In a Nutshell: Thrifty, space-efficient, and reasonably pleasant to drive, but with sub-standard handling, brakes, and interior trim.

I got a couple of requests from CL members to review the new Ford Escape Hybrid (not surprising, with gas costs being what they are), and the company my brother works for (he supervises their mail room) is considering the purchase of an AWD Escape Hybrid to give them a more economical, all-weather vehicle for mail runs and cargo carrying. The big, full-size, rear-drive V10 Ford van they have now is not only a gas hog and a half, (on the company credit card, of course) but a handful in bad weather, though, admittedly, it can carry a lot of cargo. And, of course, it is aging, so, sooner or later, it will have to be replaced. So, for CL and my brother as well. I decided that now was the time to check one out.

That is easier said than done, however. Like most of today's hybrids, with $4.00 a gallon gas, the Escape Hybrid is currently in high demand and low supply. And unlike Toyota, Lexus, Honda, and Chevy/GMC dealers, which have a history of selling several different hybrid models and can order them in comparatively large numbers, Ford dealers currently have only the Escape as their lone hybrid model. And, unlike Toyota, Honda, and GM, who designed their own hybrid drivetrains in-house, Ford took the easy way out and simply attached a Toyota-designed electric motor and battery pack (produced under license) to their own 2.3L in-line four-cylinder engine. So, obviously, production of the Escape Hybrid (and its twin, rebadged Mercury Mariner Hybrid) is dependent on the number of electric motors and hardware they can get from Toyota... who, of course, is busy producing its own hybrids as well.

So, as a result, it is quite difficult to find unsold Escape/Mariner Hybrids in stock...or even demos, for that matter. Most area dealerships have an order backlog and get only a few each month. The one I was at, for example, apparantly one of the more honest ones, asks for a $500 deposit, takes your order for the model, color, and options you want, and puts your name on a list, with delivery hopefully in 2-3 months (They didn't mention an additional dealer mark-up, and I didn't ask). It was evident that I was going to have a real problem finding an available 2008 Hybrid to test-drive, so, instead of waiting who-knows-how-long for one to be available (I have other things to do and other vehicles to review in the meantime), I decided to improvise a little and fudge a few things. Fortunately, the dealership I was at DID have a slightly older, used Escape Hybrid in stock, and it had one new (2008) Escape gas 4-cylinder automatic in stock (most of the new unsold ones in stock, not surprisingly, are the gas-engine V6s, which get lower mileage). Since the Hybrid model is essentially the standard Escape 4-cylinder model with an electric motor/battery pack, a different CVT transmission and slightly different dash/instruments, I figured I could drive the used Hybrid in stock, evaluate its drivetrain for Hybrid purposes, and then review/drive the regular 4-cylinder Escape to evaluate the rest of the vehicle. It is, of course, an imperfect way of reviewing/evaluating a vehicle, but it was about the best I could do under the circumstances. And it wasn't that inaccurate either, because the hybrid powertrain in the new 2008 Escape Hybrid is essentially the same one as in past Escape Hybrid models....changes to the engine/transmission combo are minimal at best, although there are some differences in the old and new-generation Hybrid dash/instruments. I will note those below as needed.


Ford introduced the Escape, and the similar Mazda Tribute, in 2000, as a domestic alternative to the then-rapidly-growing field of what were known as "Cute-Utes"...relatively small (by SUV standards), car-based, unibody, front or all-wheel drive vehicles. They were meant primarily for on-road or light off-road conditions, though some of the Suzuki competitors had ladder-frames, rear-drive/4WD with low range, and a tougher, off-road chassis. Cute-Utes exploded in popularity because they combined good snow/bad-weather ability with the ability to seat several people and yet still get reasonably good gas mileage and ride/handle reasonably well... something that was sorely lacking in larger, heavier, truck-based SUVs. Unfortunately, the present-generation Escape, despite its car-based design, IMO, is not one of the better-handling cute-utes. Its handling, in my experience, is less responsive than in the older Escape/Mariner model it replaced... more on that below.

The original Escape, however, like most of its competitors (Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, etc....) was a huge success in the marketplace. Though it had several embarassing and well publicized factory recalls in its first year, and a so-so reliability record in its first two years, its reliability since then, tough not quite up to Toyota/Honda standards, has generally been above average (the Toyota-supplied components, of course, sure don't hurt). Back then, in 2000, when the Escape was first introduced, it was common for domestic (American) designed vehicles to be troublesome in their first year, but that now seems to be a thing of the past. New Ford products are much more reliable now than before, even in their first year, although, according to Consumer Reports, the the Explorer and Expedition show a sharp fall-off with age.

A Mazda verion of the Escape (the Tribute) was introduced with it (Ford, of course, owning Mazda), with different trim and a sportier steering/suspension combination, but never sold in anywhere near the same numbers the Escape did. An almost identical Mercury version (the Mariner) was added a few years later, with a slightly upgraded interior. The Escape became the first of the three to get the partially Toyota-supplied Hybrid drivetrain, with the Mariner following a couple of years later. The Tribute never got a Hybrid version, partially because Ford marketers deemed its low sales not worthy of another separate model, and partially, of course, from supply limitations of the Toyota-produced components.

Second-generation Escape, Tribute, and Mariner models were introduced last year, with the Escape/Mariner retaining the gas 4-cylinder, gas V6, and Hybrid models, and the Tribute once again doing without a hybrid. Four trim models of the regular Escape (XLS manual, XLS, XLT, and Limited) are offered, with 4 or V6 engines depending on trim model. Since the review request was for the Hybrid, that, of course is what I will concentrate on, though I have already explained how I had to graft the test of a regular 4-cylinder model with that of a used Hybrid to get a good idea of what the new Hybrid is like. For that reason, I did not put the list price or options of the tested model down like I usually do... in this case, it was irrelevant.

But, I think, it worked. By test-driving and reviewing both vehicles, I got a pretty good idea of what the new Escape Hybrid is like... enough, IMO, to do a credible review. Otherwise, of course, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing this... or your time reading it.


So, let's get on with it.

Model Reviewed: 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid (indirectly)

Base Price, including freight: (FWD) $26,945 (AWD) $28,710

Major Options: N/A

Destination/Freight: $695

List price as reviewed: N/A

Drivetrain: FWD/AWD, transversely-mounted 2.3L transversely-mounted in-line 4, 133 HP @ 6000 RPM, 124 ft-lbs. torque @ 4250 RPM, Permanent-magnet
AC electric motor, 94 HP (70 KW) @ 5000 RPM, 330 volt Nickel-Metal-Hydride battery pack, dual-range Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).

EPA Mileage Ratings: FWD 34 city /30 highway, AWD 29 City, 27 highway

Exterior Color of vehicle Reviewed (gas 4-cylinder): Tungsten Gray Clearcoat Metallic

Interior: Stone (light gray)


PLUSSES:

Excellent interior space efficiency.

Good headroom and legroom, front and rear.

Hybrid powertrain has the same flexibility as Toyota systems.

High ground clearance for deep snow/mud/mild off-road conditions.

Generally good reliability record.

Reasonably nice paint job and exterior colors.

Good exterior steet metal.

Rock-solid rear hatch/tailgate.

Attractive ice-blue dash/instrument-panel lighting.

Pleasant-to-hold steering wheel.

Nice interior seat fabric and headliner (leather seats available in Premium option).

Relatively simple, easy-to-use stereo and climate controls.

A real spare tire and wheel.

Simple, well-done power-mirror control.

Solid, slick, pleasant-to-use turn signal lever.

Plenty of room underhood.

Handsome alloy wheels.

Good interior hardware.

Plush headliner material.

Straight forward/back transmission shifter has no zig-zags.

Reasonably comfortable ride by SUV standards.


MINUSES:

Restricted dealer availability from high demand.

Gas cap/filler door has no lock.

Limited exterior paint color choice.

Sub-standard, cheap plastic interior trim.

Relatively flat, unsupportive seats.

Pint-sized glove box.

Old-fashioned, relatively hidden ignition switch.

No interior wood trim available.

Flimsy exterior side mirrors.

Prop-rod for the hood instead of struts.

Excessively spongy brakes (gas version).

Slow steering response.

Roly-Poly handling from high center of gravity.

Torque-limited at low speeds and part-throttle.

Spare tire difficult to reach under the vehicle.

Small fuel and hybrid/charge gauges (redesigned from former models).

Garish, Prius-like video/hybrid screen on new-generation Escape Hybrids.


EXTERIOR:

Both the Hybrid and non-Hybrid models, of course, share the same body...and that of its Mercury Mariner twin, differing only in grille trim. They also share the rather limited exterior paint color choice.....the attractive red on other Escape models is not offered on the Hybrid, and I liked only the light, subdued Lime Green (Kiwi), Vista Blue, and the Ice Blue from this year's colors. The paint job was good by domestic-car standards, with reasonable gloss, evenness, and freedom from orange peel (and much better than the typical Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler product), but clearly not in the Lexus/Acura league. The general exterior styling is your traditional SUV/wagon "two-box" design (a smaller box for the hood/front end and a larger one for the cabin and cargo area) that is great for interior space efficiency...more on that below. All of the exterior sheet metal was solid and well-done, and the fairly heavy doors shut solidly. The twin side mirrors had the typical Ford flimsy, thin-plastic housing, and did not swivel and lock smoothly......this is an ongoing problem with many American-designed vehicles that Ford and Chrysler have not addressed, and GM is only beginning to. The high ground clearance gives a lot of room underneath for deep snow, mud, or mild off-roading, though, of course, a vehicle like this is not meant to be a hard-core off-roader like a Jeep Wrangler or Toyota 4Runner. The chrome trim outside looks well-done, but, like most vehicles these days, is simply thin, plated plastic. The rest of the exterior trim and hardware, except for the aforementioned flimsy mirror housings, is well-done and of reasonably good quality. I thought that the 5-spoke alloy wheels, like those on the more expensive Pontiac G8 GT and the much more expensive Mercedes E63 AMG I reviewed recently, were quite handsome. Hybrid models get a special Hybrid trim logo on the front fenders and liftgate, and a small green-plant symbol on them....I guess to show the tree-huggers at Code Pink and MoveOn.org that this is considered an environmentally conscious vehicle. The gas cap/filler door, typical of Ford products and many American-designed vehicles, has no lock on it, though there is an odd sticker on the gas cap stating that Ford recommends BP gas, with its green/yellow company logo... why, I have no idea, especially since Chevron is the brand most auto manufacturers agree has the best detergent package (Techroline) for its fuel, with Shell right behind it. BP fuel is also, for reasons I don't know, more expensive than most other name-brands.



UNDERHOOD:

Open and brace the heavy steel hood, with its manual prop-rod, and the boxy front-end styling pays dividends with plenty of underhood space. The standard, transversely-mounted 2.3L four-cylinder engine in the non-Hybrid model fits in nicely, with plenty of room to access upper parts of the engine and associated hardware, dipsticks, and reservoirs, and....wonder of wonders....no big plastic engine cover to get in the way. The Hybrid powertrain, with the gas engine, electric motor, and CVT transmission, is, of course, a more snug fit, and, unlike the non-Hybrid model, has a big plastic engine cover that covers up the entire top of the gas engine. Dipsticks and reservoirs, however, are still easily accessible. As the heavy hood catches and slams shut, it tends to vibrate and doesn't close with a particularly solid sound.



INTERIOR:

Open the doors and get in, and the interior is a mixture of great, mediocre, and cheap. The boxy exterior styling and high roofline translates into lots of headroom and leg/footroom both front and rear. I thought that, in general, the beige/ivory interior looked better than the stone (grey) one......but the beige is only offered on upper-trim, non-Hybrid models; all of the rest get gray as the only choice. Grey Leather is offered on the Hybrid as part of a premium package option... non-premium models get cloth, but it seems to be a fairly nice, high-quality cloth. The seats themselves, however, while not necessarily uncomfortable, remind you that this is no sports car... they have fairly short cushions and low side bolsters that give little side support. Most of the interior hardware (switches, knobs, locks, vents, etc....) is all quite solid and well-done, the turn-signal stalk on the left side of the steering column being especially solid, smooth, and slick in its operation. The Mickey-Mouse-sized glove box, though with nice solid lock hardware, will barely hold the Owner's Manual, much less the rest of the things most people stick in, though there are the usual pockets in the doors and center console to stick things in. Most of the plastic interior and door-panel trim (I missed the lack of a wood-trim option) is budget-grade Wal-Mart stuff, especially the awful painted-silver plastic on the center of the dash.

There are some nice things inside, however, besides just the good space efficiency. I've already mentioned the hardware and the super-slick turn-signal lever. The twin sun visors and headliner are covered in a nice, plush, high-quality-feel material worthy of a luxury car. The twin round speedometer/tach gauges are nice, clear, and have attractive light ice-blue lighting, a growing Ford/Mercury trademark. The steering wheel is not particularly attractive with its four spokes, but is pleasant and comfortable to hold. The power-mirror control is well-designed, convieniently placed, and easy to use. The shift lever has none of that annoying zig-zag stuff.....shifts are an easy back and forth motion (some wise guy in car design, years ago, decided that we morons needed a zig-zag pattern to keep from inadvertently selecting the wrong gear). The stereo, while no Lexus Mark Levinson, is fine for most people, and its controls are relatively easy to use. Here is where there are some significant differences from the last-generation model, though. The new 2008 Escape Hybrid has the stereo controls integrated around a new, Prius-type, center-dash video screen that shows you which motor (gas or electric) is in use at any given moment, which set of wheels is getting power, the direction of power flow, and regenerative braking. The old Hybrid lacked that screen, and had only a small combination hybrid battery charge meter/electric assist gauge to the left of the speedometer. On the new Hybrid, that gauge has been redesigned and moved, along with the fuel gauge, up over and between the speedometer and tach... and both the new fuel and hybrid assist gauges are a little small and hard to read at a glance.


CARGO AREA/TRUNK:

Open the solid rear liftgate (the rear window will go up and down separately if desired), and you are greeted with an OK but not lavishly finished cargo/trunk area. The floor carpet is typical of Ford products in this class range, adequate but not plush. Lift it, and the thick plastic cover underneath, and you will find a large cargo tray in the non-Hybrid models, and the large sealed battery pack in the Hybrid. The real (yes, a REAL) spare tire and wheel is attached to the underside of the vehicle, just forward of the bumper.....don't expect to easily reach it without either getting your clothes dirty or contorting yourself into the shape of a Bachman pretzel.

As in the cabin, the boxy styling/roofline of the Escape pays good dividends here as well. There is plenty of room for getting tall, bulky items in, with good space efficiency, and room for the rear door to close without hitting the cargo. The standard cargo pull-cover can be removed, headrests removed, and the split-rear seats lowered for additional cargo room as well, though the cargo floor of the Hybrid model, with the big battery pack underneath, appeared to be slightly higher than the cargo floor of the non-Hybrid (I didn't actually measure them from floor to roof). I wish more SUV's today (and more vehicles, period) were shaped like this in the back...even the Escape's own brother SUV, the Ford Edge, and its corporate Mazda cousins CX-7 and CX-9, have the currently trendy and stylish slope-down to the rear roofline that significantly impacts cargo room. Fortunately, the Mazda Tribute, as the Escape's brother, still has the Escape's space efficiency inside. Close the Rock-of-Gibraltar solid liftgate, and it catches with a distinct "Thunk", much more so than the hood up front.

ON THE ROAD:

Start up the 2.3L four-cylinder gas engine with a conventional key and an old-style, rather hard-to-see ignition switch on the right side of the steering column. The engine settles into a reasonably smooth idle for a large domestic four...and, of course, has to warm up a little before the electric motor kicks in. Engine noise is also lower than average for a large American-designed four, and once the engine is warm enough, it shuts completely off when you come to a stop and the tach needle goes to zero (fortunately, an electric A/C compressor keeps you comfortable on a hot day when the gas engine shuts off....the power steering system, of course, is also electric). Without the A/C or stereo on, however, there is complete silence....you hear every insult that your mother-in-law is flinging at you from the back seat.

So, when the light turns green, tap the gas pedal, and the electric motor silently starts the vehicle rolling, golf-cart style, while the video screen starts its antics. Start-up power is so slick that it has (what else?) electric-motor smoothness, although, with only 94 HP and not a huge amount of torque on start-up, initial acceleration is a little sluggish, but picks up a little if you lead-foot it and cut the gas engine back in. Gas mileage in the city, typical of parallel-driven hybrid systems like the Toyota-designed one in the Escape, is higher in the city than in rural areas because the electric motor, using no gas at all, does more of the work in stop-and-go driving. In highway driving, the gas engine cuts in and out more often to keep the hybrid battery pack charged, so it uses a little more gas as a result...and of course, the gas engine has to operate enough to keep the oil and coolant warm and the heater going on a cold day. The CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) responds and accelerates with a minimum of "rubber-banding" or "motorboating" effects common to some CVT's, but sometimes with a low hum of a whining noise.

The ride comfort is not bad by small SUV standards (plenty of suspension travel and tall, high-profile tires help). Most bumps and heaves in the road are felt and transmitted into the cabin, so the car is not limo-smooth, but it does lack the typical fore/aft porpoising motions m any SUV's have. There is a small amount of road/tire and wind noise (this, after all, is not a luxury car), but it is generally muted and is not objectionable.

What IS objectionable, however, is the higher-speed handling, which, by modern standards, and compared to most vehicles these days, borders on ludicrous. Low-speed manuvering around parking lots and city corners is fine, and not much different from any other vehicle, but abrupt steering moves at higher speeds (say, 50 MPH and up) produce very slow steering response and prodigious body roll. In some cases, you can actually see the horizon tilt in front of you as the car rolls (as an ex-airplane pilot, I am familiar with that). Only the car's advanced roll-control electronics (from safety-minded Volvo, another company Ford owns) and the stabilizing effect of all-wheel-drive keep you from getting into some real trouble with understeer if you aren't careful. The handling is not necessarily dangerous, but it is quite sluggish, and you simply cannot drive this vehicle aggressively. And a shame, too.....the handling and response on the first-generation Escape was noticeably better, yet it still had reasonably good ride comfort, and won several small-SUV comparisons in auto magazines.

Braking, on the non-hybrid model, is equally sluggish, with excessively soft, spongy brakes (the hybrid, with its electronic power-brake booster and regenerative braking for battery recharging, has a slightly different, though still somewhat spongy, feel and response). There were no problems with the brake/gas pedal placement or big-shoe hangups from one pedal to the next.


THE VERDICT:

Like with the first Escape in 2000, Ford has generally done a good job with the second-generation Escape. Space efficiency, with the boxy design, is superb underhood, in the cabin, and in the cargo area. Instruments, particularly in the non-hybrid version, are clear and easy to read. The drivetrain in both hybrid and non-hybrid versions is smooth, but not torquey. Hardware inside and out, except for the El Cheapo mirrors, is excellent. The vehicle enjoys a better-than-average reliability rating from Consumer Reports, and generally good resale value, though V6 models in today's expensive gas market may be difficult to resell or not worth much at trade-in. The headliner is nicer than in some luxury cars. And, unlike many other vehicles these days, it has a real spare tire/wheel, though hard to reach.

But several things need work. First and foremost is the suspension and steering. The interior needs some better-quality trim on the dash and doors. The new hybrid could do without the distracting video screen... the previous hybrid didn't have it, and got along fine. The hybrid should also have the same paint and interior choices that other Escape models have. The gas cap should have a lock... not to provide one is a cost-cutting insult. The hood should have struts instead of a prop-rod. And the glove box should be about twice the size of the current one.

I'm sometimes asked what the classic signs of cost-cutting are in today's new vehicles. Some of them, of course, are obvious to almost anyone, and don't need further comment on my part. I also could not make a list of all of them in a single write-up of reasonable length, and will not try and do so.

We live today, of course, in an intensely competitive world economy and auto market. Automakers, on one hand, are being forced to constantly add more and more equipment to their vehicles for different reasons... government regulations, consumer demands, and the simple "image" demands of having to keep up with other manufacturers. Auto worker unions make wage/benefit demands and threaten strikes. Costs of raw materials rise. Energy costs in the factories can be enormous. Auto companies, like all of us, have to pay their own taxes. National currencies rise and fall in value in relation to those of other countries, and affect prices and wages.

This is not, of course, meant to be a class in Automotive Economics 101, so I will save that for another occasion. The main point I am getting at here is that automakers, for a number of reasons, DO scrimp on the design and materials in new vehicles to make up for the expenses they have little or no control over. Sometimes it is done clandestinely, sometimes more obvious. To some extent, it is a game... the designers hope (and are betting) that you, as a consumer and new-car customer, are so enchanted with the nice colorful brochures, web-site photos, and poorly-written auto reviews in newspapers and magazines which do nothing but praise a car and don't mention any of its negatives, that you just skip right over and don't notice all the little things that are conveniently left OUT of a new car design. Of course, as I said above, some of it is just economic necessity... you can't realistically expect a Lexus or a Jaguar for a Kia or Suzuki price. But, even on not-so-cheap vehicles, you often see signs of cheapness or economizing by leaving out something that would add only a small amount at most to production costs.

That is the purpose of this article. As someone who looks at a LOT of new cars, I've noticed a pattern in new-car cost-cutting, and here I'm going to list twelve of the things that I often notice during reviews.......the things that the car companies either hope you don't notice or won't care about. With some of you, of course, these won't matter.....they aren't important to you, nor will you necessarily find these omissions on all new cars. Fine.....but they are often there just the same. And they don't escape my glance when I review a car... I notice these things. So, in a nutshell, here they are;


1. Rigidly Mounted Side Mirrors.

Some vehicles, to avoid the cost of hinges, swivels, or springs, have a solid housing for the exterior side mirrors, often in an aerodynamic shape. The glass mirror inside adjusts, of course, but the housing itself doesn't swivel or fold on impact. Automakers justify this with claims of "aero" and lower wind noise benefits, but there is little evidence to back this... it is really just penny-pinching. This occurs on both domestic and foreign-nameplate vehicles, but much more often on domestics. The quality of the material for the housing can vary enormously as well... Ford and Chrysler products are some of the worst.


2. Underhood Prop Rods.

While, of course, not easy to disguise, this is penny-pinching at its worst... manual swing-rods that you unclip and stick up (or down) into matching holes or slots to hold up the hood. Most of the time, there is no real problem, but, besides the obvious annoyance and inconvenience, there CAN be a safety problem, particularly with a heavy steel hood as opposed to lighter aluminum ones. If one makes a slip, doesn't have enough physical strength, or doesn't get the rod exactly in the hole correctly, the hood can suddenly drop on hand, arm, head....anything in the way......and cause serious injury or worse. With lightweight aluminum hoods, strong gusts of wind have been known to suddenly flip the hood back, right off its hinges, into the windshield. Prop rods are sometimes used even on upmarket cars... the Lexus IS300 had one for years, and the Acura TSX still does.


3. No Spare Tires.

Real, honest, spare tires and wheels in the trunk, as we knew, them, are almost completely gone. Their successors range from normal-sized, dummy/temporary-use spares to small, donut-sized spares to even smaller ones with a compressed air bottle (Fix-a-Flat), and, recently, to the bottle with nothing else at all. Original-equipment Run-Flat tires, of course, are designed with sidewalls stiff enough to go 50 miles or so with no air at all, but what if the sidewall is damaged and they don't work? Or if the Fix-a-Flat bottle can't fix a conventional flat? Then you're stuck. Run-flat tires are also notoriously expensive to replace (they are generally unrepairable), and often don't wear long. Automakers justify the loss of traditional spares with added cargo room in the trunk... but I'm not convinced. They just found the alternatives to be cheaper.


4. Center-Mounted Gauges.

This is something almost universally panned by the auto press and much of the car-buying public, yet it is something that some vehicles, particularly entry-level Toyotas and Scions, still persist with........the practice of mounting the speedometer and associated gauges in the middle of the dash instead of directly behind the steering wheel, Automakers justify this with two reasons. First, they claim that having the gauges in the middle eliminates the possibility of the steering wheel rim hiding them. OK, I'll buy that to some extent....there does seem to be some truth to that. Even with multi-adjustable seats and steering columns, some tall drivers may still have trouble seeing the tops of the gauges....I've run into that problem myself now and then. Their second reason, however, IMO, is less credible. They claim that it is more natural for drivers to shift their eyes left and right to watch the road and the gauges than the more traditional....and natural....up and down. They claim that it keeps the gauges closer to the driver's natural line of sight. I disagree with that... as do most professional drivers in the auto press as well. Most drivers go bananas with nothing in front of the steering wheel but plastic or vinyl blankness.

The truth....and real reason for doing it.....is that automakers save a lot of money doing this on vehicles that they produce and export for both left and right-hand drive versions, like for the British and Japanese markets. By having the gauges, bulbs, and wiring mostly in the center of the dash, it more or less standardizes the basic design of the dash itself and minimizes the complexities and costs needed to differentiate the left and right-hand-drive cars.


5. Temperature Bulbs Instead of Gauges.

Lately, the tendency has been, especially on some economy cars, to substitute blue cold lights and red hot lights for a traditional coolant temperature gauge. This idea itself is nothing new (some cars I grew up with in the 1960's were like that), and some Ford/Chrysler products in the early 1980's were so cheap that they had one red "ENGINE" bulb for BOTH oil-pressure and coolant temperature...if it came on, you then had to find out if if it was an oil or cooling problem. That nonsense went away for a while.....but now, with cost-cutting, it is coming back. Automakers claim that a light suddenly going on or off is more noticeable than a gauge needle slowly creeping upwards....which would have some credibility if the bulb and symbol itself were larger than the size of a pea and easily visible. A burned-out bulb could produce a engine ruined from oil starvation or overheating. If the vehicle is still under warranty, of course, the company replaces it. If not, YOU do.


6. Painted Silver/Gray Interior Plastic.

This is something that just drives me up the wall. You don't expect lavish or expensive materials in entry-level econocars, though some, like Hyundai, give you relatively nice materials for the money. But, when you get into a $40,000 vehicle and see dash, door, and console plastic trim so thin and cheap, and so poorly painted with thin, flat, silver/gray paint, to the point where it could pass for a Kiddie-Car at Wal-Mart, it's time to speak up. At one time, a luxury car meant classy trim materials inside.........wood, chrome, carbon-fiber, brushed-metal aluminum, etc..... Now, it's getting to the point where you literally cannot tell some luxury cars from much less expensive cars.


7. All-Steel Body Parts.

For awhile, there was a move away from steel as the primary material for body panels to aluminum, thermoplastics, fiberglass, carbon-composites, etc... Now, there seems to be a return to sheet steel, as the prices of those alternative materials have increased. Some high-line Jaguars and Audis still retain the all-aluminum construction....and chassis as well. And Corvettes, as a tradition, still keep the fiberglass, but steel is becoming the norm once again. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with steel, but it is heavy and cuts down on car efficiency and performance.


8. No Oil Dipsticks.

You should have seen the look on my face when I recently raised the hoods of a $94,000 Mercedes E63 and a $69,000 BMW M3...and neither of them had a oil dipstick under the hood. Apparantly we are to trust the lifeblood of two of the most expensive and sophisticated engines on the market (the E63's hand-built engine is certified by a special technician) to a couple of nickel-and-dime computer oil sensors. Give me a break.


9. Cheaply Done Ignition Keys.

I won't include cars here with special transpoder keys, START/STOP buttons, encoding ignition fobs, remote starting systems, etc... (they are a different case), but for conventional-ignition cars with conventional keys, there is increasing use of cheap plastic instead of metal, not for the key itself, but for the grip behind it and the hole where it snaps into the key ring. That cheap, flimsy plastic breaks with use and stress, and the key sometimes falls off the ring. With all-metal keys and only plastic for the surface of the grip for comfort, like on my own ignition keys, that doesn't happen.....the metal-surrounded hole in the key stays on the key ring without breaking.


10. Flimsy Gloveboxes.

It used to be that gloveboxes were pretty well-done. They opened and closed solidly and had good hardware and locks to latch them. Some cars still have nice ones, but on too many others, the gloveboxes are unbelievably flimsy and have latches so poor that a five-year old could pry one open with little effort. The Pontiac G8 GT I reviewed had one of the worst.......its plastic was so bad I'd be afraid to lay a soda can on it. A Subaru I recently drove on a cold winter day had a glove box latch that kept popping open and wouldn't hold shut until the interior warmed up a little. This is NOT a place to be cost-cutting, IMO. Some of the vehicle's most important documents are kept inside, such as registration, inspection slips, proof-of-insurance, and emission certification.....if a cop stops you and asks for one or more these papers, you DON'T want them falling out on a dark floor at night or be inaccessible because of a defective lock.


11. Only One Outside Door Lock.

An increasing tendency of automakers is to have only one outside door lock for the key (on the driver's door, of course) instead of one on each side like they did for many years. Some vehicles are now also doing away with the outside trunk/hatchback key lock as well. The official excuse some automakers give is that power locks and keyless door/trunk openers have made them redundant. Perhaps, but I see it, once again, as simple $$$$$$ cutting.


12. Non-Locking Gas Caps/Filler Doors

Some auto companies scrimp by not providing a lock or inside release for the gas cap and/or filler door. This is more of a problem on American-badged vehicles than it is on European or Asian brands. During periods of expensive fuel (like now) it is a problem because, for obvious reasons, it makes it easier for a thief to siphon out gas.

Well, there you have it. Some of you may disagree with me, but I see the list of what I have written above is simple bean-counting for the sake of bean-counting, not necessarily to make the vehicle any better. I understand the competitive pressures automakers are under to cut costs, but I would have a lot more respect for them if they just came out and ADMITTED that this was bean-counting and not try and disguise it as something else.

There are many other forms of cost-cutting, too, such as the elimination of two-tone paint jobs and limiting paint color choices, but, of course, I can't include everything in one article.