A buddy of mine just bought one (not hybrid, though). It's not bad, though, like most "sport-utility" vehicles, it's a little short on both sport and utility. :-p I really would recommend thinking hard about exactly what it is you want from your next vehicle. An Escape (or a RAV-4 or CR-V or Forester) is not going to provide the space you have in your Odyssey or any other minivan, if that's important to you. Four-wheel-drive is nice, but unless you're going off-road, you can get almost all of the traction benefits of 4WD with traction control and by buying a pair of good summer tires (and, depending on where you live, good winter tires on a set of spare wheels) -- and not have to pay the fuel mileage and repair penalties of 4WD. Balanced against the mileage and "cleanliness" benefits of a hybrid are several other costs: - hybrids typically cost more than the same vehicle with a gasoline-only engine; - the dealer may be your only source of service because few independent shops will be able to invest the money in diagnostic tools and training; - no one is willing to guess what it will cost over the long-term to be carrying around in your car an extra set of batteries and -- essentially -- a second motor; - hybrids also are notorious for getting great mileage in stop-and-go city traffic but not coming close to their EPA estimates on the open road. Be very careful if you're justifying the cost of a hybrid based on fuel savings alone. As for safety, use your favorite Web search engine to look for the terms ford escape crash test and see if the Escape meets your expectations. My personal two cents is that most of the people buying SUVs are not buying them for the right reasons. Unfortunately, those choices cause longer-term problems in excessive gasoline use and greater injuries to people who are not in their own oversized vehicles.

Applying heat is a good idea, except in the cold weather, a heating pad or a hair dryer does not have enough power to warm the metal enough. A heatng pad will not work for the simple reason that it has to be removed to apply the paint and then it can't be re-applied over the fresh paint. The metal will cool rapidly and will need a source of heat until the paint solvent has evaporated. If you are close enough to an electrical socket, a powerful radiant heater might work. Adjust the distance of the heater from the spot of interest to maintain a temperture above 60 F, but not too hot to cook the finish. Caution: Most electric heaters for use in the home are not rated for outdoor use (shock hazard). Use only heaters that have adequate grounding and insulation, and protect from splash.

Sorry about your luck, things like this happen. You should feel good about yourself for stepping up to the plate and doing the right thing. But...you wrote. "But I'm scared of getting ripped off by these car body shops who'd take down and repair a car in a way that's more costly than it should end up being." What more needs to be said? Fixing the car right, which means doing what is necessary to restore it to pre-accident condition means the shop does NOT cut corners to save on cost. If there is one thing that needs to be addressed here it is the near impossible demands of making the car right, and trying to do it "cheaper". The other party deserves to have the car repaired correctly. You, doing the right thing have taken the proper steps to see that this is getting done, and you should be commended for that. But then right away starting to fear a rip-off, when you have never seen the shop, or met the people that work there is an attitude that needs some correction. The other party wanted to file a police report, but have taken your word that would not be necessary. Treat the shop they choose with just as much respect. Now as far as the cost. Accidents happen, we all (well all of us that know we need to do the right thing) pay for and have insurance to help us out during these (hopefully) rare events. Get the estimate, and then decide if it's to your advantage to turn it into your insurance. If it is, then do so. If not, then rely on the shop to fix the car correctly, and then pay them for doing so. Then move on. Besides, you never know you just may have found a good body shop that you werent aware of previously. You never know when that information could come in handy for you, or a friend or relative. The bottom line, if my car gets damaged, and I am going to have it repaired by a pro, I know several that I would take it to in a heartbeat. They have the correct tools, the high tech paint booth, and the color paint blending equipment etc. right on site. These guys, everyone of them are easily NOT the cheapest I could go to, but then again doing the job right is what counts. They will do that without question.

Ooh, I"m the mean mom on this one-no, I never let my kids eat or drink in the car. Ever. Not when they were tiny, not older with fast food, not now as teenagers. I bought my (first ever in my life) brand new vehicle when I was pregnant with my first child. To be honest, I knew that the crud of food detritus that ALWAYS results from little ones and food in a car would be impossible for me to bear so I figured it was best not to even start it. So we never did. I do have to say that if you are going to have a no-food rule in the car, it probably has to be something that starts from the very beginning. I think it would be extremely difficult to enforce once the kids (and mom :) are used to it. Oh, and I am such a neat freak I couldn't bear to let my toddlers sit in a high chair and smear food all over themselves. Just couldn't stand it. So no photos of my one year old wearing birthday cake all over the face, body and furniture, no watching them smear peas into a paste all over "brrr, gives me the shudders to think of it) etc...they feed themselves fine anyway nowadays. They'll probably be talking about mean old mom in therapy for years though! Ann