My parents and I recently said goodbye to our 2001 Ford Escape after a relatively catastrophic transmission failure. It gave us 92,000 mostly trouble-free miles, and even though it was “just a nine-year-old SUV,” I do miss it just a bit.
We collectively decided to avoid a transmission repair after discovering the cost of a new (not remanufactured) trans would be $4,200. On a vehicle valued at $4,500, it’s tough to justify the expense. Well, it’s cheaper than a new car… but there’s an underlying issue. The early Escape was very much a “parts bin” car. Basic platform from the Mazda 626, Duratec V6 from the Taurus, and the CD4E automatic from the… Contour.
Doing some basic math, a transmission designed to drag around a 2,800-lb. car will not do well when presented with 3,500 pounds and more horsepower from a larger motor. Failure is common among early Escapes if not meticulously cared for. My parents, as much as they do care for their vehicles, were not the most diligent at having the transmission fluid flushed, which ultimately led to the demise of all forward gears.
One of my dealership friends offered to take the Escape to a wholesaler, since Mom and Dad had already decided on a new car (2011 Outback) and needed it gone. We had three sets of keys for the Escape, and I confess now – I kept one set. Coincidentally, it’s the set I used when the Escape was “mine” for three years.
Why keep a set of keys to a car that I’ll likely never see again? Memories,and lots of them.
I was in the fifth grade when I got off the bus after school and saw it sitting in the driveway, Mom and Dad beaming as they finally found a replacement for her ‘87 Sentra E (that’s the base-base-base model) that had needed replacing for years. It was a tan color, which Ford dubbed “Light Parchment Gold Metallic,” or, “We couldn’t think of a good name either.” I grew to despise the non-color… but the other choice back in late 2000 was “Chrome Yellow” – a shade slightly brighter than that of my fifth-grade cheese wagon. Mom apparently chose the lesser of the two evils, since she really didn’t want any of the other colors offered.
Anyway, back to memories. Let’s see. I learned to drive in the Escape. I got my license on the last day of my driver’s ed week, and drove solo to dinner that night. After dinner, I picked up my then-girlfriend and drove to Hershey’s for ice cream. With the sunroof open. By myself. It was fantastic.
The “skin tone metallic” SUV saw so much hoonery in my hands. Twelve friends crammed inside for a late-night Wendy’s run? Sure thing. Pull my buddy’s bogged-down Wrangler out of a mud pit? Thanks, champ. One (just one, I swear) quick Neutral-drop to see if I could chirp tires? Sorry about that, buddy. A road trip to check out the JMU campus, another trip to visit friends my senior year (and an 87 mph speeding ticket, oops), and countless other trips to Harrisonburg with all of my worldly possessions in tow? Yep.
My “performance driving” started in the Escape, too – as in, I got all of the stupid teenage-guy stuff out of the way before I bought a real sports car. I learned how beastly it was in the snow. I learned what “snap oversteer” meant, long before I knew what oversteer was, ending up in a neighbor’s snow-covered front yard after sliding between their mailbox and a Ford Econoline in their driveway. A change of underwear later, all was well there.
I read online about the 108-mph electronic fuel cutoff. One night, I verified that our particular Escape had that cutoff properly installed. After some bwap-bwap-bwap – that’s the ECU cutting fuel at 108, slowing to 107 and giving fuel again, hitting 108, you get the picture – I slowed back down and never reached triple digits in that car again.
After all of the shenanigans – and more that I probably can’t remember now – I just couldn’t bear to give up the keys that enabled it all. And if I see a tan Escape XLT around town soon, with a certain black ’shorty’ antenna and some telltale paint scratches on the roof, I may have to double-click the ‘Lock’ button on the remote and see if it’s “the one” that provided so many great times.