With crossovers in America being so dang popular, it’s tough to find a truly great deal in the segment. If you search hard enough, you might be able to find a good APR or a thousand or so bucks knocked off the asking price, but otherwise, tough luck. Big demand means dealers don’t have to negotiate much, since there’s a line of people out the door eager to pay full price, even if you aren’t.
This is true for lots of cars in the category, but not for the Ford Escape. Though the compact crossover was discontinued in late 2025, previously built inventory has been languishing on dealer lots across the country. As of right now, over 13,000 brand-new Escapes are sitting untouched nationwide, ready to be sold, according to Cars.com.
In a push to move inventory, some dealers are tacking on discounts amounting to five figures in price cuts. The result is brand-new, fresh Escapes that can be had for cheaper than the cheapest new car on sale today.
You Want Affordable? Ford Will Give You Affordable
The 2025 Ford Escape has a starting MSRP of $31,010, including destination, while the 2026 model starts at $31,845. In a world where the average transaction price of a passenger vehicle is hovering just over $50,000, that’s already a pretty solid price. But as I said earlier, crossovers are a hot segment, which means there’s a lot of stiff competition, and price alone won’t convince people. Car and Driver ranks the Escape 14th in its list of best compact SUVs.
Obviously, Ford isn’t offering the most desirable vehicle in the segment, and that won’t change until it introduces a new Escape (if it ever does). Instead, prices are being cut to the point where they’re cheap enough to consider over something like a Toyota RAV4, a Honda CR-V, or a Kia Sportage. Sure, those cars might be better, but if you can save over $11,000 out the door, getting an Escape instead might be worth the tradeoff.
That price cut isn’t an exaggeration. In Southeastern states like Florida and Alabama, dealers are advertising five-figure discounts on brand-new 2025 Escapes that have yet to be sold. Take this example from AutoNation Ford in Panama, Florida. It has an MSRP of $31,480, but a dealer-level discount of $6,530 and a model year closeout bonus cash rebate of $5,000. New price, according to the dealer? Just $19,950.
That’s not a one-off, either. Here’s another Escape, located at North County Ford of Jasper, Alabama, that’s currently listed with that same bonus cash discount plus $6,520 of dealer-level savings. If you want a 2026 model, the deals are similar. This one at Jarrett Gordon Ford in Winter Haven, Florida, has $9,896 worth of discounts, for a listed price of under $22,000.
Obviously, it’s worth noting that these bargain-basement-priced cars won’t be fully loaded Escape Platinums. Any crazy deal you find will likely be for an Escape Active with front-wheel drive. That means a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder making 181 horsepower, paired to an eight-speed automatic. I remember briefly driving an Escape with this powertrain a couple of years ago, and didn’t have any strong feelings about the engine—it was perfectly adequate for what 99% of people will use it for: Commuting and running errands.
That being said, I can understand if you want a bit more power or all-wheel drive. Thankfully, the discounts extend to models with the more powerful 250-horsepower turbo-four cylinder model, which comes standard with all-wheel drive. Here’s a 2026 model with nearly $10,000 in combined discounts, and another with over $8,000 in discounts.
The Plug-In Hybrid Models Are Discounted, Too
With demand for hybrids as high as it is right now, I somewhat expected the deals on the plug-in hybrid version of the Escape not to be as lucrative. But in some cases, the discounts are even bigger, especially if you can find a 2025 model that’s still sitting on the lot.
The cheapest one I could find is this white-painted model listed by Sunrise Ford in Fort Pierce, Florida, which uses that same $8,000 rebate plus another $5,000 off at the dealer level. Original MSRP was near $40,000, but the listed price on the dealer’s site is $26,390. Here’s another one from Capital Ford in Raleigh, North Carolina that has a gigantic $12,445 in discounts, with a listed price of $29,450.
One big thing about the Escape plug-in hybrid is that it’s only available with front-wheel drive, which might be a deal-breaker for a lot of shoppers, and why these cars have had a tough time finding homes. But if it’s not a big deal to you, the plug-in can get up to 42 mpg on the highway, which is pretty good for a car as roomy and tall as the Escape. For under 30 grand, it feels like a strong combination.
Top graphic image: Ford
I’ve developed a completely irrational hatred for these things. On my morning commute, it feels like at least two out of every three times I get stuck behind someone doing 5–10 under the speed limit and holding up traffic, it’s one of these or the previous-gen Escapes.
That probably feeds into my overall opinion of modern Fords, which hasn’t exactly been stellar lately. For example, my dad’s 2 year old F-150 has already been back to the dealer multiple times for fairly serious issues. Things like a hub actuator failure and multiple A/C problems that required the entire dash to be removed, and allowed moisture to get under the carpet.
And because that apparently wasn’t enough excitement, one of the techs decided the best way to remove interior panels was with a screwdriver, which of course damaged most of them in the process.
At this point, my dad talks about how much he misses his old Tundra often enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if he ditches that truck within a year.
It’s one of the hottest segments in the automotive market and the Escape has been a household name for 20 years and yet Ford still managed to screw it up and get it canceled. Like the Taurus. And the Fusion. And the Focus.
I wonder whose idea it was to split this segment into the Escape and Bronco Sport. Combined, they don’t quite sell what the Escape did alone in 2016, and now with it canceled they’ll be betting on selling double the Bronco Sports in order to move the same number of units.
Aren’t these….not so great? Lots of recalls and reliability issues?
Has the rubber belt of doom in them, guys i knew as service advisors called em ecobooms or ecobombs, because didnt take long for them to frag pistons or head gaskets.
The hybrid ones probably are alright, but not the 3 poppers.
The plug in hybrid models are the best Fords to get. It’s really disappointing that it’s being discontinued.
My C-Max PHEV is 2nd favorite car I’ve ever owned. Now at 250k and the only work I’ve had done other than oil changes was rebuilding front-end suspension this year (which makes sense given the amount of gravel/dirt road driving I’ve done in MT the past year).
My ol’ 1971 Karmann Ghia still wins all car contests in my head though…
Agreed Ed. We picked one up last October. Sticker over 52k, payed 27k for it, new but with 500 dealer miles on it. Gets between 30 – 40 miles all EV before the engine kicks in, and once on gas, functions as a typical hybrid but with a larger than average battery. Excellent hybrid drivetrain with a very good power train warranty. The adaptive cruise with lane centering works great.
Ford appears to be discounting just about everything along with just about everyone else. It’s been like that for at least a month. They are back to where they needed to be from the start. That’s a huge reason they are sitting there. I wouldn’t doubt more discounts incoming for the escape at least.
I got it. Sell it to people that like Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain…That’s the SUV they are looking for. Write to Ford for Escape.
We are driving a 2025 rental Active Escape with AWD while our 2022 Nissan Rogue is getting a new engine (intercooler failure under warranty).
A miserable penalty box. Manual seats, manual liftgate (that takes some real force to open), fights on Apple CarPlay, good rear camera, a stop start system that is not very smooth, gutless acceleration and just not fun to drive. It does fill the bill of getting around and carrying groceries.
We had the plug-in version for a few years and it was loaded with options. It was a great little family hauler that was luxurious-adjacent and was swift when needed. I know these aren’t cool or collectible but if you can get a new one that plugs in for under $30k, that seems like a great deal.
question is, would you want a discounted Escape? Or a similarly equipped Maverick at the same price? https://ebay.us/m/EB4RkD
turbo and wet belt…something to think about before pulling the trigger
Pro: You don’t have to do it for about 80,000 miles.
Con: It’s going to cost $2,000+ for labor as they have to take most of the engine apart to change it.
the camshafts are driven by a chain. The oil pump uses a belt, though.
That was a big deal on the 1.0 but it doesn’t seem to be a common thing on the 1.5 and the 2023+ models use a clean sheet MPC engine that introduced port injection along the existing GDI. Maybe they further improved on that?
The Hybrid would be the main reason to go for this over a $35K+ competing SUV
Yes! I love the “massive dealer discount” articles. One of these days it’s going to be the right car at the right time for me.
The fuel economy on this model has kind of surprised me. I was driving a 2017 Titanium AWD for a while and was shocked that I couldn’t do better than 22MPG combined.
Then I bought a 2025 Expedition in which I struggle to get better than 18 average.
I can’t decide if I’m shocked that Ford could engineer the mammoth Expedition to be only 3MPG worse than a little bitty Escape, or shocked that Ford couldn’t engineer the little bitty Escape to do better than 3MPG more than the honkin’ Expedition.
That aside, I found the escape with the 2.0 turbo to be a pleasingly peppy drive that was more fun and more comfortable than I had been expecting.
I got an Escape with the 2L and AWD as my rental car when I went to Zion National Park. I was actually really content with the fuel economy I was seeing. Just a hair over 30 MPG while going up and down the mountains of southern Utah. In the personal fleet we have a 2025 Mazda CX-50 with the N/A 2.5L and that thing not only feels anemic but we’ve also never seen more than 27 MPG on the highway and its lifetime fuel economy (~14k miles) is at a hair below 25 MPG.
Was very disappointed with the Escape’s interior though, so much so that it’d probably be the deal breaker for me.
Do you drive it foot to the floor at all times in nothing but LA-level traffic? I have had a couple of the turbo-triple Escapes as rentals and got mid-30s out of them. And not much less than that out of the fours.
No, once I saw what I was getting, I switched over to playing the hyper-mile game to see if I could improve it. Nope.
I get 27.5 in my 2.5L Outback all day, every day
It was broken? As I said, driven multiples of these things, got wildly better mileage than that. And without hypermiling, though I generally am no boy racer in rental cars, just go with the flow.
Ford + Engineering, it’s not going to math lol.
I had several of the prior EcoBoost Escapes as company cars, a 2016, 2018, and 2019, put an average of 30-35,000 miles per year on them, low 20s mpg was very typical. About the same as I’ve seen with the various Panthers I’ve owned, always found that weird
The previous generation Escape was thirsty with the 6 speed auto. 2020+ Escapes got improved MPGs thanks to an 8 speed and better aerodynamics.
The contemporary full size trucks got 10 speeds so they really get decent mileage for the size and weight.
My F150 SuperCrew 4×4 with the 10spd only drinks 2 more gallons of fuel on a 250 mile trip than my wife’s 2019 Escape Titanium 2WD with the 6spd
I’m surprised that dealers are so desperate to get rid of Escape stock since I thought the plan was to produce a big enough inventory of MY26 Escapes to last the whole year. BTW the Escape Hybrid (non-PHEV) is a really great deal with these discounts; good MPGs and genuinely good reliability from its Toyota-style planetary eCVT and old 2.5L I4 that had its issues solved over the past 2 decades. The PHEV is also an excellent deal if ~<$35k, that's as cheap as most non-PHEVs in this segment!
Biggest downside is its meh interior with touchscreen climate controls on most models (though a smaller screen with buttons and knobs is still available on lower trims), and the hybrid engine is relatively slow for its class at 192hp (201hp for the PHEV).
That 2.5 and any 4-cyl Duratec is a darn good engine. A NA 2.5 FWD Escape @20k to me would be a solid deal, if it was made that way. The tricky part with the Duratecs is what transmissions they’re paired with.
I would think the regular Escape Hybrid would be the most desirable model by far right now, and I’m surprised the article didn’t mention it at all. Especially since there is no Bronco Sport Hybrid, and Ford hasn’t even made a formal announcement that they will build one. Something tells me Ford will miss having a mainstream gas hybrid in their inventory.
My mother owns a 2020 Escape Hybrid, and apart from some issues with the 12-volt battery (the bane of every hybrid & EV in existence), it has been rock solid. I think it’s her fourth Escape too, she had been leasing & returning Escapes since around 2010. But the Hybrid was a purchase.
If you can actually get one for 20K it’s probably worth it.I’m sure it will have mileage after a few years with all the loaners you will be driving because of the recalls.
If they had that kind of deal around me I’d be pretty tempted to at least check them out. Might not be the best vehicle but probably good enough for family duty and winters for the next 10ish years.
Sure they are, it’s called the Bronco Sport. 😛
A sub-30k PHEV is a tempting prospect though. Shame I’m 1) Not in the market right now and 2) have been disappointed by every rental Escape I’ve had, even a Titanium trim.
I’ve always liked Escapes for what they are – a final gasp of an older focus of domestic manufacturing, the basic but competent vehicle with, in Ford’s case, a dash of Euro flair. For most of my life, Ford could be counted on to offer these sorts of vehicles.
Now that US car companies are specializing, producing only vehicles that generate max profit (nothing wrong with that, they’re businesses), we won’t see too many more like this.
Honestly if they’d offered the PHEV with AWD we would’ve been tempted to buy one for my wife. We had the 2wd PHEV as our rental in Norway last year for a week and for all the flack it’s received it was better than I expected. Blandly handsome inside and out, and at least in European spec was reasonably good to drive on twisty coastal roads in Lofoten and even with not wanting to tangle with figuring out how to charge we were still getting 50+ mpg on admittedly slow back roads, 80-100 KPH. Of course in true Ford fashion even with low miles the steering wheel heater didn’t work.
You need to step up to the Lincoln Corsair PHEV if you want an AWD plug-in Escape.
Oh, very interesting I didn’t realize this existed…I will admit I think a Lincoln might be a hard sell for my spouse but I will take a look as about the only other AWD PHEV that’s not German is the RAV4 Prime which even used commands ridiculous prices
The cost delta might not be that much since Ford shoved the PHEV all the way into the upper trims in later years.
There’s more AWD PHEVs out there than just the RAV4 Prime. Hyundai/Kia have a few and the Mitsubishi Outlander/Nissan Rogue (though Outlander is saddled with the oddball CHAdeMO connector).
Taking a quick look in my area, it looks like a Prime is about $4-6K more at a given mileage so it’s not insignificant but it’s close enough that we would need to drive both, though also once you factor in Toyota value retention that might be worth the $4K up front a lone even if reliability somehow wound up the same.
I could be harboring old superstitions but I get slightly nervous about a used Hyundai/Kia product as the miles go up apparently they’ve had issues with their 4 cylinder theta engines per this blog, as well as the ease of theft of certain models, I fear they do a lot of cost cutting where they think no-one is looking.
That being said maybe it is worth taking a second look at what they offer-Ford hardly has a sterling reputation for quality-as mentioned in my original comment our low mileage rental escape’s heated steering wheel was AWOL, though I will add a friend’s 2016 Nautilus has been pretty bulletproof and he now has over 100K on it.
I hate to keep harping on this, but you should never trust an online price given by a Florida dealer. No matter what nationwide car search you do on cars.com or autotrader, the lowest prices are always in Florida. Florida has the loosest laws on the quantity and type of dealer add-on fees in the whole country. I guarantee that your OTD price in FL isn’t any cheaper than you’d pay elsewhere, despite what the online prices suggest.
That aside, who wouldn’t want to own the 14th best car in its class?
For lots of people, price (monthly payment) is more important that ‘rankings/quality’.
Does that rankings/quality encompass stuff like $6k in mandatory add-ons/doc fee they hide in the fine print because that sure does affect the price.
Thanks, I was wondering why it always seems these seemingly great deals are centered in Florida, Alabama, etc.
This. Higher fees = bigger discounts.
Though you can get lucky – after dealing with their nonsense by having the sales manager chase me across the parking lot to my car, I did get $13K off a Fiata in Orlando. But still paid a bit more than the price they advertised it at on Autotrader.
At $20k this is a compelling competitor to the Nissan Versa, and Mitsubishi Mirage.
We need more viable $20k vehicle options.
I had a rental Mirage.
Crawling on all 4, over broken glass, is a compelling competitor.
I can literally hear the overly load dealer commercial on my TV. “You can’t let the ESCAPE at this price!” “No one ESCAPES with deals this good!”
“You can’t ESCAPE the new car bargains at Ted’s Corner Ford, at the other corner of 8th and Walnut!”
I hate Ted’s Corner Ford
The Ford PHEVs are good products, based on my experience with the C-Max. If I was in the market, I’d definitely look for one of these.
Yeh said this above, had a rental Escape PHEV in Norway last year and was pleasantly surprised by it. I feel like it’s gotten more flack from reviewers than deserved. It was reasonably competent and comfortable, and got insanely good gas mileage even with not being able to plug it in, converting from european L/100km we got roughly 50-60mp on slow coastal roads, probably halved what I had been planning on paying for gas.
When my C-max was totaled in late 2024, I got a 2021 Escape PHEV.
As a happy C-Max owner, I gave the Escape a good long look – primarily because I think it’s one of the best-looking modern cars. The lack of AWD with PHEV was a deterrent, and so was the screen-centric dash. I gave up when I found that none of the trims had front seats adjustable for cushion angle. That seemed like a curious omission.