The rear window of my 2005 Ford Escape blew out with no warning. I pre-started the car for approx. 3 mins, turning on the heat and defrost. I left my driveway and no more that a half a mile away the rear window exploded, blasting glass throughout the roadway and car. The only injuries I had were to my neck. Pieces of glass struck my neck causing two minor lacerations.

- Louisville, OH, USA

The rear hatch window on my 2005 Ford Escape exploded outwardly while parked in the lot where I work. Glass blew out in a radium of 15-20 feet and it was just luck that no vehicles were parked behind mine or that anyone was walking behind the vehicle. The window blew out with such force that it damaged the interior and the hatch itself and required that interior panels be replaced and the hatch repainted in addition to replacing the glass. The glass shop where I took the vehicle for repair noted that this was a common problems for 2004-2006 Escapes. Thankfully, my insurance carrier paid for all repair and replacement minus the deductible. However, the internet is full of similar reports and a tv station in my city did a report on a similar incident on an Escape parked in a garage about two weeks before my window blew. Obviously, there is a major problem that Ford refuses to recognize. It is amazing that no one has of yet been reported injured from flying glass.

- Henrico, VA, USA

I was traveling about 30 mph and was the only one on the road. The roads were covered with a light dusting of fluffy snow, and it was chilly.. about 21 degrees. The defroster had been on, but I had physically turned the defroster off about 5 minutes before the 'explosion'. I heard a horrible noise and was completely shocked to see there was very little of my rear window left. What"!!?! how could such things happen? and what a mess! there was glass everywhere, paint had been chipped, the shocks were hanging out, the wiper and motor were at an awkward angle...things were dangling everywhere. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and nothing was open to help with the repair until Monday. So far, my insurance company has been somewhat helpful, but I've still had to pay out of pocket to get my vehicle repaired. Why do I even need to pay anything for something I did not cause?" my calls to Ford haven't really gotten me anywhere yet, except to only reiterate there is no recall for such issues. I agree that with this many voiced complaints, Ford should at least acknowledge there is an issue.

- Muskegon , MI, USA

I was driving on the interstate, traffic was crawling, it was snowing. All of a sudden my rear window exploded. Sounded like a gunshot. My husband was driving, so I turned to look out the back to see what happened, and low and behold, my rear window was shattered (mostly on the inside of the car) and all other non-glass parts were hanging in midair. This is the first time we had ever had anything like this happen, and we got off at the next exit to look for bullets, snowballs, etc, and found nothing. Just about 5 minutes prior to this happening, I had turned on the rear defroster. Scared the crap out of both of us. Will find out what the repair costs are tomorrow at the dealer.

- Frankfort, IL, USA

I have a 2005 Ford Escape. I started my car about 10 minutes before I had to leave for class, and put on the front and rear defrost. When I got in my car and started driving, the rear window imploded into thousands of pieces.

- Parker, CO, USA

Rear windshield exploded.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

I was driving home the temp was about 25 degrees and my back window exploded, nothing hit it just shattered into 1000 pieces. The sound scare the proverbial.... out of me. The rear defrost had been on earlier but I had shut it off 5 minutes prior to incident. I had glass replaced, which was covered by my insurance, but I had to pay for the cost of wiper motor.

- Naples, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 30 mph in the snow, the front windshield would not defrost and the windshield wipers became inoperable. A local repair shop replaced the windshield wipers. The defrost system would not defrost the windshield during inclement weather for over a year. The vehicle was driven to a local repair shop and the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure; however, he replaced the thermostat. The manufacturer stated that they were not responsible for the repairs. The dealer advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for repairs. The current mileage was 44,000 and failure mileage was 28,000. Updated 01/09/09. Updated 01/09/09.

- Pittsburgh, NH, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. While the vehicle was parked in the driveway, the contact heard a bang and noticed that the rear glass suddenly exploded. She called the insurance company and the dealer. A representative took the rear glass defroster mechanism (the contact was uncertain of the component's formal term). She spoke with the manufacturer and they stated that there was no relevant recall and offered no assistance. The current and failure mileages were approximately 48,000.

- Northeast , PA, USA