Quick Impression: 2013 Ford Escape SEL

I apologize for neglecting this space for the last six months. I've been busy with other things; and, frankly, I haven't had anything really review worthy to write about. So, in lieu of a full blown review, I thought I'd take a few minutes to give a quick rundown of the Ford Escape that AVIS bestowed upon me in Baltimore last week. I only had it for one night and a day for a grand total of 30 miles or so. Thus, the lack of experience upon which to base an in depth review.

Standard disclaimers apply: my money paid for the rental, my company is paying me back, FTC go soak your heads and eat a turd flavored donut.

Exterior Styling:
The Escape looks a lot better than it used to. I didn't get a chance to take pictures of it because I was too busy taking pictures of the first car AVIS tried to foist off on me (a Nissan Altima that had collision damage on all four sides). The Escape was redesigned for 2013, and Ford took a page from the redesign of the Focus and Fusion and applied it to the Escape. Gone is the boxiness of the 2012 and prior exteriors. I think it actually looks nice for a compact SUV. The only item of note on the exterior from my brief exposure was the keyless entry code numbers were moved from the door panel to the "B" pillar part of the door/window frame. Oh, and they are no longer buttons as they are touch screen like sensors.

Interior Styling/Comfort:
Whoever designed the AC vents should be taken out and shot. The seats were comfortable. Head room even with the sunroof was excellent for my 6 foot 4 inch frame. The telescoping and tilt adjustable steering wheel had the distinction of being the first steering wheel ever that I have been unable to control with my knees. The center console was nicely done and uncomplicated. Visibility was decent to the front and sides; however, the rear view mirror doesn't help much thanks to a small rear window and tall rear seat backs. Baggage space in the rear cargo area was quite roomy for the size of the vehicle.

Engine/Performance:
It has an engine. I had no trouble getting up to speed on the highway. That's about I all I can tell you there. The best gas mileage I saw out of it, according to the computer, was 24.1 MPG on the highway. Frankly, that's disapppointing.

Ride/Handling:
No issues to report. The ride was smooth for a small SUV.

That's all I've got for now. I wish I had had more time with it to give you a better review, but that will have to do for now.

A Tale of Two Tire Purchases

It's been a while since I've written anything here and for good reason. I've been busy. But, I've had a couple of experiences with tire purchases within the last couple of weeks that I thought might be educational. Everyone who drives a car needs tires eventually. So, one would think that there would be some healthy competition for those tire buying dollars. Allow me to share a couple of data points for your consideration.

First up, my experience with Walmart.com and my local Walmart Tire & Lube Center. My wife drives a 2007 Lincoln Navigator (we bought it used for a price substantially lower than they go for new...so, don't get any ideas about our wealth or lack thereof) that sports 20" rims. Stupid me didn't price tires for 20" rims before buying the vehicle and had the equivalent of a minor heart attack and stroke when I set about pricing replacements for the skins that were already about half gone before we put 40,000 miles on them. Walmart.com had a decent price for a set of four Kumho Ecsta's in the right size that was about $4.00 to $10.00 per tire cheaper than any other store. I placed my order for shipping to the nearest store which happens to be in a decent sized suburb of a suburb of Dallas. What follows is my email to the store manager (suitably redacted to protect the guilty from alleging that I libeled or slandered them):

Dear Mr. Store Manager,

Please accept this in follow up to our telephone conversation a moment ago. I am writing to you to express my dissatisfaction with the service I received at your store yesterday. 

On Wednesday, June 26, 2013, I purchased four tires for my vehicle through the Walmart website. I received an email from Walmart.com yesterday at 12:54 PM confirming that the tires had arrived at the [Suburb of a Dallas Suburb] store and providing instructions for pickup. So far, so good. At approximately 3:00 PM, I called the auto service center at the [Suburb of a Dallas Suburb] store to confirm their hours of operation as I know they do not stay open all day as the store does. I spoke with a gentlemen whose name I did not get and explained that I received the above mentioned email and that I needed to come have the tires installed. I was informed that the auto service center was open until 7:00 PM, and I was not informed of any limitations upon when I should arrive in order to have the tires that I ordered installed. 

I arrived at your store at 6:00 PM which was the earliest I could arrive due to traffic and went to the auto service counter as instructed by the email received from Walmart.com. I presented the email to the woman working behind the counter and explained that I needed to have the tires installed and get an oil change for my vehicle. The woman, whose name I did not get, informed me that I needed to the site to store area of the store to pick up the tires. This is in direct contradiction to the instructions on the email received from Walmart.com (see below), but not a huge concern. I again asked if there would be any problem getting the oil change and tire installation completed, and I was assured it would not be a problem and told to "...just talk to the guys."

This is where the service provided by your employees began to go off the rails. The site to store area of the store promptly located and brought my tires out from the back of the store. However, the tires were brought out to me on a flat bed cart with a "here you go" and not some much as a thank you or an offer to assist me further. I asked if I needed to take them to the service department or if they needed to do that, and I was told to take them myself. I'm not opposed to pushing a cart of tires; however, I am opposed to it being assumed by a customer service employee that I am okay with that or that my business with that employee is concluded. 

Upon returning to the auto service department, the same lady who had helped me earlier advised me to leave the tires at the counter and bring the vehicle up to see the service writer outside. I pulled my vehicle up to one of the two lube bays and waited. There was an employee working on another vehicle (later identified as [J]) who barely looked in my direction. Another employee (later identified as [L]) walked up staring at me like I was an alien and greeted me with "It's 100 degrees. Whatchu want?" 

Let me tell you, if the service was heading off the rails earlier, that greeting sent them hurtling off the cliff. 

When I explained my needs to [L], he responded that it was after 6:00 and they closed at 7:00. I explained that I was assured that the work could be completed by the staff inside. [L] proceeded to call [J] over at which point they engaged in a conversation in front of me complaining about the situation. I interrupted them and explained that I was the customer and that they needed to sort this out with the staff inside. 

[J] eventually instructed [L] to write up my service requests at which time we embarked on a 30 minute adventure in cluelessness. At first, [L] could not pull up the tires I had ordered on the hand held service writing tool. He asked me what size and brand they were which I told him. He showed me the hand held and said "Do you see any Kumho tires on here?" I pointed to the tires in the bay that had just been brought out from the service counter and told him those were the tires. After being repeatedly asked the tire size and reiterating that the tires were right there in the service bay [L] finally succeeded in getting the order written up with assistance from [C]. This, however, was not before I was briefly told that they could not install the tires which I had ordered because they were 20 inch tires. 

At 6:45, my vehicle was finally brought into the service bay for work after [L] made what appeared to be a last chance effort to discourage me from having the work done last night by saying that it would take a couple of hours to complete. I assured him that I was there until it was done at which point it appears that [L], [C] and [J] as well as an assistant manager whose name I never saw broke a world speed record for an oil change and installing four tires completing both tasks in just under an hour. 

One last thing, I was not offered the road hazard warranty which I would gladly have paid for in light of an upcoming road trip. I would still very much like to purchase that coverage if it is not still too late and you can tell me how to accomplish that without a repeat of yesterday's poor customer service. 

Finally, at no time was there an apology or a thank you for your business or a have a nice day. To be fair, I was no longer a pleasant person to deal with by this point, and I just wanted to leave. However, I challenge you to remain calm and polite after the preceding experience. 

In closing, I would strongly urge you to address the customer service provided by your employees. I know my business means exactly nothing to Walmart as a corporation; however, I would hope it means something to a store manager who has goals and objectives to meet.

I will sum up this sad tale by relating that an assistant manager with the store did get back with me and arranged to meet me at the store to take care of the road hazard warranty purchase. That was another exercise in frustration for both me and the assistant manager lasting about an hour. In the interest of full disclosure, the assistant manager paid for the cost of the warranty ($40) and charged it back to the store as a good will gesture despite my protests that I wanted to pay for the warranty myself and only wanted the poor service addressed so that others would not have the same experience. I acquiesced in the end and accepted the peace offering in the spirit in which it was intended.

Now, moving forward to today's experience. A few weeks ago, I had noticed a wobble developing in the front end of my aging Nissan Maxima. It's a 2000 year model with over 335,000 miles on it (I like to get my money's worth...what can I say). The original struts were still on this thing and had long since ceased being useful for much of anything; and, so, I inquired of my cousin the mechanic as to the possible source. He suggested tie rods or ball joints as the possible culprit. We had been planning on him coming by to address the front struts already. So, I just treated the car gingerly and waited for the parts to arrive so we can delve into the subject a little deeper. Yesterday, everything was in place and cousin B came by to do the work.

Lo and behold upon removing the front tires, we discovered this:

That wasn't there in April when I did the brake job.

So, I jumped on the iPad and began the search for a set of new shoes for the Maxima. Within about 10 minutes, I had located a set of Yokohama YK580s on the Discount Tire website for a reasonable price. The website indicated that my local store had 8 tires in stock, ready to go. I was able to select the tires and schedule an appointment for this morning at 8:15 AM in short order, and I went back to kibitzing with the cousin while he wrenched on the front struts.

When I arrived at the store this morning at a little after 8:00 AM this morning, the three counter guys were helping other customers. I only had to wait a few minutes until one freed up. He immediately addressed me by name before I had even approached the counter or as much as said "hello" (there is something to be said for 1) being expected, and 2) a customer service rep being observant). He had my car pulled into the service bay in less than five minutes, and I was told that it would be ready in about 15 minutes. It would have been done in that time too but for the fact that the passenger rear tire had a frozen wheel stud that refused to let go (and I had already broken off one of the studs in April). They can't let it go with only three studs and don't have the parts to fix it on the spot (both understandable points on their part).

So, I have a little work to do this evening, and I will get the last tire installed tomorrow. Even with that, I was out the door and on my way to work by 8:30 AM. Everyone at the Discount Tire store was courteous and professional. They knew what they were doing, and they did it efficiently without fuss. I was so impressed after my dismal experience at Walmart that I sent a customer feedback email from the Discount Tire website praising them.

So, in closing, Discount Tire is covered in awesome sauce. Walmart is not so much. Your mileage may vary.

Comparison Review: Otter Box Defender and Otter Box Commuter

Originally, I was planning on writing a car review for this posting because everyone seems to like the car reviews, and I just so happened to be going on a business trip last week involving the rental of a car for a dizzying day of driving in Houston traffic. So, me and my business associate landed at Hobby Airport on Friday morning after both surviving 4:30 AM alarms to catch Southwest Airlines flight 1 from Love Field in Dallas. Awaiting me in my email inbox upon landing was a nifty email from Avis telling me that my Mazda 5 Sport VAN was waiting for me at space A25. 

I had no idea there was such a thing as a Mazda 5 Sport Van. I mean, seriously? A COMPACT minivan based on arguably a midsize sedan chassis? Who knew?

So, before moving on with the review that I am actually going to give you today, I will sum up my feelings on the Mazda 5 Sport Van as succinctly as possible since there is no way I am going to spend an entire post waxing poetic about this vehicle for bad or worse. 

In short, Mazda must be playing an epic prank on the car buying public. First, there is nothing remotely sporty about the Sport Van. I've seen turtles that looked sportier, and they were faster to boot. The only van in history that can remotely be considered sporty is B.A. Baracas' van from The A-Team. Maybe the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. Maybe. Second, I know plastic is cheap, but do you have to remind us by making it LOOK cheap? Third, I was so underwhelmed by the level of strange involved in a SPORT COMPACT MINIVAN, that I didn't even bother taking photos for posterity. Unless you are a soccer mom who can't afford a decent used Windstar or Town & Country and just have to get a cheap minivan, I'm thinking you have better things to do with your money. 

Thus endeth the rant about the Mazda 5 Sport Van. 

Just so you know, that was a total non-sequitur to today's actual review which is, as mentioned in the title of the post, a quick and dirty comparison of the Otter Box Defender and Otter Box Commuter cell phone cases for the iPhone 4S (since I am not yet due for an upgrade to the iPhone 5 at work yet). 

First a brief history, I drank the iPhone Kool-Aid many moons ago (in tech years that is) with the iPhone 3G. I never much bothered with a case for my prior cell phones, and I didn't see much need to start with the iPhone. A co-worker had a snazzy looking, leather, belt clip holster for his iPhone. Being somewhat conscious of the amount of money I spent to enslave myself to the iLeash, I thought I'd give the case a whirl. 

In short, that holster has been collecting dust for far longer that it ever saw use. I'm just not partial to having things on my hip that don't go bang. My solution: slide the iCrackPipe into a pocket and go about my business. That solution stood me in good stead for the most part. Yes, I did drop the phone from time to time. Yes, the phone picked up a few dings and scratches as a result. No, it didn't break. 

Fast forward a few years. The new job hands me a new iHeroin 4S with an iPad speedball chaser, and I merrily go about my business employing the usual habits that have worked so well for me. Barely a month into the new job, I go to put my iOverLord in my pocket before heading into the gym for volleyball when the phone catches on a wayward string securely fastened at both ends of the pocket. Now, the new iPhones are slick. The forward momentum of my hands was apparently too much and overcame the pathetic traction my fingers had on the phone pushing it out of my grasp right onto solid concrete. 

One iBong screen shattered.

Oh NO!!!!

The IT guy was cool about it though. He had me a replacement by mid afternoon the next day. There was some strong hinting that a case might be in order. A lot of the folks in the office used the Otter Box Defenders while one used the Otter Box Commuter. After a brief interlude with another brand of case, I finally broke down and ordered Defenders for both The Queen and I (as The Queen made a royal decree that her Royal Highness must not be deprived of iFruit a moment longer). 

A few quick clicks at Amazon, and two Defenders were on their way here. 

A quick side note here about Amazon. It pays to be observant of the seller. The Defender I bought for me came from one seller while the one purchased for The Queen came from a different seller...in Hong Kong. I mention this as the quality of the two Defenders is dramatically different, and I suspect that The Queen's Defender is a Chinese made knock off. 

The Defender can best be described as "robust". It utilizes a hard plastic shell around which a rubber case is stretched for grip and some shock absorption. Some people I have talked with expressed complaints about the difficulty they had getting their cases apart and put back together. I didn't have that problem, but I can see how some people might not "get it" at first glance. The Defender is also delivered with a hard plastic belt clip holster. The belt clip can be rotated a full 360 degrees. It is a little stiff though, and it sounds like you are breaking the clip when you adjust it. 

Another quick note about the belt clip. I'm not sure if this was by design or by coincidence, but the clip can be latched open. I'm not sure what purpose this would serve, but I discovered this feature when I accidentally dropped the phone after it snagged on something and was pulled from my belt due to no grippy by the clippy. 

Incidentally, an iPhone in a Defender case does bounce a little, but it didn't shatter. So, it's all good. 

The last thing I want to comment on about the Defender is the rubber case. It affords excellent grip even with sweaty palms and fingers. The downside of that excellent grip is that, if you are accustomed to dropping your phone in your pocket as I am, it interferes with getting the phone in and out of a pocket. 

So, after a few weeks of carrying the Defender around both with and without the plastic belt holster, I got frustrated with it. With the holster, it just felt awkward to me. Without the holster, I was constantly having to shove my pockets back in. 

Well, enough of that noise. The nets were cast again, and lo and behold the Otter Box Commuter arrived here at the house. 

The Commuter is essentially a slimmer version of the Defender in reverse. By that, I mean that the rubber part on the inside with a plastic case on the outside holding the rubber part in place. 

Here again, the one other user of the Commuter that I know expressed frustration with the ins and outs of getting the case on and off. As before, I didn't have a problem. 

The hard plastic case of the Commuter does not cover 100% of the back and sides of the phone. It leaves plastic off from the obvious places such as the camera and the volume buttons. This allows the user to have some grippyness to hang onto. The hard plastic shell provides adequate protection from drops ('cause I seem to have developed a case of the butter fingers) and allows people like to me to get the phone in and out of pockets without dumping the contents of the pocket on the floor. 

The one thing the Commuter lacks that the Defender does not (which I consider to be a feature instead of a bug) is the belt clip holster. If you want to feel like Batman with a bunch of stuff hanging off your belt, knock yourself out. I prefer less stuff on my belt unless it goes bang.

Summing things up, both the Commuter and Defender offer good to excellent protection against impacts and drops. They come in a variety of colors. If you are looking for one at Walmart or Best Buy, expect to pay between $35 and $40. Searching online will yield prices ranging from $18 (what I paid) to the mid $20 range. I was able to get free shipping on my order from Amazon since the total was over $25. 

If you are looking for a good cell phone case, I would not hesitate to recommend either one depending on your preferred method of carrying a phone. 

FTC Disclaimer: I used my own money to buy these cases. No one at Otter Box or Amazon gave me anything for this review. So, go bother some investment banker. Better yet, go investigate the .Gov for operating a Ponzi scheme. 

Coming Soon...

Life, as usual, has intruded into my content mill.

Sometime in the new future, I will get around to reviewing the following items:

1. CRKT Delegate folding knife

2. Ruger 10/22 Deluxe Sporter (possibly in comparison with the carbine version and the Marlin 60)

3. Hawke Sport Optics Sport HD IR AO (eieio) 3-9 x 40 Mil-Dot Rifle Scope

4. An as yet to be determined rental car

5. Another gun range(s)

6. A Concealed Handgun Class

7. Comparison of the Otterbox Defender and Commuter iPhone cases.

I am not sure in what order these reviews will appear; but, give me a little time, and they will all flush through eventually.