Started with a check engine light. Looked under the hood. Coolant reservoir below minimum. Just had an oil change and checked all levels the week before. Thought this was odd. Drove 1.5 hours (120 km) and when I got home, the coolant reservoir was almost empty.

Got the Escape into a mechanic where there was an error message P0303 and P0616. Replaced 4 spark plugs and an ignition coil ($465 CDN). Checked for a coolant leak but couldn't find anything. The mechanic cleared the warning light after the repairs.

A week later, the check engine light is back on. Went back to the mechanic. Error message P0303: cylinder #3 misfiring on start-up. Didn't want to touch it. Suggested taking the vehicle to a Ford dealership because there was a TSB from Ford for coolant intrusion into the engine cylinders. I got the mechanic to clear the warning light but one day later the light was back on.

Managed to get a next day appointment with a Ford dealership out of town otherwise it was a 3 week wait to get an appointment with the dealership in town. Who can wait that long?! Arrived at the Ford dealership and they knew exactly what was happening. Checked the car and confirmed the worst....new engine at a cost of $8500 CDN.

Talked to the sales people to see if I could trade it in. Trade-in value was $6500. If it didn't have the engine problem then it would have been worth $14,000. Either way, I am paying for a new engine. So I have no other choice but to fix it and pay for a new engine. Will take about 2 weeks to get the engine and parts in to do the repair. In the meantime, I have no car. Renting one will be another $1000 or so.

I have had other Ford Escapes in the past and have never had an engine go at just under 100,000 km. This is crazy. Ford knew there was a problem with these engines and did nothing except "wait to see" what would happen. I am not happy about having to fork out $8500 for a problem that I didn't create. This is clearly an engineering design flaw that Ford should take responsibility for. How can a company that has been in business for the last 120 years not know how to build a proper engine in the 21st century?! This will be the last Ford vehicle that I ever buy.