car was driven on sunday parked no problems. monday tried to go to store & car started but would not move in fwd or reverse. called tow truck, wheels would not rotate, had to wet down the tires and drive way to get car onto flatbed. the dealer told me it was trans failure and would cost 4100.00 to repair. I called customer satisfaction at fords and they took 3000.00 off of repair. they told me because i had extended warranty, even though it had expired, they would cover major cost of repair. i took it but i still think it should be fully covered under recall.

Pulling out from a red light, the transmission suddenly dropped into neutral, was barely able to get it off the road and sent a vehicle health report. Shut off the engine to check it out, when starting back up the engine hesitated first before turning over, then worked fine. Left work to head home and once again going up a slight incline, the transmission once again dropped into neutral. Once I was able to check the health report it showed nothing. Dealership is closed now due to the holiday so I won't be able to contact until Tuesday. Very concerned this will happen on a busy street and get hit in the rear.

I bought a brand new 2009 Ford Escape XLT from my dealer that year. Just this past week the vehicle shook violently when trying to go into reverse. Then the engine would race when trying to go into gear when trying to downshift to accelerate on passing and then slam into gear. The dealer just tore the tranny apart and stated that the main shaft was just about completely failed along with at least one of the forward gears. This vehicle has been regularly serviced at the Ford dealership as prescribed since day 1. Aside from the occasional 350 mile trip 3 times a year my wife drives this to work daily (maybe 20 mikes R/T). At 43+K miles this should NEVER have failed. I am buying a new vehicle for her in August. I thought it would be another Escape but after this I am looking at the Chevy Equinox.

purchased a brand new 2009 Ford Escape... went to have usual fluids, filters, etc changed, and the mechanic told me something was definitely wrong with the transmission... the transmission fluid was completely black indicating additional problems. He didn't want to open it up as it was still under warranty, and suggested I take it to the Ford dealership in Glendale. I made an appointment and brought it in on a Monday. Even though I had an appointment, they didn't even look at it till the following Monday, and would not provide a loaner vehicle. Once I expressed the extreme inconvenience by Friday, they finally rented me a vehicle for a few more days. It turned out they had to replace 1000's of dollars in parts/labor. This was covered by Warranty, but I am very worried it will happen again based on everything I've read. Perhaps they should replace this model car with a newer one if this is a manufactured defect that is unfixable...or provide a permanent fix. It seems like they are just putting in the same transmission which will error again due to the defect in the model build.

FORD could care less, once vehicle has more than 70,000 miles, they won't do ANYTHING for you!!!!! Ford Motors has NO customer service whatso ever!!!! I did all that was asked for preventative maintenance including having transmission changed (2) twice. First at 80,000 miles and then again at 150,000 miles.80 to 90% of these miles are highway miles .I think that the transmission should have lasted longer than what it did. It was either defective or it's JUNK....I had vehicle in once for the transmission clunk, they could not duplicate the noise.This vehicle is not even 3 yrs! I still don't have it paid for, and trannsmission dies.. Then I have to shell out $4,200 for repai job!!!! Ford never even went so far as to check maintenance record on vehicle!!! They did not even check transmission to see exactly what happened!!!!They could care less, they got my MONEY and now I don't exist...So next vehicle....FORD won't exist. I will find a vehicle that is NOT built SO CALLED" FORD TOUGH"????

Overall, a good car for living in a cold-weather climate, offering the reliability of being able to get through any snowstorm while still getting reasonable gas mileage. The transmission issues began soon after I passed 10,000 miles. Early indicators were a "clunk" when I shifted into reverse, followed by a "clunk" when accelerating and shifting from 1st to 2nd. The real problems came when I would be traveling at highway speeds in 6th gear and accelerate up a hill. The car would downshift several gears and run the RPM up to 5,000 to 6,000 without shifting into the next higher gear. It would also lose power, and then this started happening even while I was using cruise control.

I took it to the dealership and the first time I dropped it off, they couldn't recreate the problem. This was sort of a hassle. When I took it back again, they were able to recreate the problem and they replaced the transmission. This didn't cost me a penny and they provided me with a decent loaner car in the interim.

I am now approaching 75,000 miles, and some of the early "clunk" indicators are starting to rear their ugly head again. I am afraid another transmission replacement may be in my near future. Fortunately, I bought the extended warranty when I bought this car, or else I would be really upset.

I bought a 2009 Ford Escape in September 2008. The transmission failed in October 2009. I was coming home from the airport, climbing a slight incline as I merged onto the freeway. No power. I pulled over to the side of the road, turned the engine off, restarted the engine, and tried again. No power except in first gear. I drove home at 15 miles an hour and took the car into the dealer, again in first gear driving at 15 miles an hour, the following day. The transmission had been destroyed because of some leak. The transmission was completely replaced, and I thought that would be the end of my problem, until Friday, March 18, 2011. I drove down to Los Angeles for a convention. I was coming back from dinner, climbing a slight hill to merge onto an LA freeway, and--guess what?--the transmission failed AGAIN, this time at 22,000 miles. So, once again I am driving back to my hotel in first gear, at 15 miles an hour. I call and get the car towed to a Ford dealership near the Anaheim Convention Center. I had to come home on Sunday, so drove the rental car 400 miles north. Now my Ford Escape is down in Los Angeles and I am in Northern California with a rental car. The folks at both Dealerships have been very sympathetic, but what is wrong when a brand new $25000 vehicle's transmission fails not ONCE but TWICE, when the vehicle is less than 3 years old and has only 22,000 on it?????

I bought a 2009 Ford Escape in September 2008. The transmission failed in October 2009. I was coming home from the airport, climbing a slight incline as I merged onto the freeway. No power. I pulled over to the side of the road, turned the engine off, restarted the engine, and tried again. No power except in first gear. I drove home at 15 miles an hour and took the car into the dealer, again in first gear driving at 15 miles an hour, the following day. The transmission had been destroyed because of some leak. The transmission was completely replaced, and I thought that would be the end of my problem, until Friday, March 18, 2011. I drove down to Los Angeles for a convention. I was coming back from dinner, climbing a slight hill to merge onto an LA freeway, and--guess what?--the transmission failed AGAIN, this time at 22,000 miles. So, once again I am driving back to my hotel in first gear, at 15 miles an hour. I call and get the car towed to a Ford dealership near the Anaheim Convention Center. I had to come home on Sunday, so drove the rental car 400 miles north. Now my Ford Escape is down in Los Angeles and I am in Northern California with a rental car. The folks at both Dealerships have been very sympathetic, but what is wrong when a brand new $25000 vehicle's transmission fails not ONCE but TWICE, when the vehicle is less than 3 years old and has only 22,000 on it?????

This backorder is ridiculous. My escape has been in the shop for 3 1/2 weeks and from what I'm reading, it could be even longer before this part ever comes. After 3 1/2 weeks of me calling the dealership complaining, they've finally given me a loaner car. Once when I called, they told me the part wasn't scheduled to arrive until May(my escape went in the shop in February!). The next day when I called, a different person told me it was arriving next week. I have no idea who to even believe any more! Not to mention, customer service at my dealership has been rude and unhelpful. If my Escape with 12,000 miles is already having problems after having it for less than two years, I'm scared of what problems it might have down the road. Ford needs to get it together and get these parts to dealerships asap. This is absolutely ridiculous!

To those of you out there dealing with 2009 FORD ESCAPE that has had the transmission fail please email me!

My transmission was rebuilt a little over a week ago. Since then, my husband had a business trip and drove it for a long distance on the interstate. To our horror the escape is still shifting hard in the higher gears.

I am getting ready to write a letter to Ford with a detailed description of my near crash because of the transmission failure and my concerns that the problem will extend for years to come.

So, PLEASE if you are willing...email me with all of your details and concerns. I would include them in my letter....

email address kathryn.braun@yahoo.com

I choose a 2009 ford escape after many years of being a Honda owner. What a mistake. Did alot of research before purchashing the vehicle and felt good about the descion based upon reviews and reports. WHAT A MISTAKE. There was a recall on the transmission. Programming error. Minor problem. Was told by the dealer evrything was fine. RAn a vehicle health report. ANOTHER JOKE. In perfect shape. At 16,000 miles the tranny failed as I was merging into interstate traffic. Could have been a deadly accident. Speedometer read 60mph and no RMP'S. Finally caught and was moving again.

My car has been at the dealer since 8/25/10. It has not yet been looked at,because of all the other transmission work pendind. I was told if the tranny cannot be fixed it will be replaced with a remanufactured transmission. I"m making a payment on a new vehicle. I want a new transmission. Ford better own up to their error. Unfair to the consumer who put their faith in a Ford product. It is 9/7/10 and still nothing from the dealer. The dealer actually gave me a tel. # to call and voice my complaints to Ford. What is that saying???? Wake up Ford. Do Something to make the situation right for the people who nhave supported you through tough economic times!!!

Well seems too me that anyone who own,s a ford escape could run into problems,with the tranny.I,ve had this problem ever since i bought this truck.From day one and all that Ford would tell me that this is minor and just a soft ware issue.well i learned as of today that the problem is worse than that.Ford downloaded this so call software three times ,and nothing has changed.the Trannt still slips .Time will only tell.will Ford stand by they ( Name ) or push me and others aside???? with this problem.

We live 50 miles from the nearest airport. My husband left at 8PM to pick up a friend and on the way back, approximately 30 miles from home, the car went from 68MPH to 15MPH on an interstate.

We'll call Ford in the morning and see what the 'fix' is.

Update from Apr 15, 2010: Called Ford; they towed the car in on April 9. Didn't LOOK AT IT until April 12. As of this date (April 15) it isn't fixed and they are dealing with Ford corporate to determine if they will fix or replace. Corporate wants to 'fix' it, but all of the parts aren't available -- some as far out as May 21. Tomorrow I've been 'assured' they will get permission from Ford Corporate to put a new tranny in. We'll see.

In the meantime, they did get me a rental car at no cost, but insist they can only furnish it until Monday April 19. So far everyone has been nice and polite, but really really SLOW.

Update from Apr 20, 2010: as of 4/20 the car has still not been fixed. Latest: Ford finally approved replacement of the transmission (took over a week) and now a transmission has been ordered. Has not yet arrived. The rental car ran out yesterday. My next vehicle may be a bicycle. I'm calling the dealer every day (sometimes twice) to make sure they don't back burner me.

Update from Apr 25, 2010: RECALL RECALL RECALL

I picked up my escape and discovered that the day before a bulletin had been issued to recall ALL ESCAPES that are six cylinder. It seems the computer can be reprogrammed so that the transmission doesn't automatically fail around 7300 miles.

My escape has been fixed. It took two weeks - mostly while corporate Ford argued with the local Ford dealer as to whether they should 'fix' or 'replace'. They ended up 'replacing' as they were backordered on parts.

So far the car is running good.

The ford dealership should have known by now that the 2009 ford escapes XLT 6 cylinders are lemons.The transmission failed on the freeway after 0nly 11,500 miles. My wife and kids could have been killed because of a sudden loss of power while the transmission failed to shift into high gear. This vehicle had a high consumer rating? why? Ford claims its back , I think its a terrible investment and a liability, I want a Toyota 4 runner now. I will never trust ford again. Take my advice never purchase one. If ford is reading this please send me a large refund of money for family stress and inconvenience.This vehicle is a liability that could get you killed because of the transmission.

Similar problmes to everyone else on here with transmission,started jerking into gear at low speed then slipping at high speeds, took it to dealer imediately they told me tranny was done as if thye had seen it before. Went in March 5th now am waitng on Valve body on back order no real ETA on it. Have asked for new truck of course no way on that. They have given me rental, another ford. I am sure we are not being told the truth, I believe they have a design flaw with this part and are not sure on fix thats why its taking so long. If I could walk away from this truck I would, Only 54 more payments and its all mine.

At 24000 km Tranny had bad leak. Fixed leak and did 2nd TSB to try and fix "Hoot" noise. Hoot noise came back one week later. One month after repairs the tranny blew while trying to merge onto interstate. Almost rear ended. Still in shop waiting on valve body. Has been in shop 3 weeks and eta on part is another 4 weeks. If this happens to you, demand that they replace the tranny. The repairs were mostly completed and are just waiting on valve body, while there was a new tranny sitting in a warehouse one day away.

Problem started with jerky upshiftng, especially at high rates of speed and when passing on the highway..on the highway going 80 mph my RPM went up to 6000 and I had absolutely no power...the next day was intermittent problems..upshifting and downshifting...this is totally unacceptable for a brand new car with 15,000 miles on it....they did replace the transmission, i only hope they figured out what is going on with these trannys before they gave me a new one...very disappointed because I really like this SUV.

Noticed fluid leaking on garage floor. Called dealer service to schedule appt suspecting leaking oil following oil change 2 weeks ago. They offered to come get the car (5 miles away from wife's work). Kept all day, never called to update us. Called at 3:00 pm informed us of Transmission failure.

at first unwilling to offer a loaner care but after complaining to salesman a loaner was offered.

Ironic since we bought this vehicle to replace a 2002 Saturn Vue that was infamous for transmission failure.

Now feel that I need to keep a close eye on this vehicle in case it really is a lemon