The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while at a stop light before entering the freeway. When he tried to move forward after the light, the vehicle completely shut down. The contact shifted to neutral and re-started the vehicle and the problem seemed to correct itself. He noticed the problem again and was able to re-start the vehicle almost immediately. There were no warning lights on the dashboard indicating a possible reason for failure. He took the vehicle to the dealership and the dealer told him that there was a flaw in the design of the vehicle and a leak in the transmission fluid compartment and the radiator was also destroyed. He was also told that the radiator, air conditioning condenser, the transmission fluid compartment and other components (not known to the contact) needed to be replaced. He called the manufacturer and filed a complaint. The manufacturer offered to cover half of the repairs if he signed a contract stating that he would no longer complain about the problem. The vehicle was being repaired at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were approximately 49,000.

- San Jose, CA, USA

The 2008 Ford Escape I own leaked transmission fluid through the A/C condenser. There was no warning lights engaged indicating a problem and the sudden starts began without warning. This is due to a factory defect and provides an unsafe driving environment given that the automobile's transmission does not engage properly due to the lack of fluid and surges forward. There is currently a tsb on this defect. There needs to be a recall before someone is injured since this is a common problem to all Escape's manufactured prior to a February of 2008. The solution was to replace the condenser that has the faulty seam design.

- Algonquin, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. While driving 50 mph, the engine suddenly shut off. The gauges on the instrument panel continued to work and the contact pulled off the road. The vehicle was able to be restarted, but five minutes later, the failure recurred. The vehicle had only moved two meters. This failure occurred six times before he was able to find a mechanic a mile away. The mechanic stated that the water pump failed. The contact stated that he knows at least 20 people with the same vehicle, and are experiencing identical failures. The failure mileage was 39,148.

- Franklin Square, NY, USA

After coming for a drive out to parker lake, a 50 mile drive from my home, my new Ford Escape XLT AWD stalled. Loosing power and control. I was able to steer it over to the side of the road, luckily I was on a country road. I tried to start it but it wouldn't. I let it sit for about 2-5 min. And it started. I got it home and the next day it started right up. I was leaving from work yesterday Feb. 11, 2008, and it again stalled on me in the middle of rush-work-hour traffic. It again wouldn't start, but after about 2-5 min. It did. I have had it towed to a dealer here in town, not to the dealer I bought it from. If I had been on the interstate and this happened I'm not so sure it would have been safe. You have done test and inspections in the pass on tributes and other cars with this issue. This is something that needs to be addressed again. Before someone get hurt.

- Sierra Vista, AZ, USA