A few years ago, I tested both a Ford Escape and a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. I ended up going with the Toyota because I felt the drive was better and the layout of the car interior was more intuitive. I thought the car looked nicer, too.
I’d suggest giving the Highlander hybrid a test drive. I really, really loved mine.
emacknight, I forget: Are you in the Minneapolis area? We got our Escape at the Ford dealership that used to be in Brooklyn Park, but that’s now relocated to Bass Lake Rd and 169. Ah - Superior Brookdale Ford; that’s the one. I don’t know that I’d go there - while he’s happy with his car, he’s decidedly less than thrilled with that dealer, both because he doesn’t think they know as much about the Escape Hybrid as they should and because of some trouble he had with the service desk after the purchase. (He was surprised by larger service needs/bills than he expected and felt they should’ve been more proactive telling him things. I think he probably should’ve expected some of these things - like brakes and such - to need replacing at the mileage he was at. But no matter.)
I think Mr. Snicks would’ve been happy with the Highlander too, provided he could’ve gotten the salesmen to talk to us. 
That said, at the time, the Toyota was about $10K more, so that definitely factored into our decision. I don’t think I would’ve wanted something that big. (But it’s his car, not mine, so there is that. We’re very much the territorial car couple: I drive my car, he drives his. If I drive us somewhere, we take my car, and vice versa. I think it’s because I drive - and prefer - a clutch, he’s happier with an automatic.)
Yeah, we actually leased the Highlander for a pretty decent price. I think the price on the car on the lease paper work was. . . 32k or something like that (it actually might have been less- I did some hardcore arguing). Then we had a 3 year, 20k mile a year lease. At the end of the lease, the buy out on the car was about 14k (if I remember correctly), but Honda was willing to give us 20k for it on a trade in. So, needless to say, we bought out the Highlander, traded it to Honda, got the difference, and bought an Accord.
I like the Accord well enough, but it doesn’t even compare to the Highlander. I loved that car.
I looked at the Ford Escape Hybrid in the spring of this year, but liked the newly redesigned Chevrolet Equinox a lot more. It’s a lot less expensive and the fuel economy, at least on the highway, is almost as good. I am getting in the low 30s MPGs in mine on long trips.
You are comparing hybrid to non-hybrid :smack: . Rumor has it the Sante Fe will be the second Hyundai to become a hybrid.
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2008/09/hyundais-38mpg-santa-fe-blue-hybrid.html
Hopefully the Hyundai 24/7 plan will change the playing field allowing for better comparisons 
.