 1000 miles a year on my car if
nothing unusual requires a longer trip.

---
* SLMR Rob * Claustrophobics Anonymous meets at 6pm at the skydome
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)

Rob Mccart wrote to KURT WEISKE <=-

A couple of years back, there was a crazy deal on leasing Chevy Bolts -

> $99/month on a 36 month lease. My wife's boss paid the lease upfront, a
> little over $4000 out the door, and got 3 years worth of driving for
> that.

That sounds like a pretty good deal. I don't know I've ever heard
of paying the lease up front. What's the advantage of that?

The only advantage is not dealing with a monthly payment, if you can
afford it.

The 10K miles/year lease limitation was always a problem for me,

but she lived 10 miles from work.

These days my biggest problem is not driving my car enough.
So far it hasn't caused me any problems but I usually only use
my car one day every 2 weeks for my shopping and any other
appointments. I try to keep organized.. B)

Otherwise I stay close to home and walk, jog or bicycle anyplace
I have to go, usually just out for mail which is about a mile
from the house. I only put about 1000 miles a year on my car if
nothing unusual requires a longer trip.

That's a great idea. My goal is to walk more this year, I have a dog
that gets me walking 3x/day, but he's slowing down now - it's less
walking and more sniffing these days. I have a market a mile away, but
there's a big hill in the middle.




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$99/month on a 36 month lease. My wife's boss paid the lease upfront, a

> little over $4000 out the door, and got 3 years worth of driving for
> that.

That sounds like a pretty good deal. I don't know I've ever heard
of paying the lease up front. What's the advantage of that?

The only advantage is not dealing with a monthly payment, if you can

> afford it.

I suppose that's a good idea if you are trading in a car still worth
something on a new car you are leasing. Paying 3 years worth of
payments up front though will cost you some interest on that money
if there's no discount for doing that.

Otherwise I stay close to home and walk, jog or bicycle anyplace
I have to go, usually just out for mail which is about a mile
from the house. I only put about 1000 miles a year on my car if
nothing unusual requires a longer trip.

That's a great idea. My goal is to walk more this year, I have a dog

> that gets me walking 3x/day, but he's slowing down now - it's less
> walking and more sniffing these days. I have a market a mile away, but
> there's a big hill in the middle.

Keeping active as we get older pays great benefits in the long run.
I ran into a neighbour the other day here who is in her late 70's
and she told me she walks/jogs 5 km (3 miles) every day. Like me,
her age shows most in her face but she looked to be in great shape.

---
* SLMR Rob * Has anyone seen the minutes of the Anarchists meeting?
* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)