10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 81,161 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Yesterday while driving with my two young children my car would suddenly accelerate causing my car to lurch forward faster than I was anticipating. Then today the same thing although today the wrench symbol showed up having me look up in my manual what this meant. I then looked online (having no car knowledge to see what this meant) and find out other people are having similar problems.this is a scary situation when I usually always have my kids in the car. I feel Ford needs to fix this problem when so many people are jabbing the same problems.
- Bremerton, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 40 mph, the transmission failed to respond and revved until the engine increased to 4 rpms. The transmission jerked when shifting gears and the wrench warning display illuminated continuously. The dealer stated that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 101,000.
- Brockway , PA, USA
The transmission went out and had to be replaced. Vehicle has been well maintained and this should not have happened.
- Smithfield , NC, USA
Vehicle surged forward when I came to a stop vehicle would not go into gear until I was at 3500 -4000 RPM. I got on freeway &couldn't get to speed limit. The wrench light is illuminated & when I looked up description in manual it states it is the throttle control/powertrain.after doing some research they do have recalls for this but on the 2009-2012 models. It also specified that Ford as of Feb. 2014 had issued an extended warranty for throttle body assemblies for 2005 - 2012 for 10 years or 150,000 miles. I contacted Ford & then state there is no recall nor consumer satisfaction program 13N03 for my car. Yet, the have the same consumer satisfaction program for the 2011 Milan. This I know cause my daughter has a 2011 Milan & she received notice. I do not understand how Ford can not comply when this Escape clearly has the same problems as the recalled vehicles for 2009-2012. All I was told was to get it fixed & keep receipt and maybe some day could get reimbursed. This is really frustrating and on Ford's part totally unaware and unfair to their consumers!
- San Antonio, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated the transmission was slipping and failed to shift into gear when the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,000.
- Pennington, NJ, USA
Two days ago, I was driving on the highway and suddenly, my gears started slipping. I was driving 45 mph and then my car decelerated to the point where I could no longer accelerate. This made it very difficult to get back home and I feared that I would be at risk for a crash. Immediately the next morning, I brought my car to a Ford dealer and they diagnosed the problem to be with the transmission. My options were to fix one band or the entire transmission. Upon doing research about this issue, I found that many other Ford customers had experienced the same problems with their 2008 Ford Escape's transmission.
- Bedminster, NJ, USA
While accelerating to get onto the highway, I noticed the engine was revving but our speed wasn't increasing and it seemed as though it wasn't going into gear. Finally once it did shift the wrench indicator light came on. After taking it to the repair shop to have it evaluated I was told that the bands for 2nd and 4th gear were busted and I'd need a new or rebuilt transmission installed. I won't ever buy another Ford after seeing all of the other reports on this and knowing that they aren't issuing a recall to fix this problem. This can be real dangerous if someone is coming at you and you can't get out of the way fast enough! I'm taking the loss and trading it in on something more reliable.
- New Market, MD, USA
I was driving on the freeway when my car suddenly wouldn't drive. I pressed the gas, but it wouldn't go. I limped over to the side of the road. My wife and children were in the car, but fortunately they were not hurt. After about 5 minutes, I was able to drive it to the exit (a few hundred feet). This seems like an incredible hazard - one that Ford should fix! I can tell you this, I will get the car fixed to where it can be driven, but I will never buy a Ford again. Ford has put my family at risk and won't do the right thing.
- Long Beach, CA, USA
TL-the contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when driving at low speeds, the steering seized. The contact also stated that the vehicle hesitated to accelerate when depressing the accelerator pedal and the wrench warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not been notified. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 14V284000 (power steering) but did not confirm if the VIN was included. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000. Djr
- Detroit , MI, USA
December 17, 2012 with only 97,000 miles on this car it completely stalled while driving, vehicle had to be towed and complete transmission replacement. July 22,2014 vehicle starting to excel while driving and lose power....wrench light is on.....124,000 miles recall needs to include 2008 it includes 2009---2013 for throttle body replacement and extending warranty to 150,000.
- Amarillo, TX, USA
When the vehicle approaches 15-20 mph the RPM's rev. Vehicle also wants to stall at low speeds or when idling. While all these issues start occurring the wrench light comes on in the vehicle. It makes the vehicle useless to drive and down right dangerous on the highway.
- Lakewood, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 20 mph, the vehicle hesitated and failed to accelerate. The maintenance service sensor illuminated on the instrument panel. An independent mechanic stated that the second and fourth gears were faulty and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 82,000.
- West Caldwell, NJ, USA
My 2008 Ford Escape kept surging up to 5 RPM while I was driving. Thank god I was able to pull over without having an accident! wrench symbol appeared that said: Throttle/powertrain. Had to have car towed to a mechanic who told me I had to take my vehicle to a Ford dealership. Called Ford dealer and appointment was scheduled with on 6/27; of course, I had to have the vehicle towed again. After the vehicle was evaluated the service advisor called and said it is my transmission!!"? how could this be! I only have 80K miles on the vehicle in 5 years! how is the transmission failing at such low mileage?! ont he NHTSA website, I see there are myriads of complaints regarding this same issue, yet no recalls?" no way should I (consumer) be responsible for a total transmission failure at 80K mlies, especially when it's evident it's a manufacturer's defect! my SUV is still at the dealership because it had to be re-evaluated by one of their transmission experts.
- Mechanicsville, VA, USA
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the steering column seized and the transmission failed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 42,000.
- Camden, AR, USA
Wrench light came on and I immediately took my vehicle to john bleakley Ford for a diagnostic test to see what was going on. I noticed that the vehicle was stalling while going uphill and sometimes would not go more than 20. Then when driving in the city the vehicle would sometimes jerk. This is a very nervous feeling!!! I was told that it is a factory problem & told to continue driving it. I was told by the service mgr to contact them in January after he contacts Ford. I called and emailed often ad it is a nervous feeling to drive a car like this. I finally was able to follow up with the service mgr who avoided me until May 2014, and he only spoke to me after I contacted mr bleakley! I have quoted prices for a rebuilt transmission and a new transmission which is very expensive. I am still trying to figure out what happens when Ford customers do not find the money to make expensive repairs. The mileage is too low to need a transmission. Also I have maintained my car good. This is dangerous & unbelievable!!!
- Atlanta, GA, USA
On Friday May 23, I was driving to the store and the "wrench" symbol came on. My truck started to stall in mid-travel and I was able to avoid being rear-ended. I do not feel safe in the vehicle. The light went out after we were almost home. However, on Saturday, after I pressed the gas peddle, the truck did not pick up speed. It is now parked in front of my door.
- Baltimore, MD, USA
We've owned an '08 Escape 2wd XLS. At 46300 miles, she experienced a loss of acceleration between 10-20mph; at 22mph the car into gear; at 50mph she got the wrench light. Took it to the dealer, they hooked it up on the ids computer, came back with codes P0732 and P0743 internal transmission problem. They said it would need to be torn down to find cause of problem. When I asked how much for that I didn't get an answer and he went to say how if they did that the transmission would already be out and open so fixing it at that point would be the best. After I asked the second time how much is when he said approx. $2500 plus tax... could be higher or lower for the tear down and repair. I declined and decided to take it to aamco. They confirmed the problem. They told me that the cost to rebuild the transmission would be almost as much as getting a remanufactured trans with all the problem areas upgraded and a 3yr 50,000 mile warranty, whereas a rebuild would only get 1 yr warranty. We ended up buying the remanufactured that was the better choice. At the end with labor, install and tax $2837.51. I emailed Ford prior to bring to aamco and didn't hear from then until 2 days before my wife's car was done. They call to ask if there was any way they could help but when I told them the Escape was no longer at the dealership they said there was nothing they could do. I told them we could not afford to wait to hear from them and that it was a transmission specialist we took it to. They said that they cannot stand by the work an outside (non-Ford) shop does. I then told them how I knew Ford was aware of the problem because they had issued a service bulletin to its techs advising them of the problems because there are more than 1 problem with these transmissions. Ford knowingly put my wife and daughters lives in danger with this problem and they don't care.
- Neptune, NM, USA
My car isn't working properly due to defective Ford throttle body.
- San Diego , CA, USA
As I was driving about 30 mph my car suddenly sped up on its own. When I began to slow down my car then would not shift into second gear. The rmps would jump to over 300 when I tried to go faster than 25 mph. Once I had gone that speed for a few seconds my car would then do a hard jerk and move into the next gear. This caused many safety hazards for me while driving on the highway.
- Kokomo, IN, USA
- Brownstown, MI, USA