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.
While driving down a city street my truck began revving as if it were trying to change gears or accelerate without my adding any additional pressure on the gas pedal. At one point I had taken my foot completely off the gas pedal and it was revving up. This occurred about 3 times over the course of a half mile approximately. Once I entered my subdivision every time I came to a stop sign and made a stop my truck would get "stuck". I would press the gas pedal in an attempt to drive forward and the truck would not move. The vehicle was in drive and remained running and never shut off. After several attempts to drive forward to no avail I had to place the gear in park and manually turn off my truck and restart it and place the gear back in drive in order to be able to move forward. This happened 3 times in my subdivision after coming to a stop. Upon finally making it to my driveway I placed the gear in reverse in an attempt to back into my driveway and the truck began driving forward instead. I have not driven my truck since this happened as it is very unsafe to operate. I also have not yet had it serviced because I have seen on the news that Ford has a recall coming on some vehicles due to transmission issues that sound like what I have experienced so I am waiting to get notice of the official recall list to see if my make and model are included.
Have to push the key in very hard to get the car to start or "jimmy" the key around very hard. Take at least five minutes to get the car to start because of key. Sometime it starts sometimes it doesn't. key not turning over. Possibly ignition switch no working correctly. Everything else on the car has been checked out and it working fine. It's been difficult to get the ignition and key to work for months. Now they won't work at all.
When I would try to accelerate whether from a stopped position or already in motion my gas pedal sticks. I'm unable to press it down and I lose speed. Each time I press the gas pedal or brake pedal I hear a pop. I was trying to merge onto the highway and it suddenly wouldn't let me accelerate for a few minutes. This is very dangerous and frightening. It also does this if I'm already in motion of if I try to accelerate from a stopped position. I fear for my life and the life of my family. I take my husband to work an hour away, this is terrifying and unacceptable. I also Transport my children to their jobs and schools. Please help before someone gets killed.
- Ypsilanti, MI, USA
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I think my vehicle has some kind of electrical short. After I take the key out sometimes the car will start by itself and today the locks started locking unlocking by themselves. I was in the vehicle and it was running. Also the back windshield motor cover fell off and no longer works. I can no longer lock my back window and it opens and shuts the whole time I am driving. Such a disappointment. My last Ford Escape I had 10 years and racked up over 250,000 miles - that car was a dream. This used 2008 I bought seems to be a lemon :
Attempted to pull into uncoming traffic in a 45mph zone, but could not get to more than 10mph. The power train light appeared as a wrench bottom left of steering wheel. Glided/steered car immediatly to closest parking lot and called closest Ford dealership.
I purchsed this car December 22, 2007. In late January 2008 I was stopped at a stop sign and when I accelerated the car crept along for several feet before the transmission "slammed" into gear and then the car moved normally. I went to the dealer where I purchased the car and since they were unable to duplicate the problem they said there was nothing they could do. I have experienced this problem many times since and every time the dealer says they can't diagnose the problem if they can't duplicate it. There is no pattern to his transmission "slippage, " so I can't predict when it will happen and neither I nor the mechanics have been able to cause it to happen. Last week I was stopped at a light on a very busy 4-lane street in the middle of sarasota, fl, and when the light changed the engine raced, but the car would not move. It finally started moving slowly and after a few feet the transmission finally kicked into the right gear and moved normally. I was lucky that no one slammed into the back of my car. I tried to find a phone number for Ford customer service, but apparently they no longer take phone calls. A friend of mine has a 2011 Escape and she said she has experienced the same problem. There are many similar complaints on internet blogs. This is a real safety issue that needs to be corrected.
While trying to leave a fast food drive up my power steering froze up. I had to manually ream on the steering wheel to make all corners from the restaurant to my condo - approximately 4 miles. I did not have any component messages on the read out. When the tow truck driver arrived an hour later he was able to move the SUV from the garage to his flatbed tow truck - no problem. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where it was "checked out" for two days. Nothing was found.
The contact owns a 2008 Ford Escape. While the vehicle was parked in the garage, the contact noticed smoke coming from the garage door. Upon further inspection, she noticed huge flames underneath the vehicle. The vehicle exploded and the back of the house and the garage door were blown away as a result. Prior to the failure, the vehicle had not been driven for two days and displayed no signs of failure. The fire department was called and extinguished the flames. The home and the vehicle were destroyed. There were no injuries. The insurance company inspected the vehicle and stated that the cause of the failure was unknown. The manufacturer stated that they would forward the complaint to their attorney and call the contact back with an update. The failure mileage was 12,000.
Consumer states that his 2008 Ford Escape has several problems. Efforts has been made to fix the vehicle, but new problems develop and ongoing problems has not been resolved.
The newly redesigned instrument cluster "area" for the newly arriving 2008 Mazda tribute is a safety and traffic hazard in the following way: Because of new shape for the plexiglass front and the location of the hood and the materials used, it allows the sun's rays to spotlight on the speedometer and tachometer "area", causing the worst "glare" that I have ever come accross in all my years of buying and driving new cars. This causes blindess (even with a good pair of polarized sunglasses on) during sunny days, when the vehicle is traveling in the right angle to the sun. On a recent trip out of town, I had to actually hold up one of my hand's close to the instrument cluster, to block the sun's reflection. That meant driving with only one arm. The only safe time to drive this vehicle is during cloudy days. Unfrotunately that was the type of day it was when I test drove, before signing 3 year lease. This is the sister vehicle to the Ford Escape and Mercury mariner. All 3 are built in the same Ford plant in Kansas City, Missouri. They must all have the same design flaw. The same vehicles dash was just fine from 2001-2007. I know, because I owned several of them. Only the new dash on the new 2008 models have this problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Merrillville, IN, USA