The right rear bracket rusted and completely snapped. There is no longer a bracket to hold the smaller suspension dampener and when I hit a small bump it sounds awful. I believe I will need a new bracket welded on and this is going to be very costly. My vehicle only has 113000 miles on it so it should not be dealing with corrosion problems even though I live in Grand Rapids, MI. It seems like a lot of people are having this same issue. For a college kid with very little money, this is really going to hurt.. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Update from Sep 3, 2015: The right rear bracket rusted and completely snapped. There is no longer a bracket to hold the smaller suspension dampener and when I hit a small bump it sounds awful. I believe I will need a new bracket welded on and this is going to be very costly. My vehicle only has 113000 miles on it so it should not be dealing with corrosion problems even though I live in Grand Rapids, MI. It seems like a lot of people are having this same issue. For a college kid with very little money, this is really going to hurt.. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

I am replying to my initial post. I found a place in Grand Rapids called Auto Fix It. PLEASE GO THERE. They will fix this issue and you will save roughly 1000$. The procedure took 5 hours and they rebuilt the strut tower and added insulation all for only 415$. If you need this fixed and are in the area, give them a call. You will not regret it. I really hopes this helps someone!

I realize my truck has more mileage than most mentioned here but she's been a good reliable vehicle since I picked her up in 2007 with about 34,000 miles. Two days ago I was driving to work and hit a little bump in the road. Right after that it sounded like something was rattling around in the rear quarter panel on every subsequent bump. When I finally had the chance to properly examine it I was shocked to see the extent of the rust around the shock tower.

I just replaced the shocks two years ago and there was no indication of this problem looming over the horizon. In New York they spray a liquid on the roads to prevent icing in the winter. My buddy refers to it as "Liquid car dissolver", he may have a point. I was planning on using the truck to move my son back into his college dorm in a couple of weeks but I guess I'll be renting a vehicle. I'm not sure if it will be cost effective to have this repaired.

It is way over my skill level, plus the truck has rust on both rear fenders on the edge of the wheel openings, the bottom of the rear doors, around the fuel filler, and the bottom of the rear lift gate. Funny thing is the a piece of metal the size of a flashlight bounced off the hood of the car leaving a dent and scratch that broke the paint about 5 years ago on my way to work and that spot hasn't rusted. The truck runs great but it could be time to throw a match in it and walk away.

As with many others on this site, we have a 2005 Ford Escape where the right rear wheel well has completely rusted through and the shock is now unattached. This truck is not safe to drive. It was a truck our son was driving, and he mentioned how the odd noise coming from the rear was getting louder. Then, about a month ago, it became VERY loud. I opened the rear hatch and saw a rusted out hole about the size of a basketball! The shock is hanging there, unattached. Obviously, this truck is not safe to drive. We have it at a body repair shop now and are awaiting the cost to repair. But after reading the other complaints on this forum, we are pretty certain it will cost too much to be worth our time and money.

My question to Ford...Do you feel confident in standing behind the vehicle you sold? Isn't this a clear case that you did something wrong in the building of this vehicle? We all have exactly the same issue. A truck with an unbelievable amount of rust over the right rear wheel well. To the point where the truck is no longer safe to drive. Would you want your son driving this car??? Seriously, ask yourself that question.

A proud Ford family will now be looking elsewhere for a new vehicle.

I am original owner of this Escape, bought it new and it has been well maintained. Driving down the highway we hit a small pothole and heard lots of noise. The strut broke free of the wheel housing. Several body shops told us they had never seen so much corrosion. One told us the only case like this they have experienced the car manufacturer bought back the vehicle because it was unsafe. Not the case with Ford, although they agreed it shouldn't have happened, it is out of warranty and not recalled. They originally quoted $745 dollars and put us off for months, then when I brought it in they kept it for several weeks and then re-quoted a price at $2,200. This car is not worth much more than that and nothing if I don't fix it... not sure what I will do, but I don't want Ford to touch it at this point.

Right Rear Wheel Well completely rusted through and shock mount is about to break off! This has been a terrific vehicle, for the 6 months I've owned it, until this problem showed up- unexpectedly and fiercely! It went from a small noise in the back to me pulling over thinking the backseat wasn't properly latched down, in 2 days!

I have been to 3 different repair places and one won't touch it, and the other 2 are scared to give me a solid estimate at all, all agree it probably isn't worth fixing. There are 130,000 miles on it and I love it, but it's totally unsafe to drive at this point, I had no idea until I looked up this website that there were so many others with the same, and I mean EXACTLY the same, complaint. I will be following up with both the dealer I purchased it from (only 6 months ago) and Ford and will report back any findings. All I can say is, unreal.

I bought the 2005 Ford Escape from a Nissan dealership in February. I didn't even get home and the ABS light came on, which meant my AWD didn't work. Since I bought the SUV about an hour and a half from home, I had it repaired at a local dealer, which cost me $300 to replace the half driveshaft with speed ring gear on it. And annoyance was a constant clunk in the rear. It seemed to be bad when on rough roads. I thought I needed to replace the shocks, so I delayed doing anything until warmer weather.

That is, until recently, when the noise in the back became terrible. I looked at the back end and discovered the right rear wheel well completed rusted out - so much that the upper shock mount was barely hanging on. I contacted the dealer, since I had the vehicle only a month. Since the vehicle was sold "as is," we are still in discussion what to do about it. I stopped driving it because of safety concerns, meanwhile the dealership doesn't know if they will do anything at all.

After reading considerable information about right rear shock mounts on Escapes rusting out, I have drawn the conclusion that there must be a defect in materials and workmanship. Ford should be ordered to conduct a recall. So many right rear wheel wells rusted out on Escapes is not a mere coincidence. The left side is perfectly fine, which tells me Ford did something wrong on the right side. I was quoted by a local body shop that it would cost between $2,500 and $3,000 to fix it. That amount is unbearable, since I already spent $5,600 to but the vehicle only a month ago. That would mean I would have about $8,900 into a 10-year-old vehicle with 136,000 mile on it. Seriously, someone needs to order Ford to perform a recall on all affected models. This is just not right!

I was shocked to find exact descriptions of my vehicles problem, posted as common for this model.

Initially in December, some rust was found that we thought would be a quick fix once the weather was a bit warmer, to let the materials set better. The sudden banging in February surprised us, and upon investigation, we discovered the wheel well had nearly shredded, with the shock held in place by bits of rust. The vehicle now shimmies when we go over bumps, since the shock isn't stabilizing anything other than the tiny bit of rust.

Strange that this is the second time I have discovered that I have a problem that Ford lists as common for this model, and yet it was never dealt with by the company. I had to replace the computer less than two years ago, as well as 3 damaged coils at a cost of $3500. Now I have scrap metal with a good computer. It is no longer safe to drive, as I am expecting the pieces of rust to give way at any time, and the shock to shift, with the potential of causing an accident as the shock bounces against the tire.

This problem with the rear strut supports rotting away should be recalled on the 2005 model Escapes, the 2001-2004 Escapes have been recalled for this. There are about 200 complaints on this on the net, I hear the Dealer wants $2500 per side! This is a bunch of crap! I have had a lot of older cars and none have done this. Also it is a safety concern if you hit a chuck hole and the back end of your truck lets loose . These rear struts are the same from 2001-2007 so beware, they rust out under the so called "dealer undercoating"!

This is a clear design flaw and Ford doesn't think they are responsible for fixing it. I don't understand how car companies can get away with this. If you look online about this issue, you will always see the same thing, right (passenger side) wheel well completely rust out and the strut mount becomes detached. Thousands of dollars to fix and Ford just doesn't care. I understand not repairing normal wear and tear but there are too many people with the exact same issue to think that this isn't just coincidence.

Great job, Ford!!!! You just lost another customer!!!!

We purchased the SUV new in 2005 and had just replaced the shocks and other suspension components with new parts in January 2015. We are a Ford family. The Escape has been great for us and we use it almost everyday so we maintain excellent maintenance on it.

On Mar 7, 2025 we started hearing a rattling/thunking sound and took it back to shop as we thought it was an issue with the new shocks. The mechanic showed us the completely rusted out rear passenger wheel well and the shock is attached nothing and is broken away from the car. This is now undriveable unless I want to play with death! The thud noice is apparently coming from the shock coming in contact with the radio speakers. The lower rear passenger door area had been rusting as well. This is a huge expense of $1000-$3,000 estimates. I contacted Ford customer service and basically got the brush off. They have to know about this issue because it's too common. I am ready for a class-action lawsuit here. Anyone with me?