CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2005 Escape has problems where the engine shuts down while driving. Ford finally issued a September 2014 recall. Time will tell if the recall fix really solves the problem.
However the 2005 Escape also has a defect where the PCM (Power Control Module) fries at around 100k miles. Ford extended the PCM warranty to 80,000 miles, but only after most owners were past the mileage limit. Now owners are on the hook for the average repair cost of over $2,000 (!!)
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 5
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
105,890 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.
Takata recall passenger back tower wheel rusted on my 2005 Ford Escape the meter sensor keep going off like the doors are still open the rims of the car has rusted like we had the car for 30 years in motion when I notice the wheel tower rusted out
Entering and accelerating from a main street that turns into a freeway the engine lost all power very suddenly, ABS light engaged, then died as exiting the freeway. Extremely dangerous with children in car and no warning which would have caused a mechanic to look into previously. Exiting the freeway the engine died but restarted with ability to drive at 10 mph (in a bad area) with engine loss and noise. At shop, I was told the spark plugs, coils and PCM would need to be replaced in that order ($795), then the coils ($600), then the PCM ($1400) not including labor. A ex-Ford master technician said Ford new of problem and replaced those components when the cars came into the shop. Ford has a separate software checking program only designed for Ford Escapes to test the PCM for damage caused by faulty plugs. Apparently a recall occurred for some vins, when I contacted Ford headquarters I was told my vehicle was not made at a particular plant ergo my burden to pay out of pocket. Recall was in 2014 for Escapes with 80,000 miles or less while in warranty. This is a common well-documented electrical component failure which occurs after 80,000 miles.
Hi I have a 2005 Ford Escape & up into about and year I started had having engine failure, my vehicle would start & stop, to sum this up, im affaid to drive when this accures praying that know 1 runs into the back of me...ive tooken it to the auto place to get a reading & ive replaced everything that it read ignition coils (twice), fuel filters, tune A/C compressor, wouldnt come on etc....I can go on & on..& im still having the same problems & finally ive decided to google these accurances, to find that there's other vic..that has occurred theses same incidents....this is a serious matter, that Ford needs to address / resolved before someone doesn't make it. Vic. Just shutting down in the middle of traffic....& it also accures while stationary & while turning, this has been going on since Oct. Of 2015 & in between replaceing parts it stalled for a while of the killing & now it has started back up full force about a week ago. 6/13/2016 & today is the 6/21/2016
Rear wheel wells rusting out as well as rear seat wells under doors rusting off in huge chunks, cruise, cd player doesnt work, radio shorts out on volume control goes louder instead of lower volume, also front axle had to be replaced at joe lake tire do they use timken products?
- Monroe, MI, USA
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Bought my 05 XLT Escape last May 2015 and all of a sudden it started to shudder stall while idling and just completely die when I was driving on the highway! got the codes read and it said I had a misfire on cylinder 2, so I put new coils and spark plugs in it but it's still not working! still doing a misfire and it's running bad when it decides to crank up! now it's not even drivable.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. After coming to a stop, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 160,000.
Car running rough, car slowed and then would not drive. Towed, told it needs new PCM, cylinders, coils, and spark plugs. Car has less than 80,000 miles. This is a known problem with this car and the PCM was changed in later models. Ford created a defective product and does not seem to care.
While driving vehicle shuts off without warning, usually restarts but have had it towed. Car has been back to dealer 11 times in 12 months for same problem. No rhyme or reason can be city or highway. It is usually preceded by interior light and or door adjar light coming on, after stall happens check engine light comes on. Dealer has replaced countless fuel and emmision parts including ECM and coils, fuel pump etc. This has been an ongoing problem since day of purchase, this car is unsafe and appears Ford doesn't know how to fix it. Vehicle last left us sit in Florida, after 2 weeks and $3200 in repairs on 12/21/2015 the check engine light and interior light came back on 2/2/2016
Was driving my car to work - at first if didn't want to start but cranked fine. Let it sit idle and headed to work - 1/2 to work stopped at a light where it started to shudder like it was going to stall (never had any issues before and still no warning lights). Got thru the intersection and loss all power on the busiest street in bowling green. I didn't even have enough power for my emergency blinkers. Stuck where I was was a hazard of me being hit - had it towed to mechanic thinking it was the alternator. Alternator and starter both good - once put on the diagnostic machine - the car started smoking and sparking. End result - I have at least 3 coils, potential fried wire harness and PCM failure (a logged complaint but never a recall). The potential fix with no guarantee that this wouldn't happen again is 5-8K. My family could have been severely hurt if someone would have plowed into us. This is not a safe vehicle at all!
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the engine stalled. The vehicle was not able to restart. The failure recurred on one occasion. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the engine needed to be repaired. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 167,000.
Every morning the car alarm suddenly goes off until I press key fob. It happens routinely from 5 to 8 am and 8 to 9 pm. According to the internet, there are many Ford Escape owners who have the same issue. You can search it by "Ford Escape alarm goes off". this is really annoying not only for owners but also for their neighbors. Although this is not critical safety issue, this is absolutely manufacturer's defect.
Our daughter was driving her 2005 Ford Escape. She had just gotten on the turnpike - as she was driving the dash board lights started flashing and the car started slowing down - the steering wheel locked up and the car died. She luckily was able to get to the side of the highway and was not hurt. It was about 99 degrees outside at 2:00 in the afternoon. We had to have a tow truck take the vehicle to a car repair shop. It was determined that the spark plugs and coil had burned up and it would be $2,200 to repair the car. After looking online, this is S common problem with 2005 Ford Escapes. There are no recalls. Ford has said to keep the receipt in case there are recalls in the future. That is little relief from the fact that we are out $2200 now and don't feel safe having our daughter driving this vehicle any longer. She has had regular maintenance on her car. One other problem with vehicle is that the leather interior has started coming off the side door panels - it's like the adhesive has just worn out. We have tried to fix this but it looks bad and no one will guarantee a repair on it because they say it's a manufacturing error and it is a difficult repair. This 2005 Ford Escape should be considered a lemon!! we have always driven Ford with no problems - very disappointing.
The contact owns a 2005 Ford Escape. The contact stated while driving 25 mph, the vehicle experienced a complete loss of power without warning. The vehicle had to be towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the PCM and all six coils burned and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 121,000. MA 10/15/2015 updated 11/08/2017
On several ocassions, vehicle security alarm sounded several times while trying to start engine. Alarm horn eventually deactivated after pushing key button during several starting attempts. Drove vehicle out of parking lot slowing for stop light and vehicle completely shut off. Major safety concern. Restarted engine and gauges swing minimum to maximum continually with air bag light on, check engine light on, theft light on. Gauges worked alternately during min-max swings, then stopped working completely. Day after occurence, new battery was completely drained and would not hold a charge. When trying to charge battery, vechicle had clicking sound in gauge console. Had vehicle towed to auto electrical mechanic who tells me it is a faulty dash console and not the vehicle computer and dash gauge console needs to be replaced at a new part cost of $700. Replacing dash gauge console with a new one to find if this fixes vehicle problems. Major consern if engine shutting down while driving.
Ford customer care case #cac-4150994-B2G8C6 & #4151017-N07B9 this was the 2nd major incident; the first occurred in 1/2009. The second major occurrence was 2/2014, when the check engine light came on and the vehicle very quickly lost all power and engine shut off, the power steering and power brakes also did not respond. The vehicle would not restart and had to be towed a Ford dealership. The dealer stated the PCM had failed causing the coils and spark plugs to also fail. The vehicle was at the dealership for 2 weeks waiting for a replacement PCM; dealer stated there was a shortage of PCM availability due to an extremely high nationwide demand for the part. Dealer replaced the PCM, as well as all coils and spark plugs in mid March 2014; the total cost of was, $2,875.70. The PCM, coils and plugs had also been replaced in 1/2009 for the same failures. Coils and plugs were also replaced an additional 2 more times between 2009-2014. When the PCM fails, the vehicle immediately looses all power, steering and brakes, and stops dead in its tracks and cannot be restarted causing a potentially catastrophic situation. Had this failure occurred in traffic, a major collision would have been eminent and a fatality probable. When I contacted Ford on 3/19/2014, they stated they are aware of the issue and assigned 2 customer care case numbers; but they refused any reimbursement or compensation of any kind. The multiple incidents of defective PCM failures should be investigated as a potentially deadly safety issue.
The driver's front door began causing problems. Occasionally, it does not open, period. Additionally, the lock mechanism is inoperable. I removed both driver's and passenger's front door panels to inspect, compare and finally determine the issue. There seems to be a problem, which a friend temporarily fixed. It--the exterior door handle--after tweeking, worked for a while. Fast forward, 2015, I cannot open nearly 3 of my doors. One will not open at all (rear pass.) the driver's front door is doing the same thing the rear door handle--it lost tension and won't open at all. After looking it up on youtube, I determined the locking system is the culprit. In order to repair this inoperable door handle situation, apparently I need to pull the interior panels, remove the exterior handles and replace them entirely. Currently, I have the driver's door panel removed because in the event the handle doesn't work at all, I'd have to climb over from the passenger side just to drive my 2005 Ford Escape.
Ongoing problem with coils. I was driving my car and smoke started to billow out of the front hood. I then pulled over and call the berkeley township police and they arrived with the pinewald fire company. My husband and son arrived at scene and we had the vehicle towed to our home. The engine control module melted the coils. When my son examined the car the upper intake manifold exploded in his face. I have contacted the Ford Motor Company and they refused to do anything about it. Also, we noted that there where many other complaints online regarding the same exact problem.
Was driving at highway speed (appx 55mph) in 5 O'clock traffic in raleigh, nc on us 1 and the vehicle lost speed. All emergency lights came on. Forced to pull the vehicle off onto the shoulder and was almost rear ended. The vehicle sputtered and totally cut off. Attempted to restart the vehicle but it kept cutting off. I was unable to restart the vehicle and was stranded on the highway. After a call to a family member and to aaa, the car was towed home 3 hours later. The next day, the car was towed to crossroads Ford in cary, nc. They determined that the PCM, spark plugs and ignition coils all failed at once and charged me $2700. Error codes P0351, P0354 and P0353 appeared on the diagnostics. The vehicle was repaired the next day. This is a huge safety issue since the vehicle suddenly undergoes a catastrophic failure with loss of power and acceleration and could lead to an accident.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Houston, TX, USA