A lack of clearance between the engine cover and the speed control cable connector meant the throttle could get stick open when the accelerator was fully depressed. Following a petition from the Center for Auto Safety, NHTSA opened an investigation and eventually issued a recall to fix the sticky throttles in the 2001–2004 model years.
Even with the throttles fixed, the 2001 model year could still have trouble stopping due to multiple problems with leaking brakes.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
1,365 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My vehicle stalls at speeds between 40 and 45 mph going downhill. It starts right up and the on-board computer doesn't store any information. I took it to a dealer for repairs 6 times with this problem, but they don't seem to be able to duplicate the problem. Last time it happened to me about a month ago. The dealer told me that other people bring their Escapes back with the same issue.
While driving, vehicle completely dies. Lost all steering and power to the vehicle while driving 45 mph. This has happened 4 times now and has been seen at the dealer twice. The dealer is unable to find anything at all wrong with the vehicle!!! all four times it happened had a full tank of gas and the car gave no warning at all.
Driving around 40mph, and car has stalled three times on me now with loss of steering and brakes, most recently on 10/11/2001. Ford says they don't know what is wrong.
While driving on a downhill slope the vehicle suddenly shut down causing loss of power steering, the driver was able to restart the vehicle, the dealer replaced a valve which controlled air flow, the next day this problem occured again when going up a semi-steep incline, the dealer has been unable to duplicate the problem, the vehicle also has a metallic rattle under the hood when accelerating on a slight incline. Nlm
Engine stalls while traveling. Occurred once each in June, July, Sept and Oct. Presumed electrical short. Coast to roadside, come to complete stop, put in park, turn key and take off again. Last incident was shortly after exiting interstate highway - I can no longer operate this vehicle with any confidence.
Over a period of four months my Ford Escape has lost all power while driving in the am to work. It was very difficult to handle the car when it lost all power because of the loss of power steering. The first occurrence happened five days after I purchased the car. Ford replaced the idle sensor and said it was fixed. Four months later the problem occurred again. The car had to be towed in. Ford claims that they "cannot replicate the problem" and their engineers don't know what's wrong with it but are aware of the problem in the Escapes. I was offered a trade in at the loss of $6,700 or to call the 800 Ford number and report the problem to them. The 800 number told me to put everything in writing and wait for a response (2-3 weeks). I am now in that stage of my complaint. This is a serious saftey hazard because I live in a city where there is heavy traffic and interstates are close by.
Engine would stall while driving at 30mph. Would have no warning of any problems. Had lost power brakes and steering. Had to use emergency brakes to stop vehicle. Had happened once before. Will be taking vehicle to dealership.*akconsumer stated the delaer replaced the egr valve, however that did not solve the problem.
Intermittently vehicle would stall while driving at any speed. Then, vehicle would restart. Vehicle been to dealer, and they could not duplicate problem. Feel free to provide any further information.
While accelerating to 65 mph, vehicle will stall unexpectedly in traffic. Dealership has been in possession of vehicle for two weeks, dealer performed extensive road testing and was only able to verify stalling concern once, still unable to determine cause of problem, dealer offered trade-in, but consumer refused offer.
1) on two occasions the car's engine shut off while in traffic. I took the car back to the dealer after both incidences. The dealer was nice enough to look at the car right away on both occasions. The first time the told me that Ford was aware of the problem and is working on a fix to the onboard computer. After the second incident I was told that the computer was upgraded and I should not experience the problem again. Nontheless I would like to report this to your Agency due to the seriousness of the defect and the possible consequences of such a failur on the highway. I was fortunate these past two occurences but other owners may not be. Please look into thei matter for the good of all the other Ford Escape users and unsuspecting travellers who may be following a Ford Escape. 2) I would also like to report another unrelated problem with this car. Several owners shared this concern on an internet user group. I am getting 12 mpg on the highway with this car while the posted highway mileage is 28 mpg. This is even less than the posten city mileage of 18 mpg. The dealer tested the city mileage by hooking up a cumputer and verified the cith mileage to be aroun 18 mpg. I have no problem with the city mileage I am getting. The highway mileage is way off and this should be investigated. It does not meet the government standards and does not meet the stated spcifications.
While coasting down slight grade at 35 mph, engine shuts off with no warning, stopped on side of road (required great effort to steer and brake), was almost rear-ended by following vehicles. Put car in "park" and restarted w/O any problem (no engine stumble), drove 7 miles home without further problem, however I am afraid to drive it for fear of recurrence. I will have to drive it to the dealer tomorrow and hope it behaves long enough to get there.
6 mos old veh; 4700 miles; engine has stalled on 3 separate occasions (mid-Jun, mid-Jul, early Sep) while traveling at 45 mph; original dealer could provide no solution; currently being evaluated at 2nd local dealer; seeking guaranteed resolution; replacement vehicle or refund.
The SUV was purchased new in mid-December 2000. On 9/7/07, I was slowing down, on a downhill slope, to make a right turn when the SUV shut itself off and the steering column locked up. It had 1/3 tank of gas. I shifted the automatic into park, turned the key, the car started and I extricated my 7 year old son and myself from the busy intersection and from the mouth of on-coming traffic (we landed in the left turn lane, much to a Jeep's dismay). I drove slowly to my son's school (3 blocks down), then to work where I notified Ford via it's 800 number. I made an appointment for that afternoon with the dealership to have the car fixed. I left the car with the dealership. On 9/8/01, I called and the dealership said the car was ready. I asked the service manager to review the repairs with me & my husband and to explain why the repair "fixed" the problem. He said they replaced a valve which controls air flow. He said this would cause the car to shut off, especially if I had been engaging the brakes when the car shut off. I was engaging the brakes when it shut off, so I accepted this explanation. I packed my 7 year old into the SUV and left. Within 7-10 miles, the car shut itself off, again (only 26 hours after the first incident and the supposed "fix")! this time I was accelerating up a semi-steep incline. My eyes were forward. I noticed out of the bottom of my field of vision a red glow. I looked down and the oil lamp was glowing. I just had the oil changed within 1,000 miles and the car was just at the dealership that morning, so that couldn't be a problem. I then noticed that all of the other dashboard lights (most in white light) also were lit up. At that point, the steering began to locked up and the car slowed to a stop. I managed to maneuver the SUV to the community center's driveway on the right. We narrowly missed being mowed down by a van which had gained signficant momentum having just swooped down the downgrade and was racing up the incline. 1/4 tank gas.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Martinsville, NJ, USA