Started to drive car and engine quit, wrench light came on dashboard. Had to be towed to dealership. Throttle body needs to be replaced when it was replaced almost exactly one year ago.

- West Newton, MA, USA

Driving at 65 mph on highway when car suddenly lost power steering and power brakes. Car then rapidly decelerated and I was able to exit the highway where the car completely died. Throttle body needed to be replaced.

- West Newton, MA, USA

A week after I bought a 2009 Ford Escape from a used dealership, I began having problems with the SUV. First the battery died, leaving me, my boyfriend and his 3 year old nephew stranded in Malibu until 10pm. The next day, we replaced the battery at an auto zone. As we started to drive home, my car surges and stalls. I turn the car off and on again and continue to drive but in about 20 feet, the car surges to a stop again and the "wrench light" turned on indicating a throttle control/powertrain problem. I have my car towed to the nearest body shop and the next day they tell me they cant fix my car and that I needed to get it towed to a Ford dealer. I contact the privately owned dealership where I bought my car (which is 40 mins away from my home) and they tell me they will get someone to tow my vehicle to them. A couple days later they tell me its a throttle body issue and that I needed to get it replaced. After they gave me a quote on how much repairs would cost, I told them I couldn't afford it so they tried cleaning the throttle body. After they cleaned it, they said my car was operable again but I would need to replace the throttle body as soon as I could. Since then I have driven my car almost 300 miles with no problems but I am still weary that my car will stall on me again so I will definitely have the part replaced once I have the money to do so. For a week while my car was in the shop(s) I did a lot of researching on my make and model SUV and I have read many complaints of people with a similar issue. What I don't understand is why the government hasn't issued a recall yet. Anyway, I'm just thankful I wasn't on the freeway or a busy street when my Escape decided to crap out on me. I could have been in a way worse of a situation.

- Santa Clarita, CA, USA

While driving on I55 in Chicago going 60 mph the gas peddle went soft. There was no accretion, I was force to move to the shoulder. I turned the car off and then on and it ran fine for 20 miles then the same thing happened again, and then again. I was able to get my vehicle to the Ford dealer who told me it was the throttle body and it would take 2 weeks to have a replacement part.

- Joliet, IL, USA

Vehicle randomly slips into limp-home mode at slow speeds and highway speeds. The wrench light turns on and the accelerator is non-responsive. If the vehicle is put into park and the engine is shift off, it restarts with no problem...until a random time further down the road. Monday it happened 5 times; Tuesday it happened 3 times.

- Crestview, FL, USA

In September of 2010, the check engine light on my Ford Escape would come on and off, on and off. Some times it would stay on for weeks and then just disappear. Sometimes it would stay on for a day or two and then disappear. And whenever I need to take it to the repair shop, the check engine light was never on. Pep boys could never find anything wrong because they check engine light was never on, and no codes appeared. When pep boys drove the car, it never stopped on them. In April of 2012, as my son was home from college and driving the car, it shut off on him on the freeway on many occasions. He would explain to me that the engine went off and the car would not accelerate. He would have to pull over and either restart it or wait an hour for it to start sometimes. This happened on numerous occasions at fast and slow speeds. The check engine light and maintenance lights would come on. The car began stopping on me with the exact same problems stated above. Every time I took the car to pep boys, they would drive it for hours and it never stopped on them. On April 29, 2012, I took the car in to pep boys, and the stop engine code read that the cam sensor needed to be replaced. I got the car back on may14, 2012, and it immediately stopped on me. Then it ran good for two weeks, then it began stopping again on a regular basis. On June 21, 2012, I took the car in and the codes read throttle problem. They replaced the throttle and I got the car back on June, 29, 2013. I have spend over $3500 on this problem and would like to get reimbursed. One thing to not is that the original check light began to come on around August of 2011 and there never was a clear diagnosis until may and June of 2013.

- Vallejo, CA, USA

As I pulled out of my driveway my car appeared to stall. A wrench warning light came on and the car had very little power. It felt as if I was in neutral. I was able to pull it in front of my house and called a Ford dealership who had it towed. The problem is the throttle body but the part is on back order. I was told that there are 8,000 requests for the part but it is currently not being produced so the wait could be months or longer. I was told that I would have to pick up my car and drive it as is, as a replacement car was not available. I asked if it was possible to get the part threw a different company and was advised that the part cannot be found anywhere but I may be able to get a used one from a wrecked car. When I picked up my car and drove it home it stalled twice. I did as I was advised by Ford, I turned off the car, waited a few minutes and then restarted the car. This worked both times but is not a very safe way to drive. Fortunately I had someone following me and we both had our hazards on as the cars behind us were not happy when I had to stop in the middle of the road.

- Flower Mound, TX, USA

While traveling at 60 mph on the highway I suddenly lost all power. I coasted the car across a lane of traffic to the right lane of the highway. I could not pull out of traffic because this part of the highway has no shoulder and is bordered by a concrete wall or fence. The right-lane traffic came to a stop while I restarted the car. After I restarted the car, I proceeded down the freeway, but before I arrived at the next exit, the car stalled again. I feared for my safety and for the safety of other drivers. I experienced a similar incident on 6/20/13 and reported it to safercar.gov. At that time, I took my car to the local Ford dealer who services my car. The dealer stated that the problem is related to the throttle body. The problem is so common to Ford Escapes that there is a 3 week backlog for ordering a replacement part. In the meantime, the dealer reprogrammed the PCM (power control module?) ' for $118 ' as a temporary fix. Apparently, the 'fix' was very temporary. My car is too dangerous to be driven until the throttle body is replaced. For the safety of myself and other drivers, I cannot risk driving the car to work. How many lives must be placed at risk before a recall is issued to correct this defect?

- Dallas, TX, USA

About a year to year and a half ago I lost all forward motion while driving, could not get the car to respond to the accelerator, and the "wrench" light came on. I made it to the side of the road and a few minutes later it started it right up. This happened several times over a couple of weeks period, I took it to our Ford house but they could not find any issues. I then took it to my local mechanic and he said he thought it was a throttle issue but couldn't find the exact problem, so he suggested we take it back to the Ford house and let them "put it on the computer" and look again. I did but they said although they unplugged and reconnected several things they still could not find anything wrong. I didn't have any problems for a few months and now it has started happening again, 5 times in the last 2 weeks. Now it sputters some when I restart it but so far it has started. I have a toddler and depend on my car to get us around and this is a very real safety concern. Getting rear-ended or run over while trying to get off the road is a huge fear. It sounds like when I take it back to the Ford house, and I will, the wait on the part will still mean I'll be driving an unsafe vehicle for a while.Ford needs to pay attention before there is a fatality and then the whole world will know how much they care about their customers.

- Cleburne, TX, USA

I was driving and came to a stop sign, turned left and pressed the gas and my car wouldn't go, all lights and gauges were normal but the gas pedal all the way to the floor wouldn't make the car go so I coasted off to the shoulder and almost made it out of the road. I tried calling several tow truck company's for roadside assistance and didn't get an answer. After about 20 mins, I tried cranking the car. All parts ran normal, all gauges normal, so I drove it to work and then called the Ford dealership where they told me that is was the throttle body.

- Lugoff, SC, USA

While driving the vehicle on the freeway approx 55-65 mile per hour engine light came on, rpms went down to 1000 and would not rev back up until I pulled the car over on the shoulder put it in park and shut it off and back on. This has occurred about 5 times since and seems to be happening more often until I dropped it off at the dealer. Also occured leaving a stop.

- Macomb, MI, USA

Vehicle throttle stuck open at 45 mph.

- Apex, NC, USA

While driving approximately 40 mph, the car stalled. I could not do anything except coast to the nearest parking lot. I turned the car off and the restarted it. Everything seemed to be fine but later that night, the same thing occurred. I took it to the dealer, they said it was the throttle body and the part is on back order.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

I was leaving our local store and turned onto the access road to have my car start shaking and won't go faster than about 4 mph. Right after, the powertrain symbol came on followed the engine light. With my hazard lights on I crept into the closest parking lot and turned off the car, waited a few minutes and then started it again. When turned back on the lights were all gone, so I assumed it was a fluke. Until I started driving and as soon as I turned everything turned back on and the shaking happened again. I had to have my vehicle towed to the dealership. The dealership told me the it was the throttle and that the part was on back order because of so many of the Escapes breaking in the same part. Now its the sit and wait game for weeks!

- Cypress, TX, USA

I was on my way home from a camping trip yesterday and my vehicle suddenly stopped moving while I was on the freeway. I pulled over quickly. The engine was still running, but kept jerking forward with my foot on the brake. I turned off my vehicle and restarted it. I was able to drive for about a mile until I got up to 50 mph and then it did the same thing. I had it towed to the dealership and they said the part is on back order. The cost to repair it is $325. The vehicle is only at 74,000 miles and I have had issues with the transmission since I bought the vehicle 2 years ago. The part needed is on back order which leads me to believe Ford needs to do a recall. I do not feel safe in my vehicle and will never buy a Ford vehicle again.

- Waterford , MI, USA

On Sunday, June 16, 2013, I was driving near topeka, Kansas, in a Suburban area with my wife, 5 year old daughter & 6 month old son in our 2009 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 25 mph the vehicle stalled while driving. Luckily we were not on a high traffic street so we were able to pull over to the side of the road, shut off the vehicle, and restart the car successfully. The Escape continued on without issue back home to lawrence, Kansas. The vehicle was driven around lawrence without any issue until Friday, June 21, 2013. On this date my wife had to commute from lawrence to Kansas City, Kansas, for work-related training. On her trip to Kansas City (kc) the vehicle stalled while driving at highway speed (60+ mph). She was successful restarting the vehicle but it stalled once again while in kc. She drove the Escape to shawnee mission Ford to see if diagnostics could be run on the vehicle, but there was not enough time left in the day to perform the full diagnostics. A service technician test-drove the vehicle and while driving it stalled once again. Because carseats for our two children were located in the Escape, my wife had to drive from kc back to lawrence so our family would have these items on hand. While driving from kc to lawrence the vehicle stalled once again at highway speed (60+ mph). Once back in lawrence the vehicle was dropped off at laird noller Ford, and on Saturday, June 22, 2013, it was determined by their service staff that the throttle body was defective. This part is currently on national backorder, so we could be without our primary family vehicle for more than 3 weeks. This will result in hardship on the family and could result in major financial costs if a rental vehicle is needed for the entire period we are without our primary family vehicle and could have resulted in serious injury or death as a result of this defect.

- Lawrence, KS, USA

I was driving home from work and had driven about 3.5 miles when I was turning left going about 10-15 mph. My car suddenly lost acceleration and the wrench illuminated. I panic because I was on a street where there was no area to pull off the road. I looked in the rearview mirror to make sure that there were no other cars behind me and put on my hazard lights and turned off the engine. After about 30 seconds I turned the engine over and it sputtered to life, but then the wrench warning light illuminated again and I could not accelerate. Cars were coming behind me and I tried my best to give them room to drive by, which was hard as the right side of the street was bumper to bumper with parked cars. After the cars passed me, I turned off the engine again and waited about 30-45 seconds and the engine came to life and I was able to drive home without another incident.

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Driving approx. 45 mph the acceleration stops, no connection with pedal, engine is still running but no acceleration. Eventually had to cost to a stop, engine running rough. Wrench on dash is on. Stop car and shut engine off. Started engine, starts hard but does start, wrench on dash is off but service engine light is now on. This same thing happens several times within a few miles before I finally got home. This same thing happened several month ago but appeared to correct itself. This time I took it to a service garage and was told this could be the throttle body problem. This appears from looking on line that it is a Ford problem that many other people have also and could be dangerous. It appears that this is going to happen more and more often and should not be driven in this condition.

- Berkey, OH, USA

While traveling at 60 mph on the freeway I suddenly lost power. The car slowed to 40mph. There was no response to pushing on the accelerator, and the accelerator became spongy. The throttle/power-train warning light was activated. I had to pull over to the shoulder of the road to avoid being hit by other traffic. When I shut off the engine and restarted it, the warning light turned off. I felt endangered and immediately exited the freeway and drove 30 minutes to home at under 40mph. The next day the local Ford dealer diagnosed the problem as a faulty throttle body. He stated that it was a common problem with Ford Escapes, and it is not covered by warranty. The cost of repair is $615. My car is well maintained with less than 32,000 miles. The poor quality of this part constitutes a dangerous hazard.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Approximately one month ago, while slowing to make a right-hand turn, the vehicle seemed to lose all power; no acceleration, etc. I managed to get on the side of the road, put the vehicle in park, and turned the engine off. When I restarted the engine, everything seemed fine. About 2 weeks later when pulling out onto a main highway, the same thing happened, except this time the "wrench" light came on, and the vehicle started lurching and shaking extremely hard. Again, I got to the side of the road (fortunately no volume of traffic), put vehicle in park, turned engine off, and restarted - wrench light gone and all seemed ok. Two days ago, same thing happened 4 times within a two mile trip, again fortunately no traffic volume. I had the vehicle towed to the local dealership, and no surprise it was the throttle body, which was replaced at my expense. I see this problem is widespread, and potentially very dangerous. Ford should be required to issue a recall before someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

- North Fort Myers, FL, USA