I just bought an Escape earlier this year. I really like it, and there’s plenty of room for two adults and one baby, one bag for me and 15 for the two women. I only paid 17.5 for the base model which is $1000 less then what edmonds says is the average. I think Ford is willing to help out since they are hurting. I did buy a standard, but I get in the upper 20s for mileage. I only have 4000 miles on it so I wouldn’t have any problems. There are two things I don’t like, the storage cover doesn’t stretch much and the trip odo and the normal odo are the same so you can’t tell how far you’ve driven on a tank without hitting a button.
Yet another vote for Subaru.
Legacy wagon, Outback, or Forester.
Fry
Thank you to everyone who made recommendations. I’m now the proud owner of an '03 Forester, and I’m loving it.