Bought the car new. Maintained car very well. Began having transmission issues and every time the dealer would patch the problem instead of fixing the problem. These transmissions are a known issue for the Escapes. I had taken it in 4x within the warranty period for transmission problems. Literally a few miles outside of warranty the transmission goes out completely.

I had the car towed to the dealer and since it was out of warranty they couldn't "help me". They quoted $4500 for a replacement. BS! I immediately got a lemon law attorney. It took about 8 months and the case was resolved without ever going to trial. Without going into detail I did very very well. Just keep good records and if you have more than 3 problems under warranty with the same issue it falls under lemon law in most states. I would have been more than happy if Ford just replaced my transmission. I paid a local shop only $2500 for a rebuilt and I still drive the car. Love the car, hate the transmission.

I bought my 2007 Ford Escape XLT new in 9/2006. Always maintained and only put ~8,000 average miles per year on it. Loved it and lots of compliments. In July of 2011, mileage 25,000, I experienced a great loss of power trying to go up a slight incline to the freeway (lived in Seattle, WA at the time). Drove OK once I was on the flat but not on inclines so had to avoid them until I could take it in to my mechanic. After doing lots of tests he suggested I take it to the Ford dealer (he was good friends with the service manager). Lo and behold I needed a new transmission. The only explanation given was that it was possible that due to particles in the transmission and fluid plus how long it was taking to get to 30,000 for a change of the fluid (3 yrs or 30,000 miles) it caused failure. Even more surprising is that my warranty had just ended but my mechanic and the local Ford dealer service manager went to bat for me with Ford national and they agreed to replace it under warranty! Wow, I thought that was great and I would buy always buy Fords....WRONG. Jump ahead to March, 2015: I was driving and all of a sudden the transmission wouldn't change gears. I pulled over and noticed the o/d light was on and had to look it up in my manual--it said to take the car in immediately. Would you believe I was within walking distance from the Ford Dealer (Indio, CA) where I currently live. The next day I found out I needed another transmission--at 60,000 miles! So tranny #1 (the original) lasted 25,000 mi, #2 only 35,000 mi. I really couldn't afford to plunk down money for a newer car and it cost me $4100 for tranny #3. I called Ford headquarters and begged and emailed to no avail. They didn't give a damn. Two transmissions and I only got 60,000 miles out of them. Of course I expected this vehicle to last a long time and am now retired. With only a two year warranty on #3 I am going to have to dump this vehicle before the warranty ends as it's obvious that they are defective. I really can't afford a new car!! I HATE FORD, WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER. Funny thing, the car still looks quite new, is in excellent condition and I still get compliments on it. I'm too embarrassed to tell them the past history.....

Update from Mar 18, 2016: The light that came on was the o/d light, not o/n. Also I find it ironic that of the 10 complaints listed, 4 are in the Seattle, WA area and 2 are from British Columbia.

Update from Jan 5, 2019: Had another problem in March of 2017 (noticed drip spots on garage floor). Diagnosed as transmission leak from side panel. Anyway it was covered under the warranty for the transmission I had to replace in 2014. Of course there were a couple of other problems that would have cost $1800 or so. At that point it was time to get rid of the piece of sh*t! (Wish I would have done it in 2014). Anyway, traded it in and bought a used 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Keeping my fingers crossed that this vehicle will last awhile. Stats on 2007 Ford Escape which I bought new--with only 86,000 miles in 11 years I was on transmission #3. Never will buy another Ford. They do not stand behind their products, but then it's to be expected.

The 2-4 band in the transmission failed, and they claim when it failed it put debris in the transmission and required complete replacement. For me, it failed on the express way. Once I coasted down to ~5mph I found that it would still drive enough to get off the road, luckily. Horrible experience, and completely absurd that a car with only 60k miles requires a new transmission. Forgivable if this were a freak occurrence and I was just unlucky, but we live in the world of information and there's too many reports of this same failure. This is clearly a defect that is dangerous and IMHO reaches recall level. My father retired from Ford and I've had multiple Fords, this is my last. It's unacceptable to ignore a pattern of transmission failures on low mileage vehicles, even if they are out of warranty.

I purchased a new 2007 Ford Escape in January 2007. I brought the vehicle in for all the required maintenance and preventative maintenance to the Ford Dealership. In October 2013 my brakes needed to be replaced. My car was no longer under warranty and the cost was almost double at the dealership than it was at a private mechanic - no-brainer, I brought it to the private mechanic who also performed regular maintenance on the vehicle at that time. I was very diligent with bringing the car in for regular maintenance and preventive maintenance to Coastal Ford while under warranty, to avoid any huge mechanical bills for at least 12-15 years. I did this with my previous vehicle (Jeep) and drove it for 13 years before I sold it. When I sold my Jeep, aside from the regular and preventative maintenance, I had to replace the rear and front brakes once and replaced the alternator after 11 years. I drive the Ford to and from work (approximately 10 min each way), to grocery shop and to bring my son to hockey, lacrosse and music. I do not tow or haul anything with my vehicle.

In March 2014 I was driving my vehicle and felt the transmission slipping and becoming very weak. As I was going home I felt the transmission slipping again, heard a large noise and the vehicle stalled. Fortunately just before it stopped, I was able to pull off into a driveway. The vehicle stopped and I could not put it into park. It was making this loud grinding noise. BCAA came and towed it to the mechanics. BCAA said it sounded like a transmission problem. While waiting for BCAA I called the Ford dealership (Coastal Ford) that I purchased the vehicle from, advised them what happened and asked them if the vehicle was still under warranty. They said no.

Long story short, with only 65,000 km on the vehicle, my repair was just under $4,000.00. It was explained to me that the rear differential and transmission needed repairs. When Mr. Transmission started on my vehicle, he estimated repairs to be approximately $1,200.00. The next day the cost was approximatley $1,500.00, the following day $2,500.00 and finally $3,600.00 plus tax.. I was beside myself. As Mr. Transmission was taking the transmission apart, the mechanic informed me that when he was draining the fluids, they were clean and he could tell my vehicle received regular maintenance. I phoned Coastal Ford who referred me to call Ford Canada, who referred me to Coastal Ford, who referred me to Ford Canada and so on. This became so frustrating. In my discussions with other mechanics I was informed that there is no way that I should have that kind of repair on a vehicle that has only 65,000 km on it and is so well taken care of. I should mention the last time (approximately 18 months ago) that I brought my vehicle into Coastal Ford (before I started bringing it to a private mechanic), they made a point of telling me how well maintained my vehicle was and in what good condition it was in.

I became frustrated with with Coastal Ford and Ford Canada and decided to file small claims action against them. If you have similar problems I would love to get your testimonial for my court case.

Thanks for reading this.

Bought the car used at 59,000 miles. Three months later the transmission completely failed while driving to work. There were no warning signs. After being in the shop for a week and $3600 later I got it back. Three months later I had to take it back to get the transmission serviced again under warranty through the repair shop. Transmission is still working fine now (10 months after initial failure) but the engine has developed a ticking noise that I need to get diagnosed. I tried to buy American but a transmission should not fail 2,000 miles out of the warranty period. This will be the last Ford I ever buy!

Update from Mar 19, 2017: Rebuilt transmission is still running great. Ticking noise was due to the head of a bolt that sheered and made it's way into the exhaust manifold.

My transmission went out in May of 2012. It was repaired by AAMCO. Then at the end of February of 2014, I noticed it slipping again. I took it back to AAMCO since it was covered under a limited 10 year warranty and they told me it went out again. After them having my car for 10 days they finally repaired it. The original cost of the first transmission was 3600$ and then I had to pay another 389$ plus 180$ for a car rental this time. I only have 69000 miles on my car. They are trying to say that my computer might be bad. Who knows if this is a Ford or an AAMCO issue, or both!

Coming back from work to home , car start making noise in the stop sign, when idle was ok but it become worse as soon you change to shift and stop. towed and take to the mechanic and he said it was transmission. take where i bought the car for the extended warranty to be use that cost be 1800 when I bought the car second hand. Duek on Marine send the car to ford dealer for repair and diagnose that it was torque failure and need replace. Still waiting for my car to be return and praying that problem will be solve.