My 2005 Ford Escape passenger wheel well completely disintegrated/corroded. Reading your site and talking with dealers and mechanics in my local area leads me to believe that this has happened to many Ford Escapes, 2005 & 2006. I am wondering if everyone complained to the Better Business Bureau, would it then possibly be considered for a recall, or possibly the Lemon Law? I was told by Ford that if it does become eligible for a recall and if I have kept my receipt for the repairs, then they would have to reimburse me. Please write to the Better Business Bureau ( bbb.org ) if you feel there is a chance, I did.

I also wrote to Ford Motor Company headquarters ( https://corporate.ford.com ), the Ohio Attorney General

( www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov ), and safercar.gov.

I feel that this is truly a safety issue with the shock actually breaking the inside of the car since it had nothing to hold it on the outside. The uneven wear on the tires was also an issue. I have no idea how long my car was driven in this condition but the Ford dealer, which repaired my Escape, said that I had probably purchased it in this condition a year prior. That is a shame that used car dealerships could be so dishonest. I was also disappointed in Ford for raising the price of the needed part from $114.82 on my original estimate to the corrected $707.05 since this part is obviously high in demand now. The total including parts and labor from my local Ford dealer was $1565.09. I'm praying that it lasts awhile!

I have the same problem as everyone else...excessive rust in the passenger rear wheel well. I've contacted several repair & body shops and most don't even bother dealing with rust issues anymore here in Toronto. So the best I've been able to do so far is have a few people tell me over the phone that it's not worth even looking at it and I should just scrap it.

It all started with a tiny rattle in the rear passenger well and escalated to a full blown thud within 4-5 days. The strut/shock is left exposed and the rust has eaten up almost the entire well now. The pictures I've posted are from nearly a month and a half ago.

With the blue/black book value being what it is, it wont be worth repairing the vehicle. I'm now looking at either donating or scrapping it as those appear to me my only feasible options.

I have been a Ford lover for years. Never have I had such damage to a car. Every day I say a prayer before I get into my car, hoping that I will make it to work in one piece. The noise is like a gun going off any time I unfortunately hit a chuckhole.

I still owe money, yet don't know if it is worth repairing. If I buy another used car, am I buying more problems? I don't even have faith in any car anymore.

I contacted Ford - their tier 1 complaint level. They responded with a sorry can't help response in less than 5 minutes, stating that they had review my problem and there is nothing they can do. What are they waiting for? A death?

I would love to file a Class Action against Ford. Not sure how to get one started. I also plan on trying to get one of the local news stations to take on this issue and make it more public. I am also planning on making up a sign to put on my car, a nice lemon yellow sign on my car stating that " This lemon was designed by Ford, which they choose to ignore. Ask me more!"

One of these days, that shock tower is going to break off or break through into my storage area. What then?

I have lost respect for Ford. I used to love driving my car, but no longer....

We just replaced the shocks and other suspension components that had to be destroyed to be removed. This was to the tune of about $1000. The Escape has been great for us since we bought it new in fall 2004 (2005 model, now has about 115k miles) so I was OK with spending this hefty amount after all this time.

A few weeks later, I started hearing a rattling/thunking sound on occasion, which definitely struck me because this was a big part of what we had finally resolved with the suspension work. My wife came home the other night and told me her wheel was coming off the car. I thought it couldn't be that, it's probably something minor. I went out with a flashlight and was completely shocked. I checked again in the daylight and was even more horrified than the night before... Practically the entire rear passenger side wheel well was severely rusted and a large section of the wheel well, which the shock is attached to, had broken away from the car. You can now see the fabric insulation layer and that's pretty much all that is now between the inside and the outside of the vehicle in this area.

The rear passenger door area had been rusting for a few years (also rather unacceptable) and I had planned to finally get it fixed this year. Now I have a massive expense (not sure how much yet, but from other posts in the neighborhood of $2000) to swallow for something that should not have failed. From even a few minutes of web searching it is clear that this is a known flaw with the Escape and I can't believe there hasn't been some sort of class action lawsuit over it yet.

The shock is now attached to nothing, bouncing around when driving, so the thing is basically not driveable. If we don't fix it the car will be worth practically nothing so we really have no choice. Hopefully a bunch of other things don't start crumbling apart on us after this... I'll have to ask the body shop to make sure to check the thing with a fine-toothed comb so we hopefully have a really good picture of everything that is in bad shape.

I was bummed out to find the rust on the lower portion of the rear passenger door well, but now this? I really can't fully express my disgust.

Update from Jan 22, 2015: I went out and got 3 estimates for the work. The first was around $3k but hard to say until they really got started and knew how much would have to be cut away and so on. The second was $4k+ saying the whole quarter panel piece would need to be replaced also (just to get to the wheel well to replace it). The third said they wouldn't even touch it.

Having already invested $1000 in suspension work (shame on Belle Tire for not bringing this to my attention) and almost $1000 in new tires, I wasn't fond of the idea of investing another $3-5k, when the vehicle could probably only be sold for $5k or so (Limited, AWD, good condition other than this horrific problem), so we went out and bought a different vehicle. We had planned to get another Escape (newer model), but after this problem and all the posts that Ford does nothing to make the situation right we decided we can't buy another Ford. And this comes from a Ford family -- we have always bought Ford vehicles. The Escape has been an excellent vehicle for the 10 years we've had it but for it to now be unusable and trash due to a defect in workmanship/design is completely unacceptable and utterly disgusting to me. We went with a Subaru Forester this time.

At this point my follow-ups are (1) to contact Belle Tire about their taking my $1000 for new suspension without telling me about the completely obvious and severe rust issue, (2) to contact Ford corporate and get blown off, and (3) to contact the dealer we bought from and complain to them. I'm sure that I'll have to be persistent, which takes time and patience, but I will do it because I am so completely disgusted. In the end I fear it will make me feel only slightly better and my options for the Escape will be limited to donating to charity or selling for scrap. So sad, considering everything else about the vehicle is fine and I had expected at least another 60k miles out of it. :(

I heard loud cluncking noises in the rear end of my car. Thought I had a shock gone or going. My sons looked at it and saw that both of the rear wheel wells were totally rusted out. The shocks were hanging on by a thread. Took it to a reputable mechanic and he said it was un safe to drive and need to be picked. He replaced both wheel wells to a sum of 950.00. I called Ford and they told me they had no complaints recorded dealing with anything like this. It is a shame that Ford does not stand behind their vehicles. The shop did take pictures of the wheel wells as they said they had never seen anything as bad as they were.

I did not realize this was an issue with this vehicle when I bought it. I have taken great care of the car and took it in due to noise in the rear right hand side. They told me the entire wheel well is rusted out and needs to be fixed to the tune of $2500.00......WHAT!!!!

When I called Ford to complain, they took my information and told me there is no recall, nothing they can do for me. I looked online and OMG....this is a HUGE problem. Called Ford back, told me there is no recall, nothing they can do for me.

If you have had this problem....call Ford and complain so maybe, someday, they might do something about it!!!

Update from Feb 17, 2015: Found a great local body shop who took this on for me. When he started to pull the trim and got to the wheel well, the shock assembly pretty much fell off the vehicle….sorry Ford but this IS a safety issue. I had him check the drivers side and while it wasn't as bad….it would need to be fixed within a year.

I am one of the lucky ones? as it is only? going to cost me $1500 to do both sides, including new shocks. Because I cannot afford to buy a different vehicle at this point, I am having it fixed and will be paying it off over the course of the next year or so.

Lesson learned, I will never buy another Ford.

I have a 2005 Ford Escape Limited with approximately 61,000 miles. I am meticulous about maintenance and keeping the car clean and it is always housed in my garage. I love this car, but recently I started hearing a loud banging noise coming from the right rear passenger side. At first I thought maybe it was my golf clubs clanging, so I took them out. The noise continued. I took it to our local Ford Dealer and I was told by the body shop that the right rear well had rusted completely and had to be replaced.

Originally, I was quoted a price of $975 to fix it, but the part was on back order because the manufacturer of the part had to make more. One month later, I, then, got a call from the body shop that the part was in, but that the cost of the part was $500 more than what it used to be. Instead of $975, I was looking at almost $1,600. Well, my dealership absorbed most of the increase and will fix it for $1,165. They worked really hard to try to find a way to help me.

I have 3 Ford cars and will continue to buy from Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor because they REALLY do care about the consumer.

My main problem is the rear passenger side shock mount and the metal on wheel well rusted away and broke off. About an 8"x8" piece of metal remains on the top of the shock. The shock is now popping a hole through the hatch wheel well into the interior of the vehicle. But no recall from Ford. The frame is rusting before it's time and for the prices that the vehicle are back then and today some one at FORD should stand up and pay for the repair. I had a NISSAN ALTIMA for 15 years and it never rusted like this. This is my only car and I will need it to get my son back to college in early January. He is in school a 4 hour drive away. From what I am reading on the internet FORD knows that the 2001 -2006 vehicles all have this issue. I am done with FORD and will never buy again from them.

I started hearing a rattle, that escalated to a nasty noise that sounded like my car was falling apart. We checked it and found that the shock is thru the rusted wheel well and only fabric is holding it from going thru. I loved this vehicle and now it is worthless because of rust? That is just plain wrong. I'm looking for a different vehicle but am really not going to buy a Ford because this should not have happened. I wash & wax my car often, I do maintenance with my dealer every 3 to 5,000 miles and this is what I get back.

I bought this truck with the intent of having this vehicle for some time. The engine developed a tick which I later found out, is a common problem from several mechanics. Somehow I have to fix this problem and possibly replace the well. The problem is that it will cost $$$$$$$ and that it may not be possible because of the degree of corrosion.

This truck definitely has a corrosion issue that Ford needs to acknowledge. They are thousands of Escape owners out there that have the same issue. The trucks are built horrible and Ford needs to step up and repair the bad wells. I was going to get another but after this, I'll never do Ford again! !!!!!!!!!!!! I can not afford a new vehicle at this time as I am like many Americans, the recession has impacted my family. Ford ---DO RIGHT BY YOUR CUSTOMERS

Just bought a 2005 Escape XLT and it is in immaculate condition with one glaring exception. Rust is showing in both rear fenders and bubbling the paint. It seems whenever you buy a car, you start noticing how many other identical cars are on the road and I happened to notice that every Escape of this vintage has visible rust in the rear wheel well/fender areas. I called Ford Customer Service and had a friendly chat with a representative who took down my information and said she would forward it to the appropriate department. This is clearly not an isolated problem based on the fact that so many others have reported it on this site and I have to believe there are probably 100 times more owners out there who are not aware of this specific complaint site. To get Ford to wake up, I would recommend everyone call 866-436-7332 and give your information to them so some critical mass can be achieved. There should definitely be a manufacturers recall for this.