10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 1 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 33,674 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.
Drivers seat belt is stuck in the partially extended position. This has happened several times over the past few years. In the past it has eventually retracted on its own after a few days. This time I can only use the seat belt if I move the drivers seat back farther then I'm comfortable with. I believe it's a safety issue not only because it's stuck but also the belt pretty much pins me to the seat when I use it.
- Milwaukee, WI, USA
The driver's side seat belt locked up tight on me while driving. I tried to pull it off of my chest to try to reset it but it did not reset to the loose, unlocked position. In order to try and reset the lock, I unplugged the seat belt and let it retract to the door. When I tried to put it back on, it was locked now in the retracted position. I brought the car to the dealer right away and he was unable to unlock the seat belt. While waiting for a replacement part, I had to drive without a driver's side seat belt for one week, as the dealer also didn't have enough rental cars to provide me with one while waiting for the part. I looked online and there are many, many complaints about Ford's seat belts locking up like this. To have a faulty safety restraint as such is inexcusable and dangerous.
- Sayville, NY, USA
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while attempting to exit the vehicle, the seat belt would not un-latch. After four minutes the contact was able to un-latch the seat belt and exit the vehicle. In addition, the contact stated that the seat belt could no longer be latched. The contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer nor call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 70,000. The VIN was not available.
- Salt Lake City, UT, USA
2009 Ford Escape - driver's seat belt malfunction and locked in closed position. Cannot re-latch. Ford dealer in galveston, Texas not responding to repeated request to schedule to have it repaired. Dealer says they do not have the part....?
- Texas, TX, USA
Passenger seat belt locked arbitrarily. The only way to release seat belt was to unbuckle and allow seat belt to fully retract. Took vehicle to dealership on (3) occasions to have seat belt replaced, problem continued. Took vehicle to 3rd party and had seat belt replaced and problem is now resolved. Original seat belt was defective and in the case of an accident, persons sitting in the passenger seat would have been injured or killed. Ford refused to honor factory warranty and repair problem.
- Tewksbury, MA, USA
The contact owns a 2009 Ford Escape. While driving approximately 35 mph, a passenger seated in the front passenger seat informed him that they could not move because the seat belt retractor was locked. In order to get the seat belt to operate normally it had to be unbuckled. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer but the failure could not be diagnosed; it was not repaired. The failure continued intermittently. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000 and the current mileage was approximately 21,000. Updated 01/18/11 updated 01/31/11
- Tewasbury, MA, USA
- Griffin, GA, USA