On March 25, 2003, at 5:15 pm my 2002 Ford Escape with 13800 miles stalled going down a steady grade. I lost all power to the steering and brakes. In rush hour traffic, with several other motorists in front of and behind me, I had to fight the steering wheel and brakes to regain control of the vehicle, all while attempting to restart the car--an absolutely frightening situation. This is the second time in 7 months this has happened. The first time this happened, I was going down a sharp grade around a tight bend to the right. I lost all power to the brakes and steering, causing me to nearly fall over a steep cliff onto traffic below. Had this happened, I'm sure I would have been killed along with several other motorists as well. Each time I took the car directly to the dealership where I was told the problem was "fixed." This car is extremely unsafe to drive as it shuts down without warning! I have informed the dealer of my concerns about this vehicle's extremely unsafe condition, and their response is that I should trade it in and buy yet another new car from them. I have also heard of several other people in my area who are experiencing the same problem with the same type of vehicle. Ford needs to correct this very serious issue immediately before there are deaths associated with this apparently common factory defect!

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

I have a 2002 Ford Escape with 20000 miles on it. On Sunday March 23, 2003 my wife was driving down the highway around 45 miles an hour. She came up to a slower car sow she released the gas. The engine completely shut off. She had to forcefully get off the road trying to avoid an accident. She pulled over and it restarted. She continued cautiously to her mothers house. It didn't happen on the way home. I drove it when she got home and found the idle to be low. It would seem to be running around 4-500 rpms and seemed to be affected while tapping brakes or slowing down some. I have not yet taken it to the dealer.

- Sugar Land, TX, USA

While driving my 2002 Ford Escape over the mathews bridge in rush hour traffic, the engine cut off with no warning. I was able to coast off the bridge and coast to a stop. It restarted right away. This was the second time it happened. The first time was approx 1 month ago. Engine cut off without warning.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

2002 Ford Escape - engine stalls while driving.

- Waxhaw, NC, USA

My 2002 Ford Escape stalled while driving on the highway at approximately 15 mph. I managed to pull off onto the side of the highway. I had to have the car towed to the dealership. They said the problem was a bad sensor.

- Bethesda, MD, USA

My 2002 Ford Escape stalled out for the second time. I was going about 10 miles per hour or so and the check engine/check emission/check battery lights came on. The car did not come to a dead stop but almost felt like it was locking up and was barely moving. Fortunately, I was able to pull into a parking lot and turned the car off and restarted it. I had the stalling issue happen last April or May 2002. They did some "fixes" and reset the computer. I had read recently read, they felt that resetting the computer would resolve the issue but it is evident that it has not. I have two small children and now, like many other Escape drivers, am afraid to drive the car.

- Kennesaw, GA, USA

The vehicle intermittently stalled without warning.

- Belvedere, SC, USA

The engine stopped while car was under way on a busy road (oil light came on, power just died to everything). Car had under 1200 miles. Dealer fixed per a technical bulletin. 3/8/03 it happened again on a very busy highway, accident narrowly avoided. Car has about 4600 miles. Car is back at dealer. Why has this recurred?.

- Tampa , FL, USA

2002 Ford Escape, 12642 miles on vehicle. The vehicle stalled while driving in rush hour traffic. Vehicle was hard to steer and braking was difficult. Was able to coast to a stop. Restarted vehicle. Took vehicle to local dealership on 2/28/03 for service.

- Woodstock, GA, USA

The engine failed, which caused the brakes and steering to lock up.

- New York City, NY, USA

Engine cut out twice today while driving. Loss of power steering and brakes. This is the 5th failure since purchase.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

On numerous occasions, our 2002 Ford Escape 4X4 has stalled while the car is in motion. This has happened while decreasing speed to stop, while accelarating from a stopped position and while driving on the highway. Each time, the vehicle had to be removed from traffic and placed in park or nuetral to restart. On one occasion the oil light came on and the others had no instrumentation lights go on.

- Poway, CA, USA

After stopping at a traffic light I accelerated while making a left turn. During the turn the power steering locked up and the breaks did not work, the dash lights came on and I finally figured out that the engine had stalled. I coasted down the downhill slope and finally restarted the Escape after putting it in neutral. Luckily, there was light traffic but this could have been very dangerous. When I called marshall Ford East in cleveland, Ohio they said they had never heard of this problem and since it had not happened again it was not further investigated.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and without warning the vehicle will shut off causing consumer to pull over. Dealer notified.

- Ashville, NC, USA

Consumer states that while driving at any speed and with no warning the vehicle will stall and it will be hard for the consumer to control the vehicle. Dealer notified. Mr consumer was informed by the dealer that there is a silent recall on the vehicle in replacing the engine, consumer stated the first day of purcahse the vehicle started to shake and there was smoke coming from under the hood and then the engine light illuminated.

- Orlando Park, IL, USA

While traveling on highway and without prior warning vehicle will shut down and willnot restart. Dealership is aware of the problem.

- Reno, NV, USA