10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 83,522 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.
Vehicle stalled while my wife and two small kids were driving on the freeway. The "stop safely now" statement popped up on the display. She managed to pull over to the shoulder and was able to restart the car after 10min. She was able to bring the vehicle home. At home vehicle could not be started at all still with the "stop safely now" warning on. Towed it to the Ford dealership and got the recommendation of a technician to replace the DC DC converter. I approved the replacement but vehicle still does not want to start. A sudden engine stall in the middle of the road is inacceptable with two small kids and a serious safety issue. I'd expect Ford to cover all repairs to fix this serious safety issue!
- The Woodlands, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Ford Escape hybrid. When the vehicle was turned on, the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the hybrid battery pack control circuit failed and needed replacement. The contact also stated that the vehicle was repaired for the same failure in 2015. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.
- Oklahoma City, OK, USA
A B S brakes quit working after a hard stop in a parking lot to avoid hitting another vehicle, after the Ford dealership had the escape for4 months and in constant contact with the manufactor with a result of replacing themaster cylinder, travel sensorand numerous containers of brake fluid they were still unable to get any brakes. At this point the manufactor decided it needed a a B S module, total parts only were totalling over $6000. It is a 2007 year model with only 115000 miles ran and look great. After reserch on line I saw I was not the only person with this same issue. I think Ford should have a recall because this is a saftey issue.
- Panama City Beach, FL, USA
Picked up my car from dealership, (recalled) electronic coolant pump replaced. Having dealt with the "stall-like condition" described in the safety recall notice 14S19 / NHTSA recall 14V-526, I was expecting the newly installed water pump to affect my car's recent performance. Fifteen minutes from the dealership, going 65 mph on the freeway, the pull over safely now message flashed. And then my car stalled. Makes me wonder if the safety recall listed the wrong replacement part.
- San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
After driving approximately 10 minutes on the freeway, a "stop safely now" message came up (without any other warning) and our car started to lose power and speed immediately. I was in the carpool lane and the flow of traffic on the 210 freeway was around 70 mph. I had to cut across 4 lanes of traffic and was barely able to make it before my car lost power completely. This is the third time this has happened to my husband or I in the past year. (each situation was similar to this one?and equally dangerous especially because there is zero warning). The car started up again immediately and I was able to exit the freeway before it happened again a few minutes later on side streets. I believe this is related to the hybrid coolant pump defect that I have seen others writing about online?all of the descriptions of the engine failure are similar. This needs to be recalled before someone is killed. Ford needs to step up and take responsibility!
- Claremont, CA, USA
I was driving along a fairly busy highway in Pennsylvania. The engine all of sudden stopped and this is very dangerous in busy traffic. Luckily we were able to pull over and waited for the car to cool. It restarted and then again did the same thing several miles down the road. This happened again on 19 July 2014 along small town road not far from home. The car was barely warm. We had replaced the battery pack air filter on 17 July 2014, thinking that this may have caused the problem. There is 'stop safely now 'message that appears just before it suddenly stops. This is a very dangerous situation, I can't believe that someone has not done a recall on this.
- Stewartstown, PA, USA
I was driving in san diego county from the city of chula vista to the city of santee on interstate 5 going North at 65 mph when the Ford Escape hybrid 2007 suddenly shut off in the middle of the freeway. A message appeared on the dashboard saying, "safely pull to the side of the road". fortunately traffic was not heavy and I was able to coast to the emergency lane until help could arrive. This is very dangerous and something should be done about it.
- San Diego, CA, USA
The contact owns a 2007 Ford Escape hybrid. The contact stated that the ABS and brake light indicators illuminated intermittently. The dealer stated that there was internal ABS control module and hcu failure. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 86,600.
- Bolder, CO, USA
I was driving home from work when the dashboard light that looks like a wrench came on as well as the display service engine soon. I made it home safely and the next time I drove the car no light and so far seems ok. A similar occurrence happened about a month ago at that time I lost all power. Fortunately I had just pulled out of my driveway. I shut the car off and back on and it was fine until this week. It looks like it is a defective throttle body and sensor and will need to be replaced.
- Dracut, MA, USA
I was driving at freeway speed and the car suddenly gave the signal "stop car safely now." I immediately began to lose power and barely had time to pull over to the left-hand shoulder to get out of the way of traffic. No previous signal (e.g. wrench light or warning triangle) had appeared to give me advance warning. This had happened before (see 2/1/13 complaint), but when we took the car to the shop after that first occurrence, they were unable to identify any problems, so I had driven it again. Both times the problem occurred after sustained (2 hrs) freeway speed (70 mph) driving. This time I was towed to a Ford dealership where they identified that the hybrid battery system had overheated and numerous parts needed replacement.
- Sebastopol, CA, USA
My vehicle was running perfectly and had just been serviced. I was driving with my wife and children in mild conditions when the "stop safely now" message appeared at the same time the vehicle lost all power and was in a glide. We luckily made it to the side of the road as we were traveling in the number 1 lane furthest from any place to stop. We were nearly killed by a truck trying to get over to the side of the road. This has happened on 3 other occasions in the following months. All instances but one were on the highway. All put me in a very dangerous situation.
- Tustin, CA, USA
2007 Ford Escape hybrid. Consumer states vehicle caught fire while driving the consumer stated smoke began to enter the vehicle from under the dash on the passenger side. Minutes the later, the vehicle was completely engulfed in flames. The insurance adjuster could not determine the cause of the fire, due to the extent of the damage.
- Midland, MI, USA
On the night of October 21, 2011 I was driving on rt.66W near gainesville, va in my 2007 Ford Escape hybrid with approximately 71,500 miles.. an alarm sounded and I got a dash message reading "stop the car safely now". concurrently, I lost power and was forced to immediately pull over to the shoulder. When I consulted the owner's manual, I was informed it was a problem with the hybrid system. The manual suggested turning off the car & restarting. When I did this, the warning light went off and the power returned. I was extremely concerned about pulling into 70 mph traffic and crawled down the shoulder until I could exit. For the next 35 miles (until I got to my destination) this same thing occurred 3 more times on dark, rural roads. Luckily, my husband was traveling the same route in another car, traffic was light, and there were available shoulders on the road for an immediate pull-over. This was a dangerous and frightening situation. I consider the sudden loss of power on a high-speed highway to be an extremely dangerous safety problem. This warrants a recall of the failing parts to prevent any other occurrences which could lead to serious accidents and possibly fatalities. The dealer replaced the cooling fan and water pump
- Washington, DC, USA
I have this 2007 Ford Escape hybrid with 50,000 miles on it. It worked fine until this year when the car would turn off at the light stop after a message of "stop safely now" displayed on board. I had to put it in parking and turn on the engine before I would be able to drive it again. Took the vehicle for a check up and it turned out that a small stone mad a small hole in the radiator. We fixed the problem and it seemed to work well until 3 months later when it began to have the same problem, only this time the display showed while driving on the freeway. I only have a few seconds to find a way to stop safely before the car completely shuts off after the "stop safely now" message. It is scary since it happens every few miles now. We switched to different gas brands, maintained the vehicle, changed the oil and filter on time. The owner's manual mentions that the stop safely now message could be an indication of hybrid components failure. I did some research online and read forum discussions and I found out that many Escape hybrid owners report the same problem. It looks like a manufacturer's defect to me. It is too common to be just an isolated problem. This is a safety issue. Yesterday when it happened again, our 10 year old daughter was in the back passenger seat and she reported feeling unsafe and scared. We were driving from windsor to chatham and during the 70 miles drive alone, my daughter counted 7 occurrences. I am afraid to drive this car anymore. Is it a death or more that will prompt inspectors to issue a safety recall for these vehicles? I hope it is not us.
- Chatham, 00, USA
2007 Ford Escape hybrid. Driving about 35 miles outside the city going 65 mph. Car suddenly shuts off and says "stop safely now". I lose acceleration and all I can do is break and pull off the side of the road. I turn off my car, restart it and it works again. It happened 3 other times that day. I did change the air-filter a day earlier but could have been a coincidence. One of the times it stopped, I was stopped at a red light, the light turns green, I am accelerating to get on the highway and it cuts off again at about 30-40 mph. Cars are behind me and honk and I have nowhere to go but to the side of the road slightly, wait a few seconds and turn it back on. Very scary.
- San Angelo, TX, USA
At 41,000 miles, the service brake system light came on and required an ABS tone ring to be replaced. This is now looking to be quite the common part to break after the warranty expires. The service brake system light would come on in frequently, but would never generate a diagnostic code. At ~55000 miles, the service brake system light turned on and when I depressed my brake pedal, it went to the floor and was only able to stop the car by downshifting and using the emergency brake. Luckily I was only driving ~25 mph on an empty road, but my young children were in the car. I turned the car off, and back on and tested the brakes on a short flat section of the road and they worked. I proceeded the 1/4 mile to my house and after stopping at a red light and 2 stop signs, the brakes failed pulling into my driveway being stopped by my other car!!! the Ford dealer had the car and pulled a diagnostic code which had them replace an actuator in the D-pillar. They assured me that this solved the issue. My wife left to take the kids to school and the service brake system light turned on and the brakes failed as she pulled into the driveway. We had the vehicle towed to Ford and they have been unable to find anything wrong or get the brakes to fail. No codes were generated. The general manager of the dealership claimed he had never heard of brakes failing on Ford hybrids.
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
1.the events leading up to the failure - outside cold temperature. 2.the failure, how often it occurs, its consequences - the key is very difficult to disengage from the ignition without significant fiddling. It occurs every time the outside temperature drops to around 40 degrees (F) or lower. The consequences are (1) that the vehicle may slip into gear, roll anywhere and cause an accident if the key is left in the ignition. There is also the heightened possibility of vehicle theft and/or a broken key. 3.what was done to correct the failure; I.e, parts repaired or replaced (and if old part is available) - I contacted Ford via E-mail and their response was to take it to the dealer. I also googled the problem and found out that Ford Fusion are rife with this problem - www.Ford-forums.com/Ford-Fusion/4432-keys-wont-come-out-ignition.html. I assume the same kind of ignition switch is in all of the later model Ford. Online remedies include partially disassembling the gear shifter, which may lead to a more hazardous condition than a stuck key and I don't want to that.this is a serious safety issue and should be investigated.
- Arlington, VA, USA
- Oakland, CA, USA