About 6 weeks ago, my wife called me at work to report her 2005 Escape "made a funny noise" when she tried to start it. When I got home that afternoon, I went to investigate it. When I put the key in and turned it on, it exploded. The intake manifold disentergrated and schrapnel from it severed wiring harness, knocked parts off etc. Having 39K miles on it I had it towed to a local top rated mechanic. After the mechanic repaired the mechanical damage, he sent it to beach Ford for a PCM issue. They replaced the PCM (under Ford warranty, admitting that the computer was "fried" and this has been a problem with other Escapes) but absolves any knowledge or responsibility as to why the explosion occurred in the first place because a "third party person? repaired the car before beach Ford saw it. A ?mike" at Ford customer service who based on conversations with beach Ford, said that repairs by a third party precludes Ford from any responsibility as to why the car exploded in the first place. My mechanic has done internet research and found other reports of PCM issues with the Escapes causing problems from failures to explosions. A tech at the Ford dealer said it has to do with stray voltage being induced into the wiring and going back up into the PCM, but then Ford and the service director denied any knowldege of this. Ford said the car is repaired (at my expense) and washed their hands of this situation leaving me with a car that has only 39,000 miles on it and exploded in my driveway causing sever damage, and no attempt to investigate why it happened. I have all the damaged parts that were replaced and told Ford that. No one will address why it exploded in the first place. What if this happened at 55 mph vice in my driveway, or my wife was home and I opened the hood and had her start the car so I could listen for that noise she said? please help me out.

- Va Beach, VA, USA

My 2005 Ford Escape was missing bad. Ford replaced cap and plug, then called me to say that was not the problem it was "lack of maintenance" and wants me to pay $400 to fix it. First of all, my husband used to work for Ford dealership and he takes care of all maintenance for me. What good is a manufacturer warranty then? also it will be a week or more before I receive my vehicle back. All I have to say is" this is ridiculous" they will not give me a loaner car while mine is being fixed and my vehicle wasn't that bad until the dealership received it. I feel they messed up my car and I should not have to pay for it when I have a manufacturer warranty.

- Prince George, VA, USA

I bought a used 2005 Escape with 40K miles. It has been pampered and now had just over 50K on it. I went to start it on a cold morning and it would not start. After it warmed up I tried again and it fired, but not running on all cylinders. It turns out the ignition coils are prone to failure. This car is only 3 years old and I need to replace three of the six ignition coils? this car is out of warranty so I am responsible for the repair. The car kept stalling and had a top speed of around 30mph on the way to the dealership to diagnose the problem. I will never buy another Ford product again. I am disgusted!

- Milton, VT, USA

-the contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. Approximately fifteen minutes after parking the vehicle, flames erupted from the front end of the vehicle. The dealer did not inspect the vehicle to determine the cause of failure. The current and failure mileages were 50,000.

- Dexter, MI, USA

This case involves an engine fire to a 2005 Ford Escape that was being operated under normal conditions in urban driving in the greater atlanta, ga area. Smoke was seen coming from the front part of the vehicle. The front seat passenger was burned after opening the glove box to investigate the smoke. The vehicle was almost totally consumed by the fire.

- N. Charleston, SC, USA

I have had my oil pan fixed 3 times and I only have 21,000 miles on my vehicle. Today it is in for the third time. Also now I have to get oil spots off my driveway. I never though I would have to worry about my 2005 Ford Escape leaking oil on my driveway.

- Lebanon, IN, USA

The contact was traveling at 60 mph on the freeway and the vehicle lost power. There was no warning prior to the failure. The emergency brake was used to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a dealership, who determined it was the spark plugs. Also the coil pack malfunctioned. The vehicle is at the dealership.

- Vancouver , WA, USA

I was driving on the interstate and my engine stalled. I took it to the local Ford dealer and they indicate a loose battery cable was the cause. A few weeks later, the same thing happened on the interstate. The dealership is looking again and have called Ford's engineering for advice, since they have yet to find the cause. This is a serious safety issue, especially if I cannot get to the emergency lane on the interstate. It does start again once I pull over.

- Abingdon, VA, USA