2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD

Pros

32+ MPG average, comfortrable, lots of room, good looking

Cons

regularly squeaking brakes with no fix, A/C is below average

I have a 2008 FWD Mercury Mariner Hybrid with over 35,000 miles (purchased April 2007). Previously I had a Ford Escape Hybrid that I traded in. I love the Mercury Mariner, it gets great mileage for a compact SUV. I average over 32 MPG with a lot of freeway driving and some city driving. I do not "baby" the car to get the extra MPG. When I have, it is possible toget closer to 35 MPG.
There is plenty of cargo room with both seats folded down (or even one...there's split rear seats). This is truly a great Sports Utility Vehicle, on vacations I take golf clubs, bicycles and luggage with no worries about room.
The car is well appointed inside, nicer than the Ford Escape. It is still the typical Ford plastic interior and could be easily dressed up more, but you get what you pay for.
The car is definitely not fast...takes some time to get up to freeway speeds, but that is what you should expect from a four cyclinder, (remember the MPG). It can cruise on the freeways at 80+...it just takes some time to get there.
The A/C is weak in the economy mode, you have to turn off economy to get the A/C to work on a hot day, which means you lose the ability to run on electric when idling or going slow. I find that you can run the A/C on full for awhile and get the cabin cooled, then turn the economy back on and it works fine.
There is some low cabin noise, a high pitched whine that is sometimes audible on occaision from the electric motor. This surprised me, as I did not have that in the Escape Hybrid. I thought the Mariner was supposed to be quieter than the Escape?
One other issue that has been occuring since the car was new, is a brake squeal that the factory is aware of but has no permanent fix, yet. The best they can tell me is to the engage and release the emergency brake to center the brakes and quiet the noise. Not a big deal, just an annoyance. It has not affected the braking performance or maintenance.
Overall, I love the vehicle. It serves my purposes well, looks good and gets great mileage (better than smaller economy cars!). I would definitely reccommend the Mercury Mariner/Ford Escape Hybrids.