I’m impressed

My new car; a 2012 Ford Escape. (Photo by BobbaLew.)

Much as I was very depressed letting go of the two cars my wife and I drove, I really like my new car, illustrated above.
My wife died almost a year ago, leaving me a sad and lonely widower.
Our two cars were a 2003 Honda CR-V, and a 2005 All-Wheel-Drive Toyota Sienna minivan.
I really liked the CR-V. It was great for chasing trains — I’m a railfan, and have been since age-2; I’m 69.
The CR-V was a pleasant drive; slightly uncomfortable for my wife, but fine for me, assuming I was driving.
The van was really just having vans since our first, a used 1979 Ford E250. (That E250 was my all-time favorite vehicle.)
I had a Chevrolet Astrovan after the E250, and the Toyota replaced the Astro.
After my wife died, two cars for only one person seemed silly. I could have kept the Sienna, but that also seemed silly when -a) my need for a van disappeared, and -b) it was large.
I really liked the CR-V, but it was 10 years old.
It was also less dog-friendly than our van.
But the CR-V was a great train-chaser. With All-Wheel-Drive it could negotiate difficult conditions, and as an SUV it had a lot of under-clearance. I could safely drive dirt-tracks for farm-tractors.
So I wanted another SUV, preferably more dog-friendly than the CR-V.
I looked at the new Honda CR-V. It was more dog-friendly, but looked stupid. More a crossover than an SUV; that is, it was shaped like a tall car.
I also looked at the new Mazda CX-5, a competitor for Honda’s new CR-V. But it too looked more like a crossover.
What blew me away was the previous Ford Escape, the most dog-friendly SUV I had ever seen.
My wife’s boss when she worked at the West Bloomfield Post-Office, the Postmaster, got one over a year ago, and she let me look at it.
“Why can’t they all be like this?” I cried. The bottom seat-cushions folded forward 90 degrees filling the dog-swallowing gap behind the front-seats, and the rear seat-cushions flopped down into a flat floor.
It was the most dog-friendly SUV I had ever seen.
I started looking for cars right about the time Ford stopped making the previous Escape, and introduced the new Escape.
I wasn’t interested in the new Escape; another crossover, plus it looked really stupid.
I’ve gotten into the habit of purchasing new cars — for cash. I end up being the owner free-and-clear. No financing.
I poked around on the Internet.
Locally only Shepard Ford in nearby Canandaigua had used Escapes. I’d prefer new, but by then a previous Escape had to be used.
Shepard had a previous Escape with only 2,800 miles.
So what was wrong with that? Sounded like a lemon!
The salesman claimed it was purchased new by someone who promptly died, and the car was sold barely used back to the dealer.
My new-car delivery-invoice says somewhere in Pennsylvania, so it was probably auctioned.
Shepard likes to sell low-milage used-cars, so picked it up.
Shepard had another used Escape at 19,000 miles, but it felt used, this other one felt new.
So now I have a previous Escape, what I’d rather have, that feels new.
It’s everything my CR-V wasn’t. It has a V6 engine; the CR-V was only four cylinders. It was okay, but sort of weak.
I’m sure my Escape is heavier, but it feels stronger.
And of course my Escape is much more dog-friendly than the CR-V was.
The CR-V was okay; there was no dog-swallowing gap behind the front seats, a common SUV flaw.
But the folded-up rear-seats blocked the rear-door. My dog fell. The Escape doesn’t do that.
The Escape floor looks higher than my CR-V, but it’s flat (the earlier Subarus weren’t), it has plenty of roof-clearance, and I could lift my dog into it if I had to. —I did with a previous dog when she could no longer jump in.
The Escape also solves the keyless-entry problem.
At 2003, my CR-V didn’t have keyless-entry, at least not the cheapest version we had.
My Sienna had keyless-entry, but it was a separate fob. I never carried it, so it went unused.
My Escape’s keyless-entry is right on the key. I’m only carrying that key, not two fobs, so I can use keyless-entry.
My Escape also has Bluetooth® to my cellphone. It’s connected, but I haven’t used it yet.
Best of all it’s an SUV, much like my old CR-V. A great train-chaser, yet a pleasant ride.
It ain’t a Jeep; I don’t tackle jeep-trails.
But for chasing trains over dirt-roads and/or ice it’s perfect.
(I remember chasing trains in a car. -A) it wouldn’t cross an icy grade-crossing for lack of All-Wheel-Drive, and -B) my friend was afraid of bottoming the oil-pan on a farm dirt-track.)

• My current dog is “Scarlett” (two “Ts,” as in Scarlett O’Hara), a rescue Irish-Setter. She’s seven, and is my sixth Irish-Setter, a high-energy dog. (A “rescue Irish Setter” is an Irish Setter rescued from a bad home; e.g. abusive or a puppy-mill. [Scarlett was from a failed backyard breeder.] By getting a rescue-dog, we avoid puppydom, but the dog is often messed up. —Scarlett isn't bad. She’s my fourth rescue.)
• “Canandaigua” (“cannan-DAY-gwuh”) is a small city nearby where I live in Western NY. The city is also within a rural town called “Canandaigua.” The name is Indian, and means “Chosen Spot.” It’s about 14 miles east. —I live in the small rural town of West Bloomfield, southeast of Rochester.
• “Keyless-entry” is a radio-fob that unlocks all the car-doors — or locks.
• “Bluetooth” is where one’s cellphone transmits a phonecall to a radio-receiver earpiece or something — for example the car-radio speakers — so a cellphone-call can be handled without finagling the cellphone.