Escape from New York: An Urban SUV in the Country

The 2014 Escape: The Economical Luxury Suv
The 2014 Escape: the economical luxury SUV

Cruising in the Luxurious Ford Escape SUV

When cars became a middle class luxury and gas was cheap, people went for Sunday drives along scenic parkways. I was transported back to that time in the 2014 Ford Escape Titanium, a super comfortable SUV that easily handled the windy – and very scenic – roads in Westchester and Ulster counties.

I often feel like a hulking menace in an SUV, but the Ford Escape left a small footprint, both in its gas consumption and its physical presence. The  luxury SUV maneuvers well and can slip into the street parking in Westchester’s river towns.

Like a typical suburban family, we had to run a lot of errands with the car, from dropping the dog off at a sitter to delivering donations to the high school, picking our youngest daughter up from a practice SAT and even stopping by my mother’s new apartment in New Jersey.  For the first leg of the trip, we wanted to bring our bicycles and the car had that genius split back seat that allowed us to fold down half the back and fit our bikes without removing wheels or figuring out our bike rack.

Easy To Use Nav System
Easy to use nav system

Although we knew where we were going, we used the navigation system and it was one of the most intuitive I’ve tried. The voice commands were simple for the driver to use and a reassuring little ‘beep beep’ alerted us when we correctly changed lanes to make a turn.

The trunk closure seemed slow, perhaps for impatient New Yorkers; the only way to close it is to push a button and wait. I’m sure this is a safety feature for kids and I don’t know if the trunk really closed any more slowly than others, but it seemed glacial.

The heated seats eliminated any temperature modulation arguments. I am hot, I am cold, I am menopausal, and my poor husband winds up boiling, freezing and annoyed. Controlling my seat temperature kept everyone happy.

What We Loved

Simple, intuitive navigation system

Individually Controlled Heated Seats
Individually controlled heated seats

Lots of storage – center console, on the side of the doors – helps you keep organized

Heated seats – and individual controls

Illuminated entry; no fumbling in the dark

Blind spot detection (part of an extra package) was great for lane changes on a curvy highway

What You Need to Know

Base Price: $30,850. The model we drove, with a technology package, blind spot detection, park assist, ecoboost engine and nav system brought the price to $35, 050

Gas mileage is rated at 21 mpg in the city, 28 mpg on the highway. We mainly drove on the highway and found the mpg to be right on target

Standard equipment includes foldable side view mirrors for city parking, leather seats and steering wheel and rear view camera

We Loved The Deep Impact Blue Of The Escape We Drove
We loved the Deep Impact Blue of the Escape we drove

3 year / 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty.

5 year / 60,000 mile powertrain and roadside assist warranty

Note: the Ford Escape was provided to me for our test drive: opinions expressed are my own.

Judy Antell
Judy Antell

Judy Antell, who is TravelingMom.com's Free in 50 States editor, lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with her husband and three daughters. Between road trips to visit colleges, travel sports and seeing East Coast sights, she spends a lot of time on the road for a city girl.

Articles: 278