Approx. A year ago the brakes started failing. Suddenly you had to pump them extra hard to stop. Warning light appeared that tires need inflating. They did not. Then an ABS warning light appeared. Suddenly the brakes started working again, no extra pumping needed. Then at high speeds the warning light turned on and steering wheel shook violently and you couldn't go about 60 mph. Ahhh! when you hit brakes they didn't respond or a terrible grinding noise happened. Looked it up, common in this year's hybrid that ABS brakes fail. Only had 150K on it. Took to local Ford dealer, they wanted $7400 to fix. What? "proprietary ABS brakes must be replaced." They wouldn't turn warning message off computer or do anything less. Wouldn't check hoses, circuits, or pads. Just a flat "$7400" with no explanation other than ABS system. We found out through complaint sites online that others had the same problems. It's extremely harrowing to be driving at high speeds and have the car suddenly start shaking and the brakes not work!!

- Catonsville, MD, USA

The regen breaks disabled light is always on. The breaks do not work properly, if at all. Numerous times I have been unable to stop almost causing an accident. The breaks sometimes lock on and the vehicle won't move at all. Unable to go more than 40 mph. If you attempt, the vehicle shakes and the breaks smoke. I took it to Ford for diagnostic and they informed me it is a common problem due to the the beak system and the hybrid system being integrated. The part by itself is $4200 and the vehicle blue books for about $3000 at the most. The vehicle won't start or even turn over. The battery is good.

- Carthage, MO, USA

The computer checks the brakes upon start and the computer is falsely detecting an error with the hydraulic brake pump periodically. It can occur 1 in every 50 starts to sometime 5 attempts in every 1 good start. The computer if it sees an error will disable the regenerative brakes and the vehicle will brake significantly slower and less efficiently when in error mode. The computer glitch requires a total replacement and must be reprogrammed at the dealer at a cost of $4 to $5 thousand. Based on the thousands I see online with the same issue and nature of issue (brakes and safety), I am surprised to see a recall has not been mandated. The cost is beyond reasonable and I am left with driving an unsafe car.

- Shawnee, KS, USA

Takata recall power steering stoped working very suddenly. While I was doing deliveries for my work I parked the car turned it off and when I got back after about 10 min. Power steering didn't work and hasn't worked ever since. The only thing that I noticed that day is that every time I turned there was a very slight shake on the steesring wheel. I thought that was unusual but never thought that 2 hours later the power steering would completely fail. Thank god this happened when the vehicle was parked. I checked for recalls and noticed that the Ford escape 08 has a recall on the power steering, I imagine there was enough complaints to make the recall happen. However, there are not as many hybrid models and I'm sure that's the only reason why there's no recall for this specific model yet. But as far as I know both models the escape and the Escape hybrid are identical in many ways including some parts if not all parts of the power steering system.

- Midvale, UT, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. While driving approximately 35 mph and attempting to make a right turn, the vehicle's power began to decrease and the vehicle eventually came to a stop and lost all power. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the ignition switch failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 146,000.

- Kalamazoo, MI, USA

When turning the key to start the car, it will not engage. Have to keep pushing the key in harder and harder to get the key to start. Takes 20-30 tries to get the car to start. Nothing is wrong with the battery and it appears to be an ignition problem. Have read that many people have this same problem. Steering wheel turns and once car does start it's fine.

- Greensboro, NC, USA

Pending failure of the hydraulic brake control unit. ABS, check engine and service brake lights would come on and go off. When lights are on the vehicle is more difficult to stop. Reading other's posts online, this seems to be an issue that happens often. Vehicle is unsafe to drive once failure is present. Only way to fix is with a $4,500 part that you have to get new from Ford....

- Hamoton, VA, USA

The ABS and brake lights come on and the brake regeneration disabled is displayed on dash. When this happens there is a loss of braking power. This happens when driving. When I researched this I found this is a common problem. It calls for the ECU to be replaced and the repair is $5,000. Ford needs to recall and replace this part as it is a safety concern due to brake failure.

- Fries, VA, USA

I was driving on the interstate with my 2 year old and 4 year old in the car. I had been driving for about 45 min at interstate speeds, then slowed down to about 5-10 miles per hour due to traffic. All of a sudden, while slowly moving in traffic, a tone sounded, a red triangle appeared on the dash and the message center showed 'stop safely now'. the engine turned off, so the car stalled and stopped itself for me with no time to react. I was stuck in the middle lane of a 3 lane interstate and the car would not restart. It just kept the same message 'stop safely now', with the red triangle displayed. Eventually a road Ranger assisted me to the side of the road by pushing my dead car while in neutral. I let the car sit and cool off over night and then was able to restart it in the morning with no issues at all. After reading online, the failure sounds identical to other Ford Escape hybrid problems with the failure of the motor electronics coolant (mec) pump. There was a recall that covered my vehicle model production year model and location of production, NHTSA recall no. : 14V-526 manufacturer recall no. : 14S19. However, after inquiries with nhsta and Ford, both have told me that my VIN is not covered under the recall. There is no explanation that either entity will provide as to why my specific vehicle, with the same production date, location, and model as this recall, does not fall under this recall. I was never notified of any recalls when the recall was initiated either, if this had occurred less than a minute earlier, it would have caused a major accident and only by chance it occurred when traffic was moving slower, leaving time for other drivers to react to my stalled vehicle in the middle of the interstate.

- New Orleans, LA, USA

Multiple episodes of "stop safely now" (after new engine ($8000) was put in 6/2014). At time of engine replacement, recall for power steering module was completed. Fast forward to 3/2017.... Monday morning (8am) new 'wrench' light goes on in dash. Drop kids at daycare and when I restart car (830am) and went to back out of the driveway - no power steering!!! good thing Ford took care of that recall back in 2014...*sarcasm* now they say that the only way it would be covered under recall was if loss of power steering occurred within 12 months of recall being completed. This car has been nothing but a headache and 2 Ford dealerships that do not stand behind the Ford name or their service!

- East Haddam, CT, USA

One morning, no prior warning, or issues with brakes or mechanical systems what so ever, I start to drive to work and after turning out of my neighborhood onto a major street my brake lights light up and at the next stop sign my brakes don't work! I pressed all the way down and ended up using the emergency brake not to go through the stop sign. Someone could have died for sure, and it was a heart stopping scare! I pulled over and walked back home. Looked up online and found many complaints about this vehicles brakes suddenly going out and that it is a $5K fix!! I had the escape towed back to my house. The next morning I wanted to try a few things to eliminate certain problems I found online. Now, the keyless entry doesn't work, I manually open the door, stick the key in, no lights, no sound, nothing. I turn the key and again absolutely nothing. We hook up cables and it starts right away and everything works. No brake warning lights so I try a slow drive in the neighborhood, brake lights go on after about 1/2 a mile and the brakes are very soft, have to depress to the floor just to slow down from 15 mph. I called Ford and they said just bring it in for diagnosis, for $200/hr minimum 2 hours just to tell me what's wrong with it!! no thank you, $400 to tell me it's a $5K problem when the car's worth maybe $6K private party! so I now have a worthless hybrid sitting in my driveway. Do not buy a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid!!! read all the complaints major safety issue - Ford has not recalled!!

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

The vehicle failed to start after the key was inserted into the ignition switch. The key has to be forced in and cranked over with considerable torque.

- Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, USA

Car wont start, the (stop slowly now) appears on dash screen. It attempts to start then it is killed, then the stop slowly now warning comes up..it has done that while we are driving to. We have replaces hybrid cooling pump we were told that is the problem. Fixed it now it is worst

- Lahaina, HI, USA

Issue started intermittently and has increased in frequency of failure. The problem we are having is with starting the car. The key is inserted and turned, the dash indicators turn on but the engine does not start. Multiple attempts are needed to start engine. We brought the vehicle in to the dealership and they could not duplicate issue. The issue is occurring at a rate of 9 out of 10 attempts and is currently an issue with the car.

- Mesa, AZ, USA

After approx. 10 minutes of stop and go driving at <5mph a tone sounded, a red triangle lit, and the led indicated "stop safely now." The engine did not stall, shut down, or give any other indication of a fault, therefore I continued driving at <15mph to the nearest parking lot and turned off the engine. After I returned several hours later the engine started normally with no fault indication, and I was able to drive home without any further fault indication. I read on the web that this had occurred with other 2008 Escape hybrids and was due to a faulty hybrid system electronics cooling pump. One complainant indicated that the 2008 Escape hybrids had been recalled for this issue, but the recall does not show on your, or on Ford's, database for this vehicle. Has this been reported previously, and was there a recall?

- Tucson, AZ, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. When the key was placed in the ignition, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the ignition switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired by an independent mechanic; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 154,000.

- Felton, DE, USA

In 2012, I was driving on freeway at approx 70mph when I heard the warning sound and red light warning me to "stop safely now." I had to cross four lanes of traffic and barely got to the shoulder before the power shut down completely. I waited and it restarted, but it did it two more times before I reached my destination. I called and took my vehicle for repair, which was determined to be the coolant pump (cost $1010.96). The next year a recall for this issue occurred and I was refunded the cost for repair. Today, 2015, the same issue occurred. This time I had just pulled off from a traffic light making a U-turn, so traveling maybe 10 mph when I got the same sound and warning red light as I felt the engine losing power. I got through the busy intersection and safely to the shoulder. I immediately drove the vehicle to the dealership. This time I was told the issue was the throttle body. It was cleaned and reprogrammed (cost $369.15; I was told my vehicle is not in the VIN# group). While the costs have been high financially, we are mostly concerned about the potential costs from having the vehicle suddenly lose power and shut down. Both times I have been very lucky to avoid crashes. Same symptoms, different diagnoses; concerned about what might happen next.

- Orlando, FL, USA

Over time my vehicle has gotten harder and harder to start. Now I have to press the keys in turn to have the vehicle start. After some research I found several users have the same exact problem. (https://youtu.be/bv8tdcf83vc) it appears to be an issue with plastic clips used to hold the ignition switch in place. The mechanic in the video states that it's the rod that engages the switch, it becomes loose and requires you to push the key in to start the vehicle. This is poor design by Ford and places the onus on the customer to fix it.

- Apopka, FL, USA

The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle in very hot weather, the battery would overheat and a message to proceed with caution would display before the vehicle would completely shut off. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that they battery pump was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired because the code identifying the failure was not available from the computer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.

- Cottonwood , AZ, USA

I was driving down the highway and the vehicle abruptly lost power, a triangle with an exclamation point came on in the dashboard and the data system said "stop safely now". this happened multiple times during the same drive. The dealership replaced the mec pump. About one year later the same issue began occurring multiples times per day until I was able to get it to a dealership. They replaced the throttle body, the issue occurred again. They replaced the transmission, the issue occurred again. It is now at the Ford dealership getting diagnosed yet again. This is a very serious safety issue and must be resolved.

- Avondale, PA, USA