Ford Escape XLS 5 Speed Manual Review

Good Points
Gas mileage, manuverability and parkability; styling, utility; lots of storage compartments and attractive, rugged interior. It's a great vehicle for running errands and hauling light cargo around.

Bad Points
The clutch is not very smooth and the pedal fatigues your left leg after an hour or so of city driving. Very cheap speaker system, particularly on the front doors. A stiff wind and big trucks push the vehicle around. There is a high level of road noise which comes up from the floor board. The seats are a little short for a long legged person. Wiper blades make too much racket. The cd player gets extremely hot after extended use, and it's 4 cylinder engine does not accelerate with much enthusiasm.

General Comments
I've got 30K + miles on the vehicle so far. For the money the vehicle is a pretty good value I would say