Compare the2024 Ford EscapeVS 2024 GMC Terrain

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The GMC Terrain doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The GMC Terrain doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

The Ford Escape has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Escape has standard Post-Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Terrain doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Escape offers an optional Reverse Brake Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Escape has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Terrain’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Escape has standard Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. GMC charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Terrain and the Terrain’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.

The Escape’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Terrain doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Escape and the Terrain have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Escape is safer than the GMC Terrain:

	Escape	Terrain
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	143	159
Neck Stress	185 lbs.	190 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	188/315 lbs.	363/349 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	102	376
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Leg Forces (l/r)	220/169 lbs.	264/236 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Escape is safer than the GMC Terrain:

	Escape	Terrain
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1.1 inches
Abdominal Force	191 lbs.	195 lbs.
Hip Force	240 lbs.	357 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	97	288
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	55 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	13 inches
HIC	344	377
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	730 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Escape the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 163 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Terrain has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

The Escape’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Terrain’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 79 percent more Ford dealers than there are GMC dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Escape’s warranty.

Reliability

The Escape has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Terrain doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Ford vehicles are more reliable than GMC vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in long-term dependability. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, GMC is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Ford vehicles are more reliable than GMC vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Ford 2 places higher in reliability than GMC.

Engine

The Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 5 more horsepower (180 vs. 175) than the Terrain’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Escape’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 75 more horsepower (250 vs. 175) and 77 lbs.-ft. more torque (280 vs. 203) than the Terrain’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Escape gets better mileage than the Terrain:

			MPG
Escape
	FWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	26 city/32 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	23 city/31 hwy
Terrain
	FWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/29 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	23 city/28 hwy

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Escape 1.5 Turbo’s fuel efficiency. The Terrain doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Escape’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Terrain:

	Escape	Terrain
Front Rotors	13 inches	11.8 inches
Rear Rotors	11.9 inches	11.3 inches

Suspension and Handling

The Escape has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Escape flat and controlled during cornering. The Terrain’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Escape ST-Line Elite AWD handles at .80 G’s, while the Terrain Denali AWD pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Escape’s turning circle is .2 feet tighter than the Terrain w/17” wheels’ (37.2 feet vs. 37.4 feet). The Escape’s turning circle is 4.4 feet tighter than the Terrain w/19” wheels’ (37.2 feet vs. 41.6 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Escape has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Terrain SLE (7.3 vs. 6.9 inches), allowing the Escape to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Passenger Space

The Escape has 1.5 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear headroom, 1 inch more rear legroom, 1.5 inches more rear hip room and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Terrain.

Cargo Capacity

The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Terrain with its rear seat up (37.5 vs. 29.6 cubic feet). The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Terrain with its rear seat folded (65.4 vs. 63.3 cubic feet).

An optional locking center console keeps your small valuables safer in the Escape. The Terrain doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

Towing

The Escape’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Terrain’s (2000 vs. 1500 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the GMC Terrain is only 1500 pounds. The Escape offers up to a 3500 lbs. towing capacity.

Ergonomics

The Escape Select/Elite/Platinum’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches. The Terrain’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Escape’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Terrain doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its OnStar® can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Escape’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Terrain’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Escape Elite/Platinum’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Escape has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning costs extra on the Terrain.

The Escape Elite/Platinum’s optional Active Park Assist 2.0 can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Terrain Denali’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Escape owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Escape will cost $250 less than the Terrain over a five-year period.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Escape is less expensive to operate than the Terrain because it costs $527 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Escape than the Terrain, including $171 less for a water pump, $139 less for front brake pads, $40 less for a starter, $281 less for fuel injection and $373 less for a fuel pump.

Recommendations

The Ford Escape outsold the GMC Terrain by 59% during 2022.

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