Brought in vehicle for service. Was told the tires couldn-??t be rotated because of -??swollen lug nuts-??. I would be responsible for replacing all 20 at a cost of around $180 for the parts. The dealership said if I should happen to get a flat tire, I would not be able to do it and the car would most likely need to be towed. I don-??t think I should have to pay for this repair on an item so basic and so important. I have not had an issue until the dealer brought it to my attention. I spoke with Ford customer service and was told this is out of warranty and there was no way to escalate my concern at Ford.

- Canton, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated while having new tires installed on the vehicle, the tire dealer was unable to remove the lug nuts because the lug nuts were swollen. The contact was informed by the tire dealer that the bolts and the lug nuts needed to be removed and replaced to properly mount the new tires. The contact called a dealer and was informed she had to pay out-of-pocket to have the lug nuts and mounting bolts replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.

- Somers, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that after driving, there was an abnormal knocking sound detected. The contact became aware that the lug nuts were loosened. While driving at an unknown speed, the wheel detached. The contact stated that the studs had sheared off. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the wheel bearings needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not contacted or informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

- Girard, OH, USA

I would like to voice concern about the 2 pc lugnuts that Ford places on vehicles.They are not good & after doing some research & talking with other Suppliers and Companies regarding this matter, it is my understanding this is an ongoing issue that Ford continues to ignore. This is not safe. My tire had a slow leak in it. I took it to a local Tire shop who advised the Tire could not be fixed because the tear was in the sidewall. They also advised the lugnuts were swollen & in terrible condition & then went on to show me the lugnuts & educate me on the design that Ford has. The reason for the terrible condition is likely because the nuts have to be beaten off unless the work is done at Ford, as they have special tooling & capabilities to deal with the nut. He also advised, instead of recalling, Ford opted to come out with a special tool or tooling that is specific to only their Dealers. Not ok. Not all people want to use Ford for their tire needs. Nobody should ever take one opinion at face value. I went to another local tire shop to make sure the info I was given about my tire AND the lugnuts was correct. However, when I went, I made no mention that I already had the first opinion, nor did I share any of the info with the 2nd Company. Same information was repeated to me, both about the lugnuts & my tire. Very concerning on the lug nuts & I now believe this to be accurate. This place felt so bad for me & for the condition the nuts were in, that they put gently used ones on 1 of my tires, free of charge, just because they had the tire off to look at it & knew the Ford ones were total "garbage". As of today, I went to my local Ford dealer for a tire rotation & oil change. Low & behold, they mention all of my lug nuts are swollen & that I need new. I voiced concern to the Service Manager about the lugnut information. He & the Service Advisor both advised that yes, this was an ongoing complaint & it was bad for them too. This is ridiculous & i complained to Ford also.

- Lees Summit, MO, USA

I had a blowout on my left driver tire. We were on a interstate highway. The Highway patrol was unable to get the lug nuts off to change the tire. I had the tire iron that came with the car and the Highway Patrol had a 4 way tire iron. None of them were able to get the lug nuts off. When I had it towed to a Ford dealer I was told that this is a problem with all the Ford Escapes. The lug nuts swell up and cannot be removed. I was told to get the lug nuts changed out and I would not have this problem. I did this at my expense. Why is Ford not required to change these out at their expense and why were we not notified before I had this blowout out on a interstate"??" It cost me $150 to get all the lug nuts replaced.

- Lawton, OK, USA

LUG NUTS ON WHEELS i HAVE BEEN ASKED TO REPLACE THE FORD LUG NUTS FOR SWELLING FIRST....WHEN I PURCHASED NEW TIRES, AND I JUST WENT IN FOR SERVICE TO FORD AND THEY DIDNT SAY ANYTHING.

- Inglewood, CA, USA

Light went off for low tire pressure. Rear passenger side tire was low. Filled with air and drove for a couple weeks; light again went off. Filled tire again and took to service center this morning to see if something had penetrated tire or if bead had loosened. Service center found nail in tire and repaired. They had to replace 4 lug nuts as they were swollen. (I didn-??t even know this was possible!). A simple and inexpensive tire repair turned into more than expected, which is rough when you-??re on a small, fixed income. My fear is that I will eventually have the same experience/expense, at some point in time, with the other three tires. As a side note, and something that maybe should be filed as a separate complaint, is that the back-up camera malfunctions frequently-??sometimes with image appearing upside down or a completely black screen. I spoke with two separate repair shops and was told it couldn-??t be fixed-??had to be replaced-??and was quoted over $500 to replace it-??obviously something I cannot afford to do. Was told it-??s a common issue on Escapes, yet there have been no recalls for this issue. If we-??re really trying to improve safety, then maybe this issue needs to be addressed as well. I have heard they will be required on new cars in the future; but something needs to be done about existing failures-??and to set a standard regarding future failures on those new cars. My camera went out after warranty expiration, so I had no way to afford to fix it. Ford should stand behind their product and replace these defective cameras. My car now has 95,207 miles on it, and the camera failed over a year ago. I wouldn-??t think a 7-year-old (6-year-old at time of failure) car with less than 100,000 miles on it should have that type of failure. Ford needs to use better equipment or offer better warranties. For most of us, $500 is a pretty substantial expense, and I-??ll bet there are a lot of Escapes with defective cameras that people can-??t afford to fix.

- Kewanee , IL, USA

I had a flat tire on the driver's side rear tire and when aaa came out to change the tire, they could not get the lug nuts off, so aaa had the car towed to a local shop. The shop had told me that the lug nuts where almost impossible to get off, which they thought was due to over tightening and recommended that all the lug nuts on all the wheels be replaced. I had them replace all the lug nuts. Then a few months later as I was driving on tollway driving 60 mph, I started to hear a thumping sound and my car shaking. Thinking I had another flat tire I got off on the next exit, which was close to the shop I took the car before (luckily). I told the shop manager what was happening and when the shop took the car for a test drive the front passenger wheel broke off damaging the car and luckily not hurting anyone. The shop said that the stems for lug nut broke off! he was not sure how this could have happened. Now that I have read the other complaints on the NHTSA website this seems to be a manufacture defect of the stems holding the lug nuts. If this happened to me when I was driving to work at 60 mph I could have been killed! the cost to fix the damage to my car is $2,110.53, which I had to file a claim with my insurance company, state farm. Claim and repairs are still in process. After reading other similar complaints I do not feel comfortable driving this car on the highway everyday going to work.

- Palatine, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact stated that the lug nuts were swollen due to a manufacturing defect. The contact stated that it was difficult to remove the lug nuts in order to change or replace the tires. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to remove the lug nuts. The contact called currie motors Ford of valpo (2052 w morthland dr, valparaiso, in 46385, (219) 336-1373), and informed the dealer of the failure. The dealer referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was 112,000.

- Kouts, IN, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. While the vehicle was undergoing routine service at sanderson Ford (6400 N 51st ave, glendale, AZ 85301, (800) 729-3501), the dealer diagnosed that all 20 lug nuts were detached and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and did not assist. The warranty failed to cover the repairs. The failure mileage was 26,000.

- Glendale, AZ, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. While the vehicle was at heiser Ford Lincoln (1700 w silver spring dr., glendale, wi) for routine maintenance, the contact was informed that all of the lug nuts were swollen and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not assist because it was not related to a recall. The manufacturer stated that NHTSA was responsible for issuing recalls and referred the contact to NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 46,000.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. While driving various speeds, the low tire pressure indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the tire needed to be changed; however, the lug nuts were unable to be removed. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer (harrisonburg Ford, 3155 S. main street, harrisonburg, va 22801) where it was diagnosed that the lug nuts swelled and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was partially repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that no prior complaints for that failure existed. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.

- Shenandoah, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Escape. The contact was unable to remove the lug nuts from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the lug nuts were swollen and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 47,000.

- Joliet, IL, USA