Familiar styling. This is one of the last two yeras for the old style, and it is much better than the current style.
For a small 4X4 SUV with an automatic tranzmission, the mileage is very good.
The SUV style lifts your sight level and the design has excellent all around visibility, with no blind spots.
I have owned six other Ford Escapes, and currently still have three in the drive way, as they offer excellent passanger and luggage room, as well as fuel economy. And they are very dependable, only two repairs total on all of them, since 2003.