2013 Ford Escape vs 2012 Subaru Outback?

I suck at knowing much about cars. I take them in for oil changes, get wheels rotated, etc. Gives you some perspective. I need an AWD vehicle as I recently moved to Park City UT and come froma place where it never snows. I'm looking at either a 2013 Ford Escape w/ EcoBoost and AWD or a 2012 Subaru outback which is 4 cylinder. The escape is 6 cylinder. The subaru has 35k miles, the escape has 45k. The subaru is $20.8k, the Escape is $17k.
Any thoughts on which way I should go with this?

There's no such thing as a 2013 Escape with a 6 cylinder engine, and you already said it's an Ecoboost, that is a turbo 4 in the Escape. The Outback is way overpriced, I see dealers around here advertising new ones for 23K, and they want nearly 21K for one that's four years old?

Also you don't need an AWD vehicle - I live in the northeast which gets as much snow as there and I've never owned an AWD vehicle. I buy FWD vehicles and put four winter tires on them, that is a very good solution. AWD is better in certain circumstances, but the tires matter more, people get in accidents because they can't turn or stop, and AWD does not help you do either, only go.

Use Edmunds.com to gauge used car values, but back to your original question I'd favor the Subaru, it's roomier and likely to hold up better over the long run. Just that price is an issue for me…

Do a web search of "top 10 longest cars on the road". One example lists both the Subaru Outback and Legacy (the Outback is a jacked up Legacy wagon).

Subarus hold their value, so that price is not out of line from a dealer depending upon model and options. I priced a 2012 Outback, 1 model up from base with no other options on kbb.com and came up with $21,096 (range of $19,109-23,082) in my area (IL). But 4 in my area that they listed as examples ranged from $19,000 w/67,831 mi to $27,000 (asking) for 28,940 mi. They also figured that you could get a new 2015 base model for about $24,311 more or less. So that gives you some idea how relatively low mileage Subarus hold their value.

I have not owned a Subaru since the 1980's (138,000 hard miles including trailer towing and off roading on 1983 GL wagon in 4 years). But when my rotting 2001 Pathfinder suddenly needed more repairs than it was worth I bought a base 2008 Subaru Outback in beautiful shape for its 150,000 miles. I touched up its steel wheels with some black Rustoleum (it has fake alloy wheel covers), but body and interior were like new.