I have been reading these complaints about the 2005 Ford Escape XLT. I guess I could consider myself "lucky" that I have owned my Escape 4 yrs and am just now starting to experience these scary, random electrical issues.

In June, I was on the NJ Parkway at 9:30 at night, all of a sudden all my lights cut off and power to the engine decreased substantially. This was very scary, obviously. When I rolled up to a toll booth, I couldn't open any of the windows and the engine just cut off completely and would not re-start. Long story short, a State Trooper and the toll booth collector were kind enough to push me off to the side of the road. I had to have the State Police tow the truck off the Pkwy to a gas station. I wound up paying $500.00 for a new battery and alternator, not to mention the towing.

Fast forward to the end of this November, I was on my way to work and the truck was bucking and the "check engine" light kept flashing on and off. I would up taking it that morning to STS Auto. They charged me $450.00 to change the #4 cylinder coil and said that I probably need to replace the spark plugs at an additional cost of $650.00!!!!! I declined that and they advised that the problems may continue until I get the truck "tuned up". The eye opener for me was the f'd up way Ford designed this dumb-ass engine so the top half has to be removed to replace the rear plugs. WTF???!!!!.

Truck was good for the past 3 weeks and is beginning to act up again. Was on my way home from work. Thankfully I was in the country and right by my house. All of a sudden ALL my dash lights came on (ABS, 4X4, oil light, check engine light, etc), the frigging truck started bucking really rough and it then just turned off!!! I rolled onto a farm field, turned off my head lights, radio, heater and turned the key to the off position. I turned the key back to on and the truck started up as if nothing was wrong. VERY UN-NERVING. I drove to work this morning (40 min commute, I might add), and during the ride, the truck would occasionally jerk hard and my "Alarm" light would flash on then go off. I am very depressed about this and don't know what to do. I did take the truck to my personal mechanic a couple of weeks ago and he put the diagnostic machine on it, but advised that unless the "check engine" light is on, it is not showing there are any issues. Sorry so long.

It seems that many 2005 owners have the same problem (misfire - new coil replacements at large expense to consumer necessary to get car running again). This problem started with low mileage on my Escape a few years back and to date I have replaced approx 5 coils at 100.00 each not to mention the labor costs, severe labor cost when it was the coils in the back of the engine. The problem always seems to follow severe rain days. There is a defect with this and FORD will not acknowledge it. I have called several times about this. Of course you hear, I am sorry for your frustration and they don't even bother to receive a report or complaint. There is a department National Highway Traffic Safety whom can be reached at 800-424-9393 who tell me if they have enough complaints on the same problem they may be able to get FORD to do something. All you 2005 Escape owners (other years alike with same problem) need to call and register a complaint they will investigate with enough complaints. Ford should not be allowed to ignore this defect forcing huge expense upon to the consumer. I plan to contact my local Attorney General's Office and Consumer Affairs of this matter as well. By the way I now have the mechanic stating there is a problem with the computer shorting due to these coils/misfires which may require replacement of the car's computer - this is outrageou!!!!! Come on Escape owners voice your complaint, let's get something done about the crap!

My Escape started running rough and surging and high idle so we thought maybe it was bad gas and the fuel filter. Changed that and it ran good for a few weeks. Again it started running extremely rough and I lost power on the highway and the check engine light came on and started flashing. I pulled off the highway and the engine light went out. We changed the filter again still thinking it was bad gas because if it was anything else the engine light surely would not have went off right?. A week later it started running very rough and the engine light came on and stayed on so I drove it to the Ford dealer. They call and tell me it is my coil and that they recommend changing my sparkplugs. The vehicle only has 48,000 miles so why change the plugs?? When they sold it to me they bragged about the 100,000 mile plugs. When I said no to the plugs they informed me that they HAVE to change one sparkplug because it is ruined. Now after reading the complaints on here and elsewhere on the internet I see that people are saying that Ford put the wrong plugs in at the factory and so now they want to change them at my expense. I think that is a crock, why should I pay for their mistake. I own 3 Fords and I can tell you that I don't think that I will ever buy another one if this is how Ford treats their customers. My husband wants to smash the escape and put it at the Ford dealer for advertisement. If anyone knows of a class action lawsuit I would appreciate the info on it. I have seen that people were going to start one but haven't been able to find one yet.

My 2005 Escape started "acting up" on the night of Hurricane Sandy. It sat out at work for 12 hours. I figured the engine was just wet from all the rain and wind. Went to start the car and it ran rough and could not get it over 20 mph the first mile or so. Made it home in the storm and garaged it over night. Car ran fine for 2 days, but service emission light came on. Took it to the dealership and was told it would need 6 new coils,catalytic convertor and PCM to the amount of $4800. The car ran fine when we brought it to the dealership, Could not drive it home after they finished looking at it.. Mechanic said he had to douse the engine with water to get it to run rough. When we talked to the service manager he said the mechanic only spritzed it with water. Had it towed to our mechanic who has replaced all spark plugs (funny the dealership said nothing about replacing the spark plugs), one coil and the catalytic convertor (front and back). After reading all these complaints I am now afraid to drive it. I am afraid of PCM failure. We were recently on a trip to West Virginia. What if this had happened going over the mountains of West Virginia? I am now seriously thinking about getting rid of the car.

My 2005 ford escape has become unreliable. The first indication of a problem was the engine ran very rough to the point I was concerned it would stop all together. Next the service engine light came on. Ford pulled two codes that indicated a problem with the fuel injector connection. The claimed to fix this but 3 months later I had the very same problem. This time the same 2 codes were indicated along with one additional code. This time they said I needed a new wiring harness. They replaced it. Now I just had to replace an alternator. I'm about to give up on this car and by a foreign car. I've had much better luck with them in the past.