FirefighterGeek

The replacement of the control module seemed to work. I haven't had anything like it in a long time. I've wondered if it wasn't a new-car thing that once parts got worn in went away. I'm at 40,000 miles now -- many of them really challenging winter roads between Maine and Nova Scotia in some of the toughest conditions I've ever driven in. I spent 7 hours driving south along the Bay of Fundy and then back roads of Maine to get home during a winter storm that switch between freezing rain and sleet the whole way on the factory tires as they were nearing the end of their life. That was a long day. I bought new Michelin SUV all seasons shortly after. The vehicle has been fantastic.

So I got a call back from a rep at Michelin. He made the following points, which I’ll post here in order of usefulness to me: Michelin has a money back gurantee. If you don’t like the tires they’ll take them back at full price within (30 I think) days — INCLUDING THE MOUNTING AND BALANCING COSTS. The Defender LTX M/S is designed for SUV and Crossover applications, so it isn’t too radical a departure and for the area I live and for driving I do is definitely a recommended choice. He does not recommend, for example, the Premier A/S even though that is usually a top choice. His personal experience is that he doesn’t see noise complaints with thar Defender LTX, though it will likely be a bit more noise than the OEM, it shouldn’t be too noticeable... however... Michelin does do noise testing across its tire line, however as there is no industry standard for how they test or how the measure and report the result, they do not make that data public. for me, point 1 closes the deal. I’ll give tbose a try in a few weeks and take a long drive up to the northern end of I-95 so I can measure both milesge and noise subjectively. It will be a few weeks, but I’ll write up what I find.

That’s good info and advice.

I was able to get the attention of a Michelin marketing type via Twitter, and apparently they're going to have a "senior representative" contact me about my technical questions. I'll let you all know what they say.

The thing about this statement, is that not everyone is the kind of driver who can tell the difference except in extremes. I'm more inclined to advice from someone who does prefer to pay attention to that sort of thing, than someone who just notices when things aren't working well. I think for the average driver, driving around suburbia, it makes very little difference what tire they pick. For me, taking 7 hour drives fairly regularly to places north of the Bay of Fundy in sometimes challenging conditions, the difference can be more important.

You guys know that when you mention switching to some brand, that each of them makes dozens of different versions of tires and they're all entirely different from one another, right?

Interesting. Same year, same model, same sub-model but mine has the 19" Contis. Those Michelin Latitude HP don't rate very well at Tire Rack at all. About middle of the pack for Crossovers.

Well, I've been in Maine 25 years or so now, and for the last couple of winters I make regular trips 350 miles (each way) to the Canadian Maritimes where my daughter is in college. So far, I've been fine without putting snows on any of the AWD cars I've had. I did put snows on my wife's van when the kids were younger, but she's also driving an AWD now and doesn't need them.

That's a pretty awesome tire for an OEM. I didn't realize the Defender LTS M/S was available in 13.

The problem with tiretest and tirerack and so on, is that I'm looking at a change in category, so the top rated "noise" value in one won't necessarily compare to the top rated noise value in the other. I really want to hear from people who have made a similar switch and see what they're saying the impact was.

Yeah. The ones I'm considering are definitely not economy focused, low-resistance tires. That's why I'm asking about other people's experience in terms of road noise and mileage impact. Michelin Defender LTX M/S The ones I'm replacing are. Continental ContProContact

No, what we consider "a dusting" in Maine, shuts down your city until it's gone and the puddles are dry. ? The only Michelin tires I've had trouble with are the new "Premier A/S" that are supposed to be so great. On one car we had two fail with sidewall problems, and another car very limited tread life. I was not pleased, given their expense.

I've got a '17 Escape Titanium. It came with the 19" Continental ContProContact tires. They suck. It's one of the very few things I don't like about this vehicle. Oh, they're fine on a dry highway. It's just that with about 1/2 the tread gone, they are very prone to hydroplaning in even a little water. If you hit a film of water on one side, they pull the vehicle way too hard in that direction. Don't even try to use them in snow or slush. They simply cannot clear slush at all. I just finished another long drive home from the Canadian Maritimes, about 4 hours of which was in snow and slush and I had to slow way down - far more than usual or else I would just be driving an air-boat. So.. I'm considering a much more aggressive tire -- but curious as to how much of a penalty I'll pay in terms of both mileage and (much more important to me) road noise in dry conditions. These are what I'm considering: 1. Michelin DEFENDER LTX M/S (usually have good luck with Michelin, though the "Premier" model sucked) 2. Goodyear ASSURANCE WEATHERREADY (haven't bought goodyears in decades, didn't used to like them) 3. BF Goodrich Advantage T/A 4. Yokohama AVID ASCEND GT Has anyone switched from the ContiProContact to one of these? How much louder were they? Did you take a mileage hit?

GREAT choice on the Ranger. I have a 2017 Escape Titanium with the 2.0-L turbo. It's the most impressive engine overall that I've ever driven. Ford's "Dual Scrolling" turbo kicks in smoothly at much lower RPM than old school turbochargers so there's almost no noticeable "turbo-lag". Instead of waiting for the power to come on, it feels more like just driving a vehicle with a big power engine. The power is just there. I had the same questions before buying. I was worried especially given that they engine has auto-shut-off for economy. To me, that made no sense with a turbo as I'd always learned in the past that you needed to idle down and cool off a turbo before shutting a vehicle down. These things just aren't true anymore. The engine is designed for it, just like the starter and flywheel are vastly improved to meet the new challenges. I've put 35k on mine so far and it's amazing. I can pull 3500 pounds -- and have. I've got a 750 pound trailer that I loaded with a full yard of damp loam and had no trouble with it. If anything, I think the weight limit has more to do with stopping power due to the overall weight of the Escape. Certainly it had no power problems. When I'm not pulling and I put my foot down, the thing leaps forward like a 70s muscle car and rockets off the line or when passing. Driving in Northern Maine toward Canada on the long, empty, far northern end of I-95, I can set the cruise control at 85 and it runs smooth and quiet at only about 2300 RPM. As long as I watch for moose, there's really nothing in the way (though at 85 the mileage does drop into the lower 20s). On long drives, when I'm behaving, I've averaged 28 mpg round trip to D.C. (about 800 miles) and about 31 MPG to Michigan through Canada. Slow down to 60mph and I get 31-33 mpg. It really is amazing.

Zippy is an understatement. That 2.0-L engine is incredible. It really is. This thing has better 0-60 time than my old 1972 Camaro had stock, and that was a 350 v8 (5.7 liters). I went with that motor because I wanted the pulling package. 3500 pound towing on a 2.0 engine is nuts but it does the job. It also handles the ride from Bangor to Houlton at the Canadian border -- 85 miles an hour on cruise control for two hours -- without even breathing hard. Literally. 2300 RPM and 24mpg at that speed. My round trip to Washington DC was 800 miles. I took a photo of the computer trip meter showing 800 miles at 28.0 miles per gallon.

Wow. I'm sorry to hear you've had a bad experience. This is the first Ford I've bought new. I used to buy Chrysler and I've bought from Honda and Subaru new before. We got a used Focus for my daughter that was really nice and it's held up well and that led me to look at this one. I couldn't be happier with the Escape Titanium for what I've paid. Sure, it's not a Landrover Evoque but I didn't pay that kind of money either. I've had the panel off under the glove box, and the raised center panel that sits on the dash and the panel in front of the video console -- all so I could route wires for my first-responder red light and my dashcam. I didn't see anything there that should easily come loose to rattle. In the passenger door panel area there's some wire bundles that I don't think are fastened down terribly well, but I don't see that causing the issues you describe. Unfortunately, it's absolutely true with these things that the more you pull this stuff apart the more likely you are to introduce rattles and squeaks if you don't know how to do the job carefully. I wonder if you're getting the whole story here. The first new car my wife and I bought together when we were just married was a 1991 Olds Bravada. At the time, younger me didn't notice it but I later noticed evidence that it had originally had damage. The windshield had been replaced and the top of the passenger side A post showed signs of repair as well. By the time I noticed, it was really far too late to complain but I never went back to that dealer.

Well, this is why I posted what I did -- not just to look like an idiot. I've been doing my own car work for decades. I've rebuilt cars. I've removed and replaced dash assemblies down to the carpet. I should know how to find a rattle. And it fooled me. I would have bet a steak dinner that the rattle was in the b-post or the passenger front door. It wasn't at all. Not even remotely close. Sounds in the cab of these cars travel strange ways because there is different insulation in different places. The rattle was literally coming from a box next to my right elbow but I absolutely "heard" it as if it were all the way across the car and down low. Before getting too mad at the dealer, I would really encourage you (or anyone) to have someone else drive the car while you sit in the passenger seat, the backseats, etc. Everywhere else you can until you can truly isolate the sound. If I hadn't done that, I'd still be removing door panels and body trim looking for it. -- Just some advice from someone who's been down this road.

The infamous "B" post rattle that wasn't. (2017 Escape Titanium w/ New England Cold Weather Package) It's been driving me crazy for weeks. A small rattle that I would swear was passenger front door or b-post. Couldn't find it. Took the door panel off. No joy. Read someone's post about loose skid guards underneath and checked. No joy. Got back in at the post office and when I closed the driver's door I heard it. Discovering I could reliable make it rattle while stopped, I pulled into the garage and sat in the back seat and passenger seat to duplicate....and.... it wasn't a door or b-post rattle. The noise suddenly seemed to be on the driver's side. After some trial and error, the FSCKING RATTLE was the pen in the pen-holder tray in the center console. SMH. Hope this helps someone.

I've seen some non-definitive discussions of this on some forums, so I thought I'd share in case someone else has the issue. 2017 Escape Titanium AWD 2.0-L I'm just under 10,000 miles on it, though this started happening a few thousand miles ago. When backing up, especially backing up and turning as if you are coming out of a parking space in store parking lot, or backing out of a driveway, After moving a few yards I'd get a solid "CLUNK" both sound and feel that appeared to be coming form the rear end (of the Escape, not me). It was solid enough that my instinct was to cover the brake like I'd hit something. The best I can describe it would be as if I'd run over a partially full beer can with one of the back wheels. The problem grew more and more consistent. I'd asked about it at the dealer briefly and they just stared at me so I've been ignoring it, until it was time for the oil change and checkup. I mentioned it on the work order and the tech definitely noticed it when he went to get the car (good luck for me). They looked at a lot of the undercarriage and couldn't find a problem, but didn't want me to drive it until they found it, so they gave me a ride home. Long story short, they've replaced the "Four Wheel Drive Control Module" located in one of the back kick-panels and believe they have solved the problem. That's ONE of the theories I've seen people talking about, so maybe this will help someone else get to the solution more quickly.