The Ford Escape is a crossover SUV that outperforms its competitors while offering comfortable seating for five and fold-down seats for extra cargo space. The Escape has spent nearly two decades popular with buyers and reviewers, and that trend looks to continue with the 2018 model. The 2018 Escape carries over the sleek look showcased last year, including halogen headlamps, LED tail lights, fog lights, and alloy wheels. It looks good in the city and in the mountains and performs well rain or shine.

New for 2018 is the SEL trim that offers heated mirrors, leather trim seats, and parking assist. This year's best, the Titanium trim, offers the new 245 horsepower, turbo-four engine. With the higher trims' turbocharged engine, the Escape is a powerful vehicle and a blast to drive. Despite its compact profile, the seating in the Escape is comfortable, with plenty of leg and head room. Ford offers the technology to keep you and yours safe, entertained, and comfortable. Small enough to sit low on the road but big enough to haul furniture, the Escape also has cargo space in spades.

The Ford Escape is among the better crossover vehicles on the market, appealing to buyers because of its all-around quality. From its sleek and stylish exterior lines to its turbocharged engines to its roomy interior, the Escape has both the look and feel crossover customers want. One downside is it's not very fuel efficient, but its thirsty turbocharged engine makes the sacrifice worthwhile with plenty of horsepower and torque--and it's an SUV, so fuel efficiency is rarely at the top of a buyer's wishlist. Owners can also be confident in the Escape's design, which received high marks from J.D. Power.

All but the lowest trim of the Ford Escape come in either front- or all-wheel drive. You can expect to pay a little more for AWD, of course. Outdoorsy owners or those looking for the peace of mind that comes with better traction in snow and rain won't mind the relatively small markup.

It's too early to have independent safety ratings for the 2018 models, but the 2017 Escape received a perfect five-star crash rating. Sporting tons of safety features, like Blind Spot Monitor, Auto-Leveling Headlights, Lane Departure Warning, and Adjustable Pedals, Ford works hard to keep drivers and passengers safe.