10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 8 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 96,332 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
While driving on a busy freeway in houston my car jerked, the wrench light lit up, then would no longer accelerate. I was able to get over the shoulder of the freeway, but the car would not move after that. It stayed on, but was bouncing up and down. I had to have my car towed off the freeway. Once towed, we turned the car off and back on and it ran fine. I took it to a local mechanic the next day and was told everything looked fine, I drove it the following day. On the freeway, it happened again. I immediately took it to the Ford dealership, where I was told the throttle body needs to be replaced, but this part is on national back order with no delivery date in sight. Ford has been giving me the run around since last week regarding the part and rental assistance. My husband and I were advised by a Ford service manager that the car is still "drivable, " however, the problem will happen again. He told us when it does, to simply turn the car off and back on and it should run fine for a short time. I expressed serious concern regarding this advice as houston streets and highways are extremely busy. To date, I have received no assistance and no more information on when this part will be available.
- Houston, TX, USA
Truck failed to accelerate from a red light, with pedal completely engaged. Had continued loss power/thrust when I push the gas. This happens so often now, I am not comfortable driving in heavy traffic as I never know if I'll be able to accelerate. Sunday after finally getting home, I was unable to get it to stay cranked when I depress the gas pedal to reverse. This loss of power was exuberated by having the A/C running. First the timing cover leaks at 22, 761, then a pulley falls off the engine at 40,149 spraying oil all over my interior via the A/C. after the pulley was replaced the car would idle high and then started jerking as if it wanted to stall, took to Ford dealership and was told there were no codes, finally had the tech drive with me and he felt the jerking. After three visits for this, in November 2012 at 50,000 I was am told the coil pack needs to be replaced, now at 55, 063 miles I am told it is the throttle body that needs to be replaced" I think I was sold a lemon and in the state of Florida that's illegal. What if I am rear ended due to the horrible craftsmanship of your product"
- Tallahassee, FL, USA
While driving the car started to sputter and would not accelerate and then would suddenly accelerate without touching the accelerator. Eventually the engine just shut off all together. Has happened several times since then. Found out it was because of the throttle body, which seems to be a recurrence on Ford Escapes.
- Sebring, FL, USA
I was stopped at a red light and when the light turned green I pressed the accelerator but the engine seemed to have stalled. I did have slight forward momentum that was jerky and I was able to pull off to the side of the road. I turned the car off, sat for a few minutes, then tried to restart the car. The car did start and no warning lights were on the dashboard. I was able to drive to my subdivision without incident but once I turned into my neighborhood the car stalled again. The car was then towed to my Ford dealership where I was told the throttle needed to be replaced. Since the throttle is considered an electrical component it was not covered under the powertrain warranty. The bill was approximately $670. I was not told this was a common incident in my model and year of car.
- Savannah, GA, USA
Car is traveling in 25-30 mph range and shuts down. All lights on dashboard come on. Coast the vehicle to a stop. Put in park and start up again. This has happened twice in last two days. This same situation happened on expressway going 60 mph on 01/03/2011. Had to be towed to Ford dealership. At that time a new throttle body and module was installed.
- Orlando, FL, USA
Took my vehicle in to Ford dealer due to check engine light stuck on. Diagnostics pulled 2 codes, P0011 & P0012. These 2 codes are major engine problems!! both solenoids need to be replaced, and possibly have to replace both cylinder heads and cam shafts if head and camshafts show wear = thus a very very expensive engine repair cost for me!! the Ford dealership said this is only covered under warranty up to 60,000 miles: My Escape had only 63,296 miles on 4-2-13, the day I went to the dealership. I'm climbing up the tree at Ford Motor Company an feel I have a "lemon" Ford vehicle!! I want to know why Ford Motor Company did not send out any recall notices to 2009 Ford Escape owners regarding this major-major engine malfunction = serious engine repair costs to me due to their negligence !! I am over the warranty timeline by 3,296 miles !!! I should not have to pay for this engine repair !!
- North Bonneville, WA, USA
Car stalled while moving forward after backing out of parking space. Car had operated for 15 minutes before pulling into space, then immediately backing out without stopping engine. For approximately a year and one half yellow service engine light intermittently comes on then goes off after few driving cycles. Car also hesitates and jerks during acceleration randomly and frequently. Service dept of used car dealer where purchased car has detected no defects and has not replicated problem when car left at shop.
- Vestavia Hills, AL, USA
While accelerating at low speeds (15 - 20 mph), the vehicle suddenly began to shudder and lurch, with no increase in throttle or power despite flooring the gas pedal. Yellow check engine / repair lights came on, vehicle would jerkingly continue to move forward at a speed of less than 5 mph. After conducting a search, it appears to be similar to the "limp home mode" throttle body problem reported by the North Carolina consumers council.
- Kailua, HI, USA
Escape was in for scheduled oil change. Upon leaving the authorized Ford garage the vehicle started shaking and had little acceleration. I turned around and went back to the Ford garage and had them look at it. The problem self corrected while at garage. They said that it was the throttle body and according to the computer, there had been another incident recorded while under previous ownership. Ford garage said to replace throttle body. I have not yet replaced it.
- Bad Axe, MI, USA
While driving, the vehicle lost power. When pressing on gas it just coasted. The wrench warning light came on. Was able to get to side of the road, but almost got hit from behind. Turned vehicle off, restarted and was back on the road. On other occasions there has been some surging. I see that there has been many complaints on this problem and it is getting some press that there is a defective part (throttle body). I contacted Ford service and was told that they could look at it, but it is not under warranty. However, the wrench warning light indicate a power train issue, I was told it is not covered under the power train warranty. This does not make sense and it truly looks like a defective part. This is very unsafe and could result in a very bad accident in traffic. This needs to be a recall since they are aware of the issue.
- Franklin, TN, USA
While traveling at 70mph, vehicle suddenly stalled while driving in the center lane of a highway in heavy traffic. No warning signs were displayed. After pulling to the shoulder, vehicle was able to be restarted and seemed to be fine. Service technician found a failure code for 'throttle stuck closed' with 'freeze data' showing it happened at 71mph. He inspected the throttle and found no problems. As a precaution, he cleaned the throttle blade with a cleaning wipe. A week later, the vehicle stalled again as I was pulling into traffic. In order to keep the vehicle running, I then needed to keep my foot on both the gas and brake while at stops. Return to my technician and he diagnosed the problem as a defective throttle body. He said that the computer data showed the throttle open only 52% when the throttle was wide open. Vehicle has not yet been repaired.
- Raleigh, NC, USA
2009 Ford Escape. Consumer states vehicle died while driving the consumer stated a wrench symbol appeared on the dashboard. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. However, they were unable to find any codes and the vehicle passed all their tests. The dealer did fix a transmission leak and an air sensor. On January 5, 2012, the vehicle stalled again and the wrench symbol appeared again. The dealer was unable to find any codes. On March 5, 2012, the vehicle stalled again, and the battery symbol illuminated.
- Waipahu, HI, USA
On 7/17/2011 while driving from eden prairie, mn to home in hastings, mn while stopped at a traffic signal I, along with my wife and granddaughter, smelled a odor like burning plastic. I pulled into a nearby parking lot and we got out of the vehicle and I investigated the odor. I was able to determine that the odor was originating from the dash panel. Without dismantling anything I was unable to determine the exact cause of the odor, which by this time was dissipating. Restarting the vehicle resulted in no re-occurrence of the odor and we continued towards home. Later after stopping at a store and resuming out trip I was unable to discern air flow from the air vents although the fan control was set to 2. no airflow was apparent until the fan control was set to 4.
- Hastings, MN, USA
Letter from congressman brown on behalf of constituent regarding problems with her 2009 Ford Escape; she has an arbitration date on June 28 in columbus, Ohio; please respond directly to the cleveland office the consumer stated the vehicle has been to the dealer on five occasions because the vehicle would jump/lunge while engaging it into drive or reverse. Within the last year, the vehicle began to lung/jump while driving down the highway. The vehicle has also been to the dealer six times for a rear leaking window. The weather striping was replaced, but the leak continued. Recently, when the consumer filled the gas tank, it only registered a half tank. Also, there was a vibration coming from the vehicle while driving 25 mph.
- Lexington, OH, USA
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Escape. The contact stated that when the battery in her vehicle stopped working she was unable to open the rear liftgate on the vehicle. She was also unable to gain access from the floor board in the rear seat. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 17,000.
- Yahala, FL, USA
Got home at 4pm, parked the car in the garage and turned it off. Walked inside and went to dinner at my in laws. About 3am my wife woke up to one of our babies crying. She went down to see what was going on. As she was walking through our kitchen she smelled something that was not right. She woke me up and we all left the house and went to her parents house across the street. We called the gas company and they came to search the house. The could not find a gas leak, so the guy from the gas company asked to look in the garage. When we opened the garage it felt like 100 degrees. We looked in both cars and there were no keys in the ignition. We popped the hoods on the cars on our Escape you could barely touch anything inside the engine compartment because it was hot. On our other car you could touch everything. We tried to back the Escape out of the garage until we could get it to the dealership the next day but were unable to. The next morning we ended up calling to have it towed to the dealer ship. They checked the wiring under the battery because they have had complaints of the starter spinning but never starting. Since then they as well as Ford have said we have made this up and are unwilling to do anything about the situation because they have never herd of such of a thing. Since we are the first they don't feel obligated to do anything till someone gets hurt or dies.
- Marion, IA, USA
2009 Ford Escape. Consumer states problems with engine randomly shutting down.
- Tucson, AZ, USA
- San Antonio, TX, USA