Three vehicles wear this badge, and only one deserves your attention. The Equinox EV promises 250+ miles of range for potentially under $25k after tax credits, if GM actually ships the base trim instead of burying it under dealer markups and option packages. That's legitimately game-changing pricing for a long-range EV, though ditching CarPlay will cost them sales. The current gas Equinox (2018+) is competent appliance-grade transportation that's genuinely improved from the pre-2018 disaster years, but noisy cabins and cheap plastics remind you it's built to a price. Pre-2018 models earned their bad reputation with timing chains that jump and engines that burn oil before 100k miles. If you're shopping the EV and can live without CarPlay, it's the value play of the decade. If you're considering a used gas model, 2018 or newer only, and even then, a RAV4 will age better.
The Ford Escape's reliability varies dramatically by generation. The 2008-2012 models, especially V6 and hybrid variants, are praised for durability with many exceeding 250k miles. The 2013-2019 generation suffers from systematic transmission failures and catastrophic 1.5L/1.6L ecoboost engine issues including coolant intrusion requiring full engine replacement. The current 2020-2026 generation shows improvement with better powertrains (especially hybrids achieving 35-40 MPG), but experts note cheap interior materials, unsupportive seats, and infotainment bugs. Community consensus: avoid 2013-2019 models, consider 2nd gen or current hybrid if budget allows.