Seriously, all clowning aside, I'd considerthe purchase of a Ford Escape Hybrid

There was no test driving of the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid on Saturday. Toots Caboose was a little consumed with the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps making their major appearance in the Grand Floral Parade for the Portland Rose Festival.

With my allergies kicking in big time there was little hope for my participation today as a judge for the "pirates and princesses" costume contest at the festival's Waterfront Village. Instead, my partner Ed and decided to run a couple Sunday errands in the Escape. It was a beautiful day to drive with the sunroof open as we went to the local home improvement store to pick up some storage bins, to a bookstore for a copy of the Sunday New York Times, and to the home of some friends to borrow their pressure washer. Ed, being a total technology geek was checking out the GPS system, toying with the digital display screen, and testing the vehicle's Bluetooth capabilities with his Blackberry. All seemed to meet with his approval.

By folding down the back seats there was plenty of room to haul what we picked up along the our morning drive. Ed commented that he was surprised there were not more strategically located hooks in the back to secure the pressure washer from moving around.

His comment made me realize I haven't mentioned that my only complaint about the Escape was that the emergency brake release latch seemed to a little more difficult to reach than most cars I've driven - and I have long arms. Being reminded of that issue made me consider that I had not yet checked out the roominess of the back seat. I was pleasantly surprised that, with the front seats positioned for the driver and passenger to be comfortable, my 6' 1" frame - with long legs - had plenty of room as a passenger in the back.

Ed found it very humorous that I was so pleased with the hook on the driver's side floor that kept the floor mat in place. One of my biggest pet peeves about my Ford Ranger is that the floor mat sometimes finds its way up under the clutch, gas and brake pedals and it can really be a safety and driving hazard.

We both agreed that, as outfitted, the MSRP (including vehicle, options, destination and delivery) of $33,725.00 was very reasonable for the Escape.

Sadly, late today the Ford Escape was going to be picked up and my test driving experience was coming to an end. Feeling less handicapped by my allergies, I decided to run a few more of the errands I hadn't completed yesterday.

At the gas station the fact I was test driving a new 2010 vehicle created a lot of conversation from the employees. They hadn't seen the latest Ford Escape Hybrid and they were quite impressed.

I then stopped by the Arbor Lodge New Seasons Market (above) to give the Escape a test of major concern in my neighborhood - maneuverability in a very crowded parking lot with small individual spaces. There was absolutely no problem getting around the lot, which was filled with morning delivery trucks (and the usual large number of Volvos, BMWS and Subarus), or parking in a space designed for a small car.

Following a stop at the Kenton Post Office, to pick up my business mail from my P.O. Box, I decided to swing by the Peninsula Park Rose Garden (above) - an annual pilgrimage during Portland Rose Festival time. The spectacular garden has over 10,000 rose plantings.

With gardening on my mind, and a birthday gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, I headed over to one of my favorite retail therapy locations, Marbott's Greenhouse & Nursery (1808 NE Columbia Blvd; 503.285.2106), to pick up some more annuals for my own garden. On the heavily traveled industrial area roads the Escape held its own. Again, with the poor condition of the streets, I was pleased with the relatively smooth ride.

Arriving back home with my purchases, my five-day test of the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid came to an end. I suppose the best review I can give is that, if I was in the market for a new vehicle, I would seriously consider buying an Escape. I'm not "clowning around" at all when I make that statement.

I would like to thank the Social Media Group and the Ford Motor Company for the opportunity to test drive the Ford Escape Hybrid.

Read the other bLog-oMotives entries about my Ford Escape Hybrid test drive here.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

[Ford] Escape to Springfield - and more

Just a typical week here at Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Right.

It's time for the major annual Portland Rose Festival events and I'm Toots Caboose, a member of the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps. I'm also heading down to Springfield to make a presentation about social networking at the Spring Conference of the Healthcare Communicators of Oregon. Work-wise, the new signage for DiPrima Dolci, my neighborhood Italian bakery is being finalized - as is the long-awaited branding for RiverWest Acupuncture.

Oh, and I'm test-driving the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid for the Ford Motor Company.

I've been driving the Escape around Portland for a couple of days now. It's a great city car. The size makes it easy to park and I like the fact that, similar to my own Ford Ranger, a driver sits up high enough to clearly see what is going on in the frenetic combination of city walkers, bike riders, runners, out-of-town Rose Festival visitors, road construction crews and everyday business commuters. The vehicle handles really well and provides a smooth ride on the rather bumpy streets of Portland. I'm still adapting to the silence of the Hybrid switching over from traditional gas engine to battery at stops.

Yesterday, I zipped over to Extracto for my weekly "coffee therapy" with my friend Brooke. With parking right out in front (photo above), I noticed several people eying the kind of sexy Escape as they walked into the coffee house, or enjoyed their espresso from a window table.

After Brooke and I had solved the problems of the world, and she'd left for work, I was joined by collaborator Jennie Vinson, of Mission First Marketing, to go over some project elements for our client RiverWest Acupuncture. As she walked into Extracto, Jennie said "Great looking car."

The rest of my day was spent easily running errands around Portland in preparation for my one-day drive to Springfield and back, and my clown stint in the Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.

Bright and early today I was on the road, headed south to Springfield for my Healthcare Communicators of Oregon speaking engagement. It was fun to program the Escape's GPS system to direct me to the conference venue - the fairly new Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend (photo above) - for the 100-mile drive on Interstate 5. The GPS voice wasn't too annoying - but might really get on my nerves if used in a big city, detailed driving situation.

Getting the Escape out on the highway provided evidence of the vehicle having some get-up-and-go. Again, the smooth ride was impressive on the weather-worn and rutted road surface. Outfitted as the "Limited" model, the Escape's six-disk changer, sound system provided excellent entertainment on the trip. The 1.5 hour trip flew by in the roomy comfort of the vehicle.

The Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend looks much more like a high-end mountain resort, rather than a hospital facility, when entering the campus. That impression is amplified when walking in the main entrance into the massive lobby (photo above) of the 1.2 million square feet, state-of-the-art regional medical center. Entering the expanse with a conference attendee, I commented, "I want to check in."

The Healthcare Communicators of Oregon invited me to speak to conference attendees about no-cost, or low-cost, marketing efforts through the use of social networking. The group membership is made up of medical facility managers, public relations specialists, marketing and communication professionals, designers who work with medical clients, and others. In 45-minutes that flew by, I attempted to explain how social networking could be of value to the conference goers. (photos above and below). As an example of social networking in action, I detailed how the Ford Escape Hybrid test drive came about - and shared that, as I drove the vehicle to the conference, they were now part of the marketing experiment.

Following lunch I was back on the road. With late Friday afternoon traffic, the drive home took about 3.5 hours (instead of the usual 1.5 hours). In the bumper-to-bumper traffic jam, as I neared the Portland metropolitan area, the Escape was often in the quiet battery mode. Even after the long drive, and amount of time spent in the vehicle throughout the day, I felt very comfortable and could have driven much more.

Read the other bLog-oMotives entries about my Ford Escape Hybrid test drive here.

Note: Hospital facility photos courtesy of Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Tooting around in a 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid

Just about a month ago I received an email with the subject line "test drive opportunity." With the amount of spam I'd been receiving, I must admit that I almost deleted the message immediately. However, for some unknown reason, I clicked to open it - and I'm glad I did.

The message, addressed to me personally, read (in part):

"I see that you like to write and tweet about branding, clowning, and taking trips, and so I am wondering if you would like an opportunity to document the experience of test driving a roomy and sturdy Escape Hybrid or a sporty yet stylish Lincoln MKS for a few days? It’s usually the car journalists who get to test drive the cars, but we’re looking for fresh perspectives and feedback, something a little more engaging and authentic. What do you think?

I contacted the sender, at the Social Media Group in Dundas, ON, and informed them that I would really appreciate the opportunity to test drive the Ford Escape Hybrid. I also mentioned that this week would provide a great opportunity for a possibly unique driving experience. Today, as my clown persona Toots Caboose I will be participating in the Portland Rose Festival's Junior Rose Parade. Friday I will be driving to Springfield, OR to be a speaker at the Spring Conference of the Healthcare Communicators of Oregon. The clown make-up goes on again for the Grand Floral Parade on Saturday and I'll be at the Festival's Waterfront Village on Sunday to judge the "Pirates and Princesses" costume contest.

This morning the adorable white Ford Escape was delivered to my home. The man delivering the car commented on the fact that my Ford Ranger was in the driveway. I explained that I come from a family that have been loyal Ford customers for decades. To confirm my memories, I contacted my mother to find out how many Fords they had owned over the years. I was informed that, over the years, my parents have driven 21 Ford automobiles. A total of 19 of those vehicles had been purchased from the same Ford salesperson. My parents' first new car was purchased in Portland many years ago. It was a 1960 Ford Falcon. At times, my siblings have also owned Fords. In fact, my sister, who lives in the Bay Area, currently drives a Ford Escape.

My first adventure in the Ford Escape Hybrid was a drive over to Portland's Hollywood District to prepare for the Junior Rose Parade. I haven't had time to inspect all the "bells and whistles" but I immediately felt very comfortable driving the vehicle and appreciate the fact that, like my Ford Ranger, the driver sits up a bit higher than most cars on the road. The large windows all the way around provide great visibility. The quietness of the Escape is somewhat amazing. For even a clown, with some extra padding, the Escape was very comfortable. The only negative so far is that the car doesn't seem to like some of the taller speed-bumps in my neighborhood. It must have a fairly low clearance.

I'm looking forward to sharing more of my test drive experience - especially the road trip down to Eugene on Friday.

Photos: Above top - Clown buddies Chloe and Sam–E join Toots Caboose in checking out the 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid following the Junior Rose Parade. Lower photo - On my way home from the parade I stopped by DiPrima Dolci Bakery & Cafe to introduce Toots Caboose to owner (and my friend) Pat Diprima.

Read the other bLog-oMotives entries about my Ford Escape Hybrid test drive here.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives