Angela McCarley’s 2-year-old daughter still sits in a rear-facing car seat, which would typically limit the little one’s view during drives. But when McCarley treks around town with her daughter in tow, the little one enjoys a scenic view from above. It’s all thanks to the panoramic Vista Roof on McCarley’s Ford Escape Titanium, which lets in natural light no matter where you’re seated in the SUV. It may seem like a simple feature, but it provides her daughter with some entertainment during the drive.
McCarley, who lives in Bloomfield Township, also owns a Ford Edge. While the Edge is often used for family road trips, the Escape is McCarley’s daily drive and she says the compact SUV is ideal for city driving. In fact, that’s why she and her husband purchased it back when they lived in Chicago.
“We were a one-car family household pre-kids, living in Chicago looking for a good city car to putz around in,” she says. And that’s just what they got with their Ford Escape.
Here’s which features this local mom loves and why she’ll continue to choose Ford for future rides.
Daily driving made easy
Let’s face it: we spend a lot of time running errands with our little ones, so we need to drive an SUV that has features to help make those day-to-day trips a bit easier. For McCarley, there are a couple Ford Escape features that help simplify her life.
Meet the hands-free foot-activated lift gate. This feature makes it easy to balance your toddler with a few grocery bags. With the Intelligent Access key fob in a pocket or purse, all mom has to do is kick her foot under the bumper to open the liftgate. “That’s nice when you kind of have your hands full,” she says.
If you’re not a parallel parking pro, the Active Park Assist 2.0 feature has you covered. “It will parallel park for you,” McCarley says, “which is nuts but it works if you need it.”
Park Out Assist is also offered along with Active Park Assist 2.0. This side-sensing capability allows the driver to navigate out of a parking spot when someone else is parked too close to the SUV.
Aside from the convenience that these features offer, the Ford Escape is compact and easy to drive, and even though you’re higher up than a sedan, McCarley says you can still see over the top of the car (which isn’t the case with all SUVs).
There’s plenty of space for this family of three, too.
“Considering it’s a small SUV, we have one of those big bulky jogging strollers — that fits in there. Our little foldable wagon fits in there so it’s kind of good for quick trips,” she says. “We are still rear-facing and there is plenty of room for the passenger to be comfortable.”
McCarley has owned a number of cars throughout the years, but she says her Ford has been one of the most reliable automobiles she’s ever purchased. In fact, she and her husband have not had a single issue with their Escape or their Edge since purchasing both cars. McCarley likes her Escape so much that she isn’t ready to part with it any time soon.
“I like it. I wouldn’t want to get rid of it,” she says. “I feel comfortable driving in it.”
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