My dad wants to give me his old car that is a little bit newer then mine?

I currently drive a 1996 toyota corolla. And it runs pretty good but it is starting to rust. My dad want to give me his 2005 ford escape because he wants to get the new mazda cx5 or toyota rav4. Should i still keep the corolla for know or take the ford escape? To be honest i'm not really into suv's and i have driven both and the corolla handles better. What do you think i should do?

Added (1). Yes the escape has slightly lower mileage. It has 103k while my corolla is at 128k. But i don't really drive alot i maybe put 2000 miles on it every year.

Assuming both cars have no mechanical problems, the Escape probably has lower mileage on the odometer and you should go with that.

About the only thing that could stop an old Corolla is rust. You might need to replace the body way before a new power train. Your car is worth virtually nothing. Your dad's might be worth a little bit. As he is giving it away to the child he loves, I would accept it and park it until you are ready to give up on the Toyota.

I would take it if he wants to give it to you

If the Escape is not an improvement for you and you don't enjoy driving it, then there's no point to upgrade, you'd just suffer to please your dad. Far better to suffer to please yourself, right?

But on paper you do skip forward a decade in car technology, keep the gas mileage, can haul stuff, it's safer overall, lacks rust, etc… And if it's got ABS where the corolla doesn't or is equipped with 4/AWD that's a no-brainer. Those will come in handy later.

You have two options.
#1 Gee thanks Dad, that's great, I really appreciate you helping me like this.

#2 Gee thanks Dad, I appreciate the offer but I'd prefer to keep my Corolla.

I'm not too much of a Toyota fan to pass up a newer vehicle, but in this case, I would. If that transmission hasn't been replaced in the Escape, it will soon. Escapes tend to have transmission failure.

It would be kind of dumb to turn down a free vehicle! Drive it for a while and then sell it and your corolla and buy something nice.

How rusty is the corolla? I've driven them until they literally had no rocker panels and the floor got soft.

Take the Ford, sell it, then fix up the Corolla.