2008 Ford Escape

My wife and I lease a 2005 Ford Escape and our lease will be up in December. We've been talking about it for a while, and decided that we will probably get another Escape when the lease is up, except that we plan to buy it rather than lease. Our primary reason is because we don't want to tied down with a mileage limit. As it stands, we're either going to exceed or be very close to exceeding the 60,000km limit that we got with this one. Blah.

My wife took the truck in for it's regular oil change last night and came home with a brochure for the 2008 Ford Escape. My initial reaction was, "BLEH!".

First, it seems that they have done away with the unpainted cladding. We actually like the unpainted cladding. It takes a beating quite well. (i.e. doesn't scratch as easily as painted body parts, or chip from stones)

The chrome on the front looks out of place too. It looks cheap. The wheel wells also seem to flare out further.

I realize that the Escape isn't a big, nasty, 4x4, bush whacking vehicle to begin with, but the 2008 looks less like they could survive out in the wild. Like they belong only on paved roads. The 2007's and earlier at least look like they could survive a little easy off-roading.

I keep looking at pictures of it and it has started growing on me, a little. I guess I'd have to take one out for a spin to see what it feels like. And if we decide not to go for it, we'll hopefully still be able to pick up a 2007 with little or no mileage on it. Maybe even a little cheaper?