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.
Driver put the vehicle into park and without warning vehicle surged forward. This caused consumer to lose control of the vehicle, and hit some objects head on inside of the garage before stopping. The driver and passenger sustained minor injuries. Consumer will have the vehicle towed to the dealership. The driver was in the process of placing gear from drive to park when vehicle lurched forward. Upon impact, the shifter is between park and drive.
I pulled into a parking space at a drug store, stopped, and as I was putting the car in park, it surged forward over the curb and into the building. The engine then returned to idle. I put the car in reverse to back out and it surged backward but I was able to stop it quickly. It again returned to normal idle. The car has 57K miles and had no prior problems with the engine.
While driving at any speed, the engine was rumbling. The dealer could not duplicate or correct the problem. There was uncontrollable jumping and or kicking. The dealer replaced one defective part and was told that the rumbling noise would need to be investigated by Ford engineers. Ford did not know what was causing the noise, but say it was not dangerous. The vehicle would shake at certain speeds and cd's would get stuck in the cd player. The rotors were replaced because they were out of round, the stabilizer end links were replaced
Vehicle stalled and lost power while driving between 40-45 mph. Vehicle has almost been rear ended 4 times. Dealership made three attempts to correct the problem by updating the iac valve, and reprogramming the PCM.
I was pulling into a parking space at a shopping center. As I took my foot off the accelerator preparing to stop, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward, hopping the curb and continuing forward into the patio area. I applied the brakes, but the car did not stop. It hit a trash can and tables and finally crashed into a pillar. In applying the brake, I had managed to slow the vehicle down so the impact was not severe and the airbags did not deploy. I was not injured but two people lunching in the patio area received minor injuries (a scratched/swollen leg and sore elbow). The vehicle has since been repaired and the cause of accident is being investigated by the insurance company. Since I am paranoid about driving the vehicle, I am planning to have a diagnostic test conducted.
- Huntington Beach, CA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
Consumer stated on July 2, 2002 the vehicle was taken back to the dealer for a broken headlight and missing equipment from the vehicle, on July 23, 2002 the vehicle began experiencing stalling, brake and odometer problems, the brakes were replaced due to a flaw, the stalling and the odometer problems could not be duplicated, also there were problems with the speakers and the clutch sticking, consumer stated while the vehicle was parked, the parking brake disengaged and the vehicle rolled into a hotel.
Vehicle will shut off at any speed without any notice. Everything will go out like power steering and brakes and accelerator, etc. Contacted dealer, and the dealer was not willing to do anything.
All functions suddenly locked up. I had no functionality in steering, brakes, and acceleration. I had no control of the car and car slowly died. After a few minutes I was able to restart car with no problems. But this could potentially have caused a fatal accident if environment, speed, etc., were just slightly different.
On several occasions, while traveling on a steep curvy road at 25 mph, vehicle lost power brakes and power steering, consumer had to use both feet on brake pedal to control speed, oil and emission lights came on, consumer was able to turn off street onto parking lot and slow down enough to avoid crashing, engine was still on when vehicle came to a stop, dealer reflashed PCM and replaced mass airflow sensor, throttle body and iac solenoid.
On several occasions, while driving about 45-50 mph, stepped on gas pedal to accelerate and automobile was not responding. Looked at dashboard and noticed that engine check light was lit up. Tried to slow down to pull on side of road, but discovered that there were no brakes and no steering. Consumer was able to come to a stop by releasing the emergency brakes, had no accident. Consumer has since traded in vehicle.
I was pulling into a parking space at a shopping center. My foot was off the accelerator as I was preparing to stop. About 3/4 of the way into the parking slot, the vehicle suddenly surged forward, going over the curb, across the sidewalk and hit a concrete ramp with a metal railing on top. Upon impact, the airbags deployed and the vehicle filled with smoke. I have no idea how fast the vehicle may have been going upon impact. I managed to turn off the iginition and exited the vehicle. I was panic-stricken and called 911. The police department sent an officer out. She inquired as to what may have happened and asked that we back the car away from the railing and clear the sidewalk. At the time the car was started, the officer commented that it sounded like the car was "still revving". fortunately, there were no injuries, no other vehicle was involved and thankfully no pedestrian. I am now afraid of this vehicle. I have submitted this report to Ford Motor Company and, of course, my insurance company. I want the manufacturer (Ford Motor Company) to investigate this problem and determine if the Ford Escape is a vehicle safe to drive. If they cannot give that assurance then Ford must take steps immediately to replace it with a vehicle that is safe to drive. Anything less is unacceptable!
At 300 miles the vehicle surged and hesitated frequently. Dealer replaced transmission. 1 week later after coming to a stop, consumer applied accelerator, vehicle hesitated. Consumer then applied gas pedal harder, and vehicle surged to 20 mph and hit another vehicle. No injuries, damage to vehicle was $ 2200.00.
After stopping at a light, I accelerated to approximately 30-35 mph when car stalled. All warning lights came on. Car restarted, we took to the dealer. They advised us right away that Ford is aware that these Escapes have this type of problem- they just quit running for no reason. They checked it out and everything checked out ok. Because I am now afraid to drive the car, as this is a major safety issue not knowing if car will stall unexpectedly going down a freeway or in the middle of a busy intersection, discussed returning car to dealer. They advise that Ford will not do a recall at this time but are aware of the problems being reported. They have no solution to the problem as they can't find out why it happens on some Escapes but not others. Unless they buy the car back, we take a huge loss as it as depreciated in the 30 days we have owned it, plus our sales tax and licensing costs. From what we are told, Ford has no intention of recalling. My question and complaint, is, if they know that the cars stall and they cant explain why, and therefore can't fix the problem, how can it be legal for them to leave us in this position where we have to fear for our lives every time we drive the car. I can't understand why they don't have to buy these cars back and compensate for the sales tax expense as well. How can they be allowed to leave these cars on the road, when we could be killed if the next time it stalls we are going 70 mph with a semi in back of us that hits us when the car stops in the middle of the freeway. Or, we are starting to complete a turn when the car stops and the oncoming car can't stop in time. The dealer has told us we can complain to a toll free number at Ford but basically they will do nothing for us. Please help us.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Moline, IL, USA